Rome, Italy, Nov 20, 2008 / 16:15 pm
CNA has exclusively obtained the full-text of Cardinal James Francis Stafford’s lecture delivered at the Catholic University of America last week in which the prelate examined President-elect Obama’s loyalty to pro-abortion organizations and described his promises as cause for Catholics to weep tears of betrayal.
The full text of this lecture titled, “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul,” can be found in our Documents section or at the link: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=780
Commenting on the results of the recent presidential election, Cardinal Stafford said in his speech that on Election Day “America suffered a cultural earthquake.” He went on to note that though Obama and Senator Joe Biden clearly stated their “anti-life agenda” prior to the election, Americans were too excited at the prospect of electing a Black President. Now that he has been chosen, the cardinal predicted, “I foresee the next several years as being among the most divisive in our nation’s history.”
Cardinal Stafford went on to recall Obama’s promises regarding abortion issues. He mentioned July 17, 2007 when the Senator told supporters from Planned Parenthood that “We are not only going to win this election but also we are going to transform this nation...The first thing I will do as President is to sign The Freedom of Choice Act…I put Roe at the center of my lesson plan on reproductive freedom when I taught Constitutional Law...On this issue I will not yield.”
“Catholics weep over Barack Obama’s words,” the cardinal lamented. “We weep over the violence concealed behind his rhetoric and that of Joseph Biden and what appears to be that of the majority of the incoming Congress.”
The cardinal’s address was hosted by the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington D.C.