Statement of Bishop W. Francis Malooly, Bishop of the
Diocese of Wilmington, regarding Senator Biden’s statements on Catholic
Church teachings on abortion:
September 10, 2008
Earlier today, our United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
issued a statement to clarify remarks recently made by Senator Joseph
Biden. They explain the truth of the matter in a clear and concise way.
As your Bishop, I want you to understand our Church teaching, embrace it
and promote it.
The USCCB statement is as follows:
BISHOPS RESPOND TO SENATOR BIDEN’S STATEMENTS REGARDING CHURCH
TEACHING ON ABORTION
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’
Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William E. Lori, chairman,
U.S. Bishops Committee on Doctrine, issued the following statement:
Recently we had a duty to clarify the Catholic Church’s constant
teaching against abortion, to correct misrepresentations of that
teaching by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on “Meet the Press” (see
www.usccb.org/prolife/whatsnew.shtml). On September 7, again on “Meet
the Press,” Senator Joseph Biden made some statements about that
teaching that also deserve a response.
Senator Biden did not claim that Catholic teaching allows or has ever
allowed abortion. He said rightly that human life begins “at the moment
of conception,” and that Catholics and others who recognize this should
not be required by others to pay for abortions with their taxes.
However, the Senator’s claim that the beginning of human life is a
“personal and private” matter of religious faith, one which cannot be
“imposed” on others, does not reflect the truth of the matter. The
Church recognizes that the obligation to protect unborn human life rests
on the answer to two questions, neither of which is private or
specifically religious.
The first is a biological question: When does a new human life begin?
When is there a new living organism of the human species, distinct from
mother and father and ready to develop and mature if given a nurturing
environment? While ancient thinkers had little verifiable knowledge to
help them answer this question, today embryology textbooks confirm that
a new human life begins at conception (see www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/fact298.shtml).
The Catholic Church does not teach this as a matter of faith; it
acknowledges it as a matter of objective fact.
The second is a moral question, with legal and political consequences:
Which living members of the human species should be seen as having
fundamental human rights, such as a right not to be killed? The Catholic
Church’s answer is: Everybody. No human being should be treated as
lacking human rights, and we have no business dividing humanity into
those who are valuable enough to warrant protection and those who are
not. This is not solely a Catholic teaching, but a principle of natural
law accessible to all people of good will. The framers of the
Declaration of Independence pointed to the same basic truth by speaking
of inalienable rights, bestowed on all members of the human race not by
any human power, but by their Creator. Those who hold a narrower and
more exclusionary view have the burden of explaining why we should
divide humanity into those who have moral values and those who do not
and why their particular choice of where to draw that line can be
sustained in a pluralistic society. Such views pose a serious threat to
the dignity and rights of other poor and vulnerable members of the human
family who need and deserve our respect and protection.
While in past centuries biological knowledge was often inaccurate,
modern science leaves no excuse for anyone to deny the humanity of the
unborn child. Protection of innocent human life is not an imposition of
personal religious conviction but a demand of justice.
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It is my intention to build a supportive and trusting friendship with
Senator Biden and as many public officials as I can. I will do my best,
with your prayers, to assist him and all public officials as well as all
citizens in our Diocese and beyond to understand how crucial the
sanctity of human life is to a just society in the State of Delaware,
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and our entire nation.
Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly, D.D.
Bishop of Wilmington
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