In 2008, Barack Obama captured a solid 54% of the Catholic vote to John McCain’s 45%. Indeed, the vote of Catholics has see-sawed back and forth between Republicans and Democrats since 1984, when Ronald Reagan received 56% of the vote from American Catholics. Prior to the 1980 election where Reagan tallied 48% of the Catholic vote, Democrats routinely received majorities over 60%.
But the Catholic vote has changed over the last decade. Once dominated by white ethnic voters in an arc that covered the Great Lakes from Minnesota to Buffalo, NY, the average Catholic today is likely to be a young Hispanic immigrant. And while still pro-life, many Catholics no longer make abortion their primary concern when voting. Now, it’s so-called “social-justice Catholics” who dominate the clergy and especially the Catholic hierarchy — the bishops and archbishops that run the dioceses.
What does this mean for Paul Ryan, a strong and devout pro-life Catholic? Deal Hudson, former director of Catholic outreach for the Republican National Committee, spots trouble ahead for the GOP ticket among Catholics:
While the choice of Ryan will please the Tea Party as well as fiscal and social conservatives, it creates an opening for the Catholic supporters of Obama: Paul Ryan’s 2012 GOP budget has already been the subject of official criticism by some Catholic bishops for failing to meet certain “moral criteria” and cutting programs that “serve poor and vulnerable people.” The media coverage failed to note that the four letters to Congress in April came from two bishops: Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, each speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their respective roles.
The first letter arrived April 4 at the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. On April 10, Ryan ably defended himself and his application of Catholic principles in an interview with David Brody.
“Those principles are very, very important,” Ryan said. “And the preferential option for the poor, which is one of the primary tenets of Catholic social teaching, means don’t keep people poor, don’t make people dependent on government so that they stay stuck at their station in life; help people get out of poverty, out into a life of independence.”
Ryan’s words were ignored amid the subsequent denunciations of social-justice Catholics, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who after underscoring her Italian, Catholic upbringing charged:
“The Ryan budget does not address debt nor fiscal responsibility. What it does is take care of the very wealthy at the risk of the middle class and people who are poor. That is contrary to Catholic teaching.”
In spite of the fact that DeLauro completely ignores the latitude allowed to prudential judgments based upon Catholic principles, her charge will be repeated ad nauseam against the Romney-Ryan ticket over the next 90 days.
After several other letters from liberal bishops taking Ryan to task for his lack of compassion for the poor inherent in his budget proposal, the congressman fired back with a four-page letter of his own to the Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB):
Ryan knew he had more explaining to do, so on April 29 he sent a four-page letter to the president of the USCCB, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, explaining how his budget was guided by the principles of Catholic social teaching. Ryan argued that as a Catholic he was justified in taking into account the bigger picture of the entire economic situation facing the nation. He argued there was a moral obligation “implicit” in Catholic social teaching to address “difficult basic problems before they explode into social crisis.”
There is now a document in the works from the USCCB that would respond to the Ryan budget point by point. Titled “Catholic Reflections on Work, Poverty, and a Broken Economy,” it promises to be quite unsupportive of the kind of reforms Ryan is asking for. And while it won’t come out until after the election, we can be sure that liberal Catholics will charge, as Hudson suggests, that Ryan is in favor of “cutting programs,” “hurting the poor,” and “destroying the safety net” which will reinforce the stereotype of the GOP as uncaring, heartless, and the “party of the rich.”
The Catholic vote is still very important in swing states like Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Will the bishops convince their flocks to turn their backs on fellow Catholic Ryan, despite his pro-life stand? That’s the way the Catholic vote has been trending in recent elections and there appears to be nothing that Ryan can say that will change it.
“social justice Catholics”
How many contradictions can be jammed into one term? I hope Ryan simply recommends they re-read the Tenth Commandment and maybe the definition of Catholic charity (based on love, not obedience to the IRS).
When Progressivism finally wins, I hope they put the screws on the “social justice Catholics” so hard that the lesson goes down for all eternity. Fools.
Incidentally, if it true that the woman who puts everything she has to live on into the temple treasury is more blessed than those who give large amounts, but large amounts they can easily afford, what shall we say of those who don’t even put in their own amounts, but cause the government to force it from unwilling others while taking the credit for the good work? How is that proof of worthiness?
Why can we not say that If God had wanted you to have that of others without working for it, and to have by right, you would have already have had it?
