The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Customer Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out

  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Times News Services
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Алекс Овечкин
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
    • Donne Travels
    • Lives Common
    • National Pastime
    • Politics 101
    • Stories of Faith
    • Civil War
    • Middle - America
    • Chicago Blue State
    • Zadzooks
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Inside the Beltway
    • Inside the Story
Home > News > Editor Favorites

Catholic voting tied to economy

Voters discount abortion issue

By Julia Duin (Contact) | Tuesday, November 11, 2008

  • Bookmark and Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Print
  • [-][+] Font Size
  • E-Mail Alerts
  • Tell a Friend
  • Got a Question?
  • You Report
  • Click-2-Listen

BALTIMORE | U.S. Catholic bishops at their annual meeting Monday brushed off an apparent disregard among Catholic voters for church doctrine on abortion, saying the economy, not their teachings, was to blame.

"It's 1932 revisited," Chicago Cardinal Francis George told reporters at the Waterfront Marriott, referring to the election pitting Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. "We have a Republican president, the depression has begun and, once again, the American voters have turned to another party. The economy was the foremost challenge."

Exit polls from the presidential election show that most Catholics favored Sen. Barack Obama, a pro-choice Illinois Democrat, despite pleas by 89 bishops before the election for believers to consider a candidate's position on abortion before voting.

"Very few people answered they were voting on social and moral issues," San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer said, referring to exit polls. "What people had on their minds was the economic situation."

"We're going to discuss what worked and didn't work," Cardinal George said, referring to off-the-record sessions the bishops will hold during their three-day meeting. "We will have to come back and ask whether or not the way we've taught has been helpful."

Several bishops released statements this fall saying Catholics are morally obligated to vote for pro-life candidates.

Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn warned Catholics in his flock that they risked their "eternal salvation" by voting pro-choice.

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput called Mr. Obama the "most committed abortion-rights presidential candidate" since abortion was legalized in 1973.

Cardinal George, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, added that the conference will "have to enter into negotiations" with the Obama administration "so that some of our concerns get ironed out."

Other bishops interviewed also blamed the economy.

Continue reading 12Next

[Get Copyright Permissions] Click here for reprint permissions!
Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC

Bookmark and Share

Comments

Read Comments

Post your comment:

Please login or register to post a comment

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

  • Cardinal Francis George of Chicago leads a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore on Monday. "The economy was the foremost challenge" to church doctrine in the election, he said. (Associated Press)

Click the photo to enlarge.

Advertisement

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. Inside the Ring
  2. EDITORIAL: Passing unread laws
  3. Senate delays climate bill until September
  4. EDITORIAL: Sotomayor's secret files
  5. YON: Girl with no future

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Passing unread laws
  2. HOLMES: Deja vu on dictators, double standards
  3. EDITORIAL: Return of the Black Panther
  4. Bloated deficits endanger dollar's global status
  5. Israeli know-how
  6. EDITORIAL: The fate of FedEx
  7. EDITORIAL: Dancing with the bear
  8. YON: Girl with no future
  9. EDITORIAL: Rewriting economic history
  10. LETTER TO EDITOR: Coming to grips with Palestinian guilty trips

Most Commented

  1. Jeb Bush, GOP: Time to leave Reagan behind
  2. WH communications director leaving
  3. Freddie Mac acting CFO found dead
  4. Kerry aims to rescue newspapers
  5. Fidel Castro: Obama 'misinterpreted' words
  6. President Obama said those who approved harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists may be subjected to criminal charges. Do you agree?
  7. President Obama said those who approved harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists may be subjected to criminal charges. Do you agree?
  8. Gibbs: Pay no attention to what Rahm said
  9. Politics' Talking Heads Highlight Speaker Series
  10. Fleecing Mike Ditka

Poll

Will you be traveling this 4th of July weekend?

Market Data

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.