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Election 2008
Catholics react to election results
Shifting political landscape gives new motivation
By J.D. Long-García, jdlgarcia@catholicsun.org
November 20, 2008
Despite trailing in every major national poll, Sen. John McCain supporters still guarded a quiet hope that the “maverick” would pull off a miracle on Election Day.
“I still hope McCain will come back,” said Jeff Kovac, a parishioner at St. Timothy in Mesa, who watched the results pour in at McCain’s election night rally. “I don’t know what we’re going to do if [Sen. Barack Obama] wins.”
A few minutes later, he did.
Many Catholics are chiefly concerned with how an Obama administration will affect the pro-life cause. President-elect Obama once said he’d sign the Freedom of Choice Act (HR 1964), which would do away with hundreds of pro-life policies.
“Our President-elect Obama will not be cozying up to Catholics anytime soon,” said Fr. John Bonavitacola, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Tempe.
“So we’re going to have to make things known to him,” he added. “That’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to have to stand up for what we believe in.”
Kimberly Scoggin, an Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioner, said it was time for Catholics to rise up.
“Catholics need to come back to their core values,” she said. “But our hope is not in politicians. Our hope is in almighty God.”
Yet some exit polls found Catholics voting 52 percent to 45 percent for Obama over McCain.
“There are people who would say that, other than abortion, [Obama] is much more in line with Catholic social teaching,” said Deacon Keith Davis, assistant director of the Office of the Diaconate.
Deacon Davis signaled to Obama’s stance on a person’s right to health care and his support of workers’ right to organize and earn a fair wage. He also noted his approach to the poor and to peace.
Deacon Davis also praised Obama’s desire to reduce the number of abortions.
“It’s not a bad thing. It’s not enough, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction,” he said.
Tricia Hoyt, director of the diocesan Office of Peace and Justice, also hopes Obama will work to reduce the number of abortions.
“If the new president genuinely demonstrates the kind of care he sounds like he has for crossing the divide, then he’ll abandon pro-choice language and work to decrease demand,” she said.
Hoyt is convinced Obama will put forward a program for the economically disenfranchised.
“I’m hoping that he will call us as a full community to bring our whole-hearted caring to those who are not making it right now,” she said.
Paul Martodam, executive director of Catholic Charities in northern and central Arizona, shared that hope.
“Popes and American bishops have long supported the right to health care, crucial to keeping lower income people out of poverty, and a priority of President-elect Obama,” he said. “Affordable housing and meaningful work that pays a living wage have also been priorities in Catholic social teaching, and are priorities of the president-elect.”
Martodam added, “We also see the opportunity to address our very broken immigration laws with comprehensive solutions that respect human rights and human dignity, consistent with Catholic teaching.”
Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s three dioceses, also anticipated immigration reform.
“He hasn’t even been sworn in, but I would hope that we have someone who would act on comprehensive immigration reform,” he said.
Mike Phelan, director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life, recognized the historic accomplishment of the Obama presidency.
“It’s a definite message to the world that prejudice based on skin color can be overcome,” he said. “It makes you proud of America in that sense.”
That said, Phelan is concerned that Obama would sign the Freedom of Choice Act.
“Until we hear something more definitive, we don’t know what he’s going to do,” he said. “He could have a change of heart and do more for those who don’t speak for themselves.”
Signing the Freedom of Choice Act would set the pro-life movement back 30 years, Phelan said, adding that Obama also supports the death penalty.
“When it comes to non-negotiable issues, he’s definitely not someone who stands for Catholic principles,” he said.
Marriage initiative passes
Church leaders rejoiced at the passing of Proposition 102, which will amend the Arizona Constitution by providing a legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Yet two years ago, a similar proposition failed.
“This was clear and easy,” said Johnson of the Arizona Catholic Conference. “The message was a lot simpler.”
In September, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas issued a pastoral statement urging Catholics to support the proposition. Bishop Olmsted also recorded a video for parishes and Bishop Kicanas published an op-ed piece in The Arizona Daily Star in favor of the initiative.
“Our support does not call for or imply discrimination,” Bishop Kicanas wrote. “In fact, it is not discrimination to uphold the institution of marriage, whose meaning and definition flow from the very nature of the human person.”
Johnson said the strong interreligious network helped pass the initiative. Some 56 percent voted for the proposition.
Still, the bishops’ vocal support angered some.
“People shouldn’t be surprised when they hear marriage talked about in a Catholic church,” Johnson said. “It would have spoken more loudly if the Church didn’t speak” on the proposition.
The passage of the proposition is particularly important, he said, because it establishes a constitutional amendment, which is much more stable and permanent than a statute.
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