The very sad facts are that the Catholic Church has, in many ways, turned topsy-turvy. They are to the point where they are approaching “the river of no return” due to the left-leaning leadership among the Bishops. Very unfortunate. I recently attended a Roman Catholic funeral and frankly, it was most unmoving and uninspirational because of the changes they have made. The Anglicans have become a church which stands for absolutely nothing, guess the R.C.’s are going to follow the same path.
Moran, have you been following the unprecedented attack on religious freedom by the Obama administration. The bishops who have vowed civil disobedience at being forced to provide services that run counter to their religious beliefs? You think Ryan has a problem equal to that? Here is a prediction: RomneyRyan win the Catholic vote in a landslide.
I pray you’re right, Steve. Can’t wait for the Ryan-Biden debate!!!!!
I’m beginning to think Rick is as adroit with his political reasoning as he is with his HTML.
Does Paul Ryan have a Catholic problem? No!
Do some Catholics have a problem because they got in bed with the devil? Yes, but that is not Paul Ryan’s problem, it’s Obama’s problem that he is being supported by obvious two faced fools, and other various types of demon spawn.
Obama supporters are basically a catalog of who’s who in in crime, wickedness, perversion and evil deeds. Name one evil minority that is not allied with this administration. All things dark and demonic love this Obama administration to death.
Real Clear Politics currently has Obama ahead of Obomney by 4.1%; GOP favored in Congress by only 0.6%. This election is anything but decided.
People hurl insults because:
1) They don’t bother to educate themselves on the issues.
2) Hurling insults takes seconds, while research takes hours.
3) Snark enables one to fool themselves into thinking they’re clever, a poor substitute for reason.
…while still others hurl insults using faulting polling subsidized by a struggling democrat colluding with progressive media outlets.
But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Fall 2010, RCP polling data showed GOP up over 9%. GOP took House bigtime and gained in Senate. Very accurate then, and cons celebrated. Didn’t hear complaints about citing RCP then. Now it’s “polling subsidized by a struggling democrat colluding with progressive media outlets.”
Nice.
I’ll assume you are simply ill-informed and not being deliberately obtuse. During the past two months the Obama (aka struggling democrat) campaign has outspent their intake, with over half of their expenditures funding polls. Why would they do that? Could it be to keep themselves afloat with elevated polling with bogus weighting? Or they could let the real numbers be revealed and lose in a landslide.
In 2010, Obama wasn’t running for President and was not padding the polls.
Well, I tried and got snark in return. Thanks for keeping your head in the sand, repeating rhetoric to make yourself sleepy, and helping Obama.
I am a devout, church-going Catholic who absolutely loathes the term “social justice”. There’s charity and there’s opportunity. The social justice elements of the Catholic church are just looking to avoid their responsibility to work for the charitable contributions they need to do their charitable work. If they can get the money from the government, then the humble task of appealing to people’s better natures for help is gone.
By not encouraging people to be charitable, it hardens their hearts to the needs of others. If they can just expect the government to do it, they can ignore the needy and, eventually, the church – both in attendance and contributions.
Unfortunately, many of the bishops and other church leaders have not figured this out yet.
While Catholics are expected to help and give to the poor, I don’t believe there is anything that requires
or even asks
that a Catholic “official” take money from some, to distribute to others.
It’s up to the individual to do the giving.
Ryan can also explain that his “benefitting” the “rich” by not raising their taxes — first of all, is not the “rich”
but those with small businesses and families whose income starts with $200,000 —
and that allowing them to keep a little more of their own money instead of confiscating more of it from them — will create investment which creates jobs — for the “newly” poor.
Catholic individuals and through their churches and organizations are generous. They help the poor voluntarily.
And Ryan’s plan doesn’t close down all safety nets.
Distinguish between Catholic voters and Catholic bishops. Catholic voters are still predominantly conservative Democrats (some of them “Reagan Democrats”). Romney/Ryan should win the Catholic vote(in 2008, McCain won the churchgoing Catholic vote, and Obama won the nonchurchgoing Catholic vote). Only in CA and the Southwest are Catholic voters predominantly Hispanic. As for bishops, they don’t have many votes.
If Catholic voters are predominantly conservative Democrats, they will most likely vote for Democrats. They might have at one time been Reagan Democrats but that was over thirty years ago. Most have since gone home to the Democrat Party.
Ryan keeps the door open in NE Ohio (where Portman didnt matter). Too bad he didnt start and finish at a Catholic high school (which is SOP for white catholics in the more populated areas in the rust belt). Christie may have had the same effect (plus a Italian-American mandate) in NJ, NH, RI, CT, and PA. Romney may pull this out swapping the non-Illinois midwest for Virginia and Florida (scared federal workers, scared seniors, and petty Cubans).
