Readers shouldn’t ignore new encyclical’s pro-life content, Bill Donohue says

New York City, N.Y., Jul 11, 2009 / 15:46 pm

Some political groups citing the Pope’s new encyclical “Caritas in veritate” are neglecting its content on issues like bioethics and pro-life matters, Catholic League President Bill Donohue has said.

Noting that Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has advised Catholics to suggest their pastor give a homily “highlighting the Pope’s reflections on social justice and the common good,” Donohue claimed that this excluded the Pope’s encyclical comments on several important issues. He listed topics like the sanctity of human life, bioethics, the “indiscriminate acceptance” of all lifestyles, sexuality “as a form of entertainment” and the role of religion in the public square.

Citing the encyclical's counsel that respect for life compels us to broaden our “concept of poverty,” Donohue said people should be prepared to think of abortion as a poverty issue.

“The best way to service the poor, according to the Pope, is not to create bureaucratic monstrosities that cripple the dignity of the indigent,” he added, also highlighting the Pope’s warning against “paternalist social assistance.”

“In other words, the tried and failed, dependency-inducing welfare programs that mark the social policy prescriptions of the poverty industry are seen by the pope as a disaster. Not exactly what those who work for HHS want to hear,” Donohue’s Thursday statement continued.

“Finally, when the pope slams greed and criticizes a market economy shorn of moral principles, he is hardly upsetting most of those who champion the rights of the unborn. But some stereotypes are hard to break.”