Will the Pope "Interfere" in U.S. Elections? [UPDATED]

In addition to CPS colleague Christopher Blosser's coverage of Pope Benedict's apostolic journey to the U.S. at Benedict in America, you should definitely check out National Catholic Register Senior Writer Tim Drake's excellent and comprehensive coverage of the Holy Father's visit at Pope2008.com.

Yesterday Tim posted the following about concerns that Pope Benedict might try to influence the outcome of the U.S. Presidential Election:

An article at Afrik.com enters into the speculation surrounding the "political" nature that the Pope's visit might be spun into. One recoils at the headline - "Pope to Interfere in U.S. Politics." The Pope isn't going to interfere.

The article claims that by stressing the Church's teaching on the sanctity of life, that the Pope will be seen as supporting a particular candidate.

Some commentators have voiced the opinion that there are no "perfect" political candidates. Others have weighed in why their particular candidate is more aligned with Church teachings. To do so is to miss the higher reason for the Pope's visit. He does not come as a politician. He comes as the leader of the Catholic Church, with a message to give to the Church and to the U.S. about our higher calling. He comes to call us back to Jesus Christ and to the ideals upon which this country was founded.

We should be grateful that the Pope has chosen to come to the U.S. during an election year. One individual I spoke with worked for the Church under the leadership of President Gerald Ford. He told me that President Ford was pressuring Washington, D.C.'s then-Cardinal Baum to have Pope Paul VI visit the U.S. According to this source, the Vatican chose not to visit largely because it was an election year. Hence, Pope John Paul II didn't come until after President Jimmy Carter was elected.

If anyone tries to turn the Pope's visit for political advantage, I'm quite sure it won't be with the Holy Father's blessing. I've already blogged here that I hope none of the candidates try to score some cheap and cynical photo op out of his visit.

As for those concerned that the Pope's emphasis on the sanctity of life will disadvantage the prospects of your party's candidate, don't blame Benedict; blame your party and its candidates for their lousy record on life issues.


UPDATE
Also, be sure to check out Tim's complete coverage of political angles regarding the Pope's visit under the label "Politics and the Pope"

USCCB Responds to Feuerherd

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, writes in today's Washington Post:

Joe Feuerherd's screed against the Catholic bishops for their call for political responsibility epitomizes the incivility of this campaign season, where truth has become a casualty and half-truths the norm.

With demeaning and mocking words, Feuerherd scoffs at the bishops' November 2007 statement "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship." It urges Catholics not to be one-issue voters but to look at all the issues and make prudent decisions. When up for a vote, it drew virtually unanimous support of the almost 300 active members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Few decisions get that kind of support.

***
The current campaign shows that politics is too often a contest of powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype. In "Faithful Citizenship," the Church calls for a different kind of political engagement: one shaped by moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and vulnerable. It stresses that Catholics need to be guided more by their moral convictions than by attachment to a political party or interest group. Catholic participation should help transform the party to which they belong; they should not let the party transform them in such a way that they neglect or deny basic moral truths.

Feuerherd's incivility is striking. The crude reference to the Eucharist as "the wafer" should be beneath anyone who respects people's religious sentiments, let alone an acknowledged Catholic. Belief in the Eucharist is sacred to Catholics, yet Feuerherd treats it in a belittling manner.

His final salvo, damning the bishops, is unworthy of both Feuerherd and The Post. It's hard to imagine The Post giving its pages to a writer suggesting the outright damnation of the leaders of any other religious body. Feuerherd's vitriol might be understandable if the bishops were concerned, like a typical special-interest group, only with what benefits them. However, the bishops' defense of the right to life of the unborn is a principled commitment in justice to the good of others who are vulnerable and with no voice of their own.

[Read the whole thing]

Louisiana Goes Republican: Katrina Destroys Democratic Hold on Governorship

There was an historic election in Louisiana last Saturday. My home state got a new Republican governor. Yes, in the state of Katrina, which the liberal media has falsified into a "Bush-caused catastrophe," the state went Republican--and not just Republican, but with a highly conservative, pro-life Republican. Let it be clear: many of those from Louisiana knew right off the bat that the Katrina disaster was the product of years of insitutionalized Democratic mismanagement and corruption in New Orleans and Louisiana politics. Yet, the liberal media, oblivious to the facts, boldly projected their anti-Bush obsession onto the disaster and gave the nation a false picture of the cause of the disaster. Much the same is happening with the exaggerated emphasis on global warming.

A new generation is taking over in Louisiana. The new Governor-elect Bobby Jindal is at 36, the youngest governor in the nation. But note that youth is not enough--what makes Jindal special is that he combines youth with an entirely new approach, because there are young clones of the mentality that gave us years of Democratic mismanagement and mediocrity in Louisiana politics. Jindal is also an enthusiastic convert to Catholicism from Hinduism. His parents were born in India. He is a graduate of Brown University and was a Rhodes Scholar. And another great plus: he is not a lawyer! So, a lot of false assumptions fell yesterday: that Katrina would be a Democratic political boon, that Louisianians would not vote for a "non-white" governor, that Louisianians are satisfied with corrupt business as usual, that Louisiana is berefet of intelligent political talent. The skinny, non-lawyer, Republican Rhodes Scholar with roots in India is now the face of Louisiana politics. That's about as different from past Louisiana political figures as you can get. Saturday may finally have been the day that Louisiana really joined the Union. Now, the hard task becomes how the liberal media can spin the facts away and somehow transform this eruption of reality into some kind of evil that can be ascribed to President Bush. (For further details, see this Wikipedia link.)