Catholics, abortion and government involvement
The Latin Mass at Bakersfield's St. Francis Church on Feb. 7 was a little different than on normal Sundays. The celebrant, Father Ralph Bellomini, decided to vary from his normal sermon routine, which is usually to expand on the day's gospel. Instead, he announced that he was going to discuss Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's comments on abortion as contained in a newspaper article that he held in his hand. As Father Ralph summed it up, Pelosi was a "cafeteria Catholic," as she chose to decide for herself what aspect of Catholic Doctrine she would follow. In the abortion debate, Speaker Pelosi, a practicing Catholic with five children, supports choice.
Father Ralph argued that abortion was contrary to the Sixth Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill. Pelosi on several occasions has publicly stated that the Church's position on abortion had changed over the years. Any review of Church history supports this point.
Father Ralph went on to expand on the notion that Catholics were not free to choose what Church doctrines they accept. When he concluded his remarks, he asked the congregation, "Any questions?" I am not sure he was expecting the response he got.
At this point, I stood up in front of Father Ralph and the entire congregation and noted my disagreement with his explanation of Pelosi's position. I stated that I, too, had been a legislator, and that while I was personally opposed to abortion, my position was based on my faith. I indicated that the difference between a human being and other primates was the presence of a soul in humans. I noted that I accepted the position that the soul joins the body at the time of conception based on my Catholic Faith.
I added that a legislator does not have the right to impose Catholic Doctrine as a law on other citizens who may have another opinion. I pointed out that at one time the Church decreed that it was a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday. But this did not allow a Catholic legislator to attempt to pass a law making it unlawful for any adult to eat meat on Friday.
I have to admit that Father Ralph was courteous in allowing me to give my opinion in front of the congregation. Up to that point he had been exercising Teddy Roosevelt's concept of the "bully pulpit" in the true sense of the word, which allows a person in a position of authority to speak out and be listened to on any matter.
And having the pulpit, Father Ralph got in the last word. He rejected my position by noting that the Church was very clear on its notion of the Sixth Commandment. He went on to discuss the concept of a "just war" and certain other circumstances such as the death penalty as an exception to the rule. But the Father's argument was a little weak on these points. There are those who concluded that I lost my reelection bid to the Assembly in 1974 because I voted against a death penalty bill. In those years, the Church was not opposed to the death penalty, but since the 1990s it has been.
And as to the question of "a just war," the Vatican has decreed that the U.S. war in Iraq is not a just war.
So, according to Father Ralph's logic, any congressman who supports that war is not unlike a congressman who supports abortion rights.
In his rebuttal of my position, Father made the point that the Church was speaking Ex Cathedra on this point. This is not true. The church's position on abortion has never been deemed an Ex Cathedra decree, which means dogma that cannot be changed.
In fact, over the centuries, church theologians have had varied positions on abortion. One of the leading theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas, had maintained that the sin of abortion was not homicide unless the fetus was ensouled, and thus a human being. Aquinas had said the fetus is first endowed with a vegetative soul, then an animal soul, and then -- when its body is developed -- a rational soul. This theory of "delayed hominization," as the psychology and theology scholar Joseph F. Donceel, Society of Jesus, once noted, is the most consistent thread throughout church history.
So Pelosi was not off the mark when she noted publicly that the church had held varied positions on abortion and that her role as a legislator did not require her to put church doctrine into law. My reason for speaking at that Sunday mass was partly to defend the speaker since Father Ralph was using the "bully pulpit" to espouse his view without Pelosi being there to defend her position.
But more than that, I continue to believe in the separation of church and state. The Founding Fathers -- specifically Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and Thomas Paine -- were deists, men who believed in God but did not subscribe to a specific religion. They showed great wisdom in supporting a constitution that did not envision one religion imposing its beliefs as laws that would govern all other citizens.
Ray Gonzales is retired from the CSU system. He was elected to the Assembly from Kern County in 1972, served in the Jerry Brown administration, and was a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service.
