Pelosi misunderstands ‘people of faith’, says Catholic League

Jan 29, 2006 / 22:00 pm

People of faith are concerned about public policy issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage and assisted suicide, and not the federal budget so much, said Catholic League president Bill Donohue in a response to Thursday’s comment by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on President George Bush’s upcoming State of the Union address. 

Referring to Democrats, she said the “best way…for us to speak to people of faith is in terms of the work we do; in terms of the budget, for example. The budget is a document that’s supposed to be a statement of our national values.” 

“By ‘people of faith,’ Pelosi meant people like the 114 protesters who were arrested last month for blocking the entrance to the Capitol.

“Ask anyone leaving church on Sunday what public policy issues motivate ‘people of faith’ and the likely answer will be such things as abortion, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide, drugs, illegitimacy, etc.,” said Donohue. “Ask Nancy Pelosi and she says the federal budget.”

Donohue also criticized her “disdain for the faithful.” He noted: “When her party lost the 2004 presidential election, she arrogantly said: ‘As a devout Catholic, I observe with great regret the intervention of some Catholic bishops who joined evangelical leaders in the political arena.’”

“According to Democratic strategist Paul Begala,” Donohue said, “on the night of the presidential election, former President Bill Clinton told him, ‘you can’t ignore those social, cultural values voters.’  He was right.”