Alexia Kelley -- A solid Catholic appointee from President Obama?

"Abortion rights activists" are in a tizzy because of President Obama's appointment of an "anti-abortion pro-Obama Catholic" Alexia Kelly to the senior position of Health and Human Services Department's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

Suspicion was aroused because Kelly is co-founder of the Soros-funded organization Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good -- which according to their FAQ:

... believes in the sanctity of all human life—from conception until natural death. Our Catholic faith and the Catholic social tradition affirm that all life is sacred, and that every person has essential worth and dignity. Therefore, we support a consistent culture of life that includes protections for unborn children; implementation of social, economic and material supports for pregnant women and vulnerable families; and protections for children from abuse, poverty, and neglect.

Francis Kissling, retired founder of the heterodox "Catholics for Free Choice", fears the worst:

[W]hy the post, which includes oversight of the department's faith-based grant-making in family planning, HIV and AIDS and in small-scale research into the effect of religion and spirituality on early sexual behavior, has gone to someone who both believes abortion should be illegal and opposes contraception[?]

In 2004, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good published Voting the Common Good: a Practical Guide for Conscientious Catholics, infamous for enlisting none other than Pope Benedict XVI -- by way of selective and abusive quotation -- to answer affirmatively the question: "Is it okay to vote for a pro-choice candidate?”.

Denver Archbishop Archbishop Charles Chaput (among others) harshly criticized CACG for having

done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.

Indeed, feel free to correct me on this, but Kelly's organization professes to be committed to "a consistent ethic of life" but in reality appears not the least bit interested in supporting any legislation that might place legal restrictions on abortion. Such that, as Rich Leonardi (Ten Reasons) points, out, "they take a position at odds with the landmark USCCB conference document 'Living the Gospel of Life'":

"Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing and health care. ... But being 'right' in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life. Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the 'rightness' of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community" ("Living the Gospel of Life," n. 23)

Kelly herself is chiefly known for serving as director of religious outreach for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004 and Senator Obama's campaign in 2008; for adopting a 'seamless garment' approach to abortion, placing it alongside issues which she presumes are of equal weight ("unjust war, the dignity of the human person, the growing gap between rich and poor, and global warming") and most recently, running defense for Obama's selection of Kathleen Sebelius as director of Health and Human Services. (This despite the fact that Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Sebelis' own bishop, has asked her to refrain from communion due to her support of abortion).

So: regarding liberal fears that Obama's latest Catholic might actually live up to and reflect her Catholic principles regarding "the sanctity of all human life—from conception until natural death" -- call me skeptical.

But I would so like to be proven wrong.