The U.S. Catholic Bishops would have snored through thr Sermon on the Mount.
I don’t think Ryan has a Catholic problem. But Romney may have a draft-dodging problem (Google it and see for yourself).
Greetings:
Let’s just face the Romney-Ryan is nothing more than the triumph of the Breeders. If they are elected, I have no doubt in my mind that all contraceptive medicines and devices will be banned and mandatory breeding and birthing will become the law of the land, no doubt by the Pope in his position and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Oh, noes!!! First the Morman Problem, now the Catholic Problem. Doomed, we all are.
You don’t have to be a Catholic to be outraged about this, do parental rights matter anymore? Check your state laws to see what the age limit is? “Free Sterilization” for teenagers, is that what we have become as a nation?
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obamacare-mandate-sterilize-15-year-old-girls-free-without-parental-consent
Perhaps you want to update your post to reflect the Bishops vote and comments, please see below:
By a 171-26 vote at their meeting on June 13, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a proposal by Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, to begin drafting a message on the US economy.
The draft of “Catholic Reflections on Work, Poverty and a Broken Economy” will be brought to the body of bishops at the conference’s November meeting, after this year’s US presidential elections.
During the discussion leading up to the vote, Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing criticized the committee’s opposition to the budget plan put forward by Congressman Paul Ryan.
“There have been some concerns raised by lay Catholics, especially some Catholic economists, about what was perceived as a partisan action against Congressman Ryan and the budget he had proposed,” Bishop Boyea said in reference to the USCCB committee’s opposition to the House budget plan. “We need to be articulate only in principles, and let the laity make these applications … It was perceived as partisan, and thus didn’t really further dialogue in our deeply divided country.”
“I’m not sure that we have the humility yet not to stray into areas where we lack competence, and where we need to let the laity take the lead,” he added. “We need to learn far more than we need to teach in this area. We need to listen more than we need to speak. We already have an excellent, fine Compendium [on the Social Doctrine of the Church].”
Following his remarks, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit called upon the committee to place greater emphasis on the “disintegration of the family” as a factor in the breakdown of the economy.
Echoing Bishop Boyea’s comments, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City said that the committee is “at times perceived as partisan” and needs to consider the principle of subsidiarity, which has been “neglected in past documents.” Archbishop Naumann added that solutions that place emphasis in enrolling people in government programs have been “tried for decades” and failed.
“We need to talk about the debt and the real seriousness of that debt,” he continued. “Sometimes we’re perceived as just encouraging the government to spend more money with no realistic way of how we’re going to afford to do this.”
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=14639
“… the subject of official criticism by some Catholic bishops for failing to meet certain ‘moral criteria’ and cutting programs that ‘serve poor and vulnerable people.’”
Um, excuse me, but why are you demanding that the government do YOUR jobs for you? Saving souls and caring for people is your job, not the government’s. When you have the government trying to do it, you are trying to mass-produce soul-saving. Can’t be done. Souls are saved one person at a time. Relying on government to do it is just plain laziness.
I, personally, am anticipating a lot of Catholic hating rhetoric from the left between now and November. There are a whole lot of Democrats who will simply not be able to control themselves.
Right now the federal government is not yet as anti-Catholic as the governments of Fidel Castro or Plutarcho Elias Calles but they have moved into the same category of governments hostile to Catholics and the Roman Catholic Church. If we have another Obama term we will get to see just how far they want to take this.
Maybe somebody can explain something to me. Social justice Catholics believe more government, and robbing workers’ money, will help “under-privileged” minorities get ahead.
So they’re saying that blacks and hispanics don’t have the native intelligence and drive to succeed on their own. Isn’t that…uh…racist?
As for taking our tax dollars for their pet projects instead of participating in charitable activities. What happened to “Thou Shall Not Steal”? Oh, I get it, it’s not stealing if the law says it’s legal.
Just like it’s not murder if the government does it.
http://pjmedia.com/blog/ezra-kleins-facts-about-guns-tell-slanted-story/
Agreed Howard.
It’s Obama who has the Catholic problem. The conference of bishops was unanimous in its opposition to the HHS mandate. My resume is a litany of saints. Catholic grade school, Catholic high school, Catholic college for my BA, Catholic universities for both my MBA and JD. I am almost 60 years old. I have never heard so many sermons invoking the examples of the martyrs to the faith as I have heard in the last five months.
There was complete silence from the large audience at last week’s Knights of Columbus convention when they read into the record a letter from Obama offering his best wishes on their 130 annual meeting. The President the United States was being shunned by an organization that prides itself on being both Catholic and patriotic