Over 80 bishops have said that abortion/life issues are defining matters.for the Election. They have not injected themselves into partisan politics; they were drawn in by Catholic politicians skewing the teachings of the Church in public ways. The bishops are the teaching authority on Catholic matters for their dioceses.In this case, Governor Granholm uses her public position to tell other Catholics that it's "pro-life" to vote "yes" on embryonic stem cell research (Proposal 2 on the Michigan ballot) when voting "no" is actually consistent with Catholic teaching.
Bishop Earl Boyea, recently installed in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, had this to say:
Bishop Responds to Governor
The Most Reverend Earl Boyea, Bishop of Lansing, issued the following statement on October 27, 2008 in response to recent comments by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm:In a Sunday address in Grand Rapids, Governor Jennifer Granholm incredibly said of Proposal 2 "As a Catholic, I can say to be pro-cure is to be pro-life." Of course, Catholics and all other responsible citizens will continue to seek cures for disease and injury. But to imply that Proposal 2 is a valid expression of Catholic principles is shocking. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Proposal 2, which goes before Michigan voters in a week, would give an unrestricted license to those who perform destructive experiments on human embryos. While the Catholic Church strongly supports legitimate forms of stem cell research and all other proper forms of scientific inquiry, the Church also teaches that is it is always immoral to destroy a human embryo. For that reason, the Catholic Bishops of Michigan have taken a strong position in opposition to this well-funded assault on human life.
Saint Paul reminds us that we must preach the Truth in season and out of season. The Truth will never go unspoken. To be in favor of Proposal 2 is not to be pro-life. A well-formed Catholic conscience would never lead a person to support Proposal 2 "as a Catholic."
Bishop Boyea also released another document: How Shall I Cast my Vote? While this talks about Proposal 2, His Excellency also goes into other life issues, and prudential issues (war, justice, etc.)
Resources on Proposal 2 in Michigan and Stem Cell Research
- Michigan Catholic Conference Letter on Proposal 2
- Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science & Experimentation (MiCAUSE)
- A Spectacular Stem Cell Scandal (Fr. Tad Pacholcyk)
- Adult Stem Cells: 72, Embryonic Stem Cells: 0 (The Anchoress)
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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!