Priest: ‘How dare’ clergy suggest abortion is just another ‘issue’?

By Claire Chretien

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, November 2, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Catholics must reject the suggestion that “to regulate murder at the beginning and end of life is just another issue facing our society” and vote knowing that abortion and euthanasia are “foundational” to a just and moral society, Father Stephen Imbarrato said in a homily broadcast globally on EWTN.

Imbarrato, a Priest Associate at Priests for Life, warned that “this election has global repercussions” and society is at a “critical junction.”

“There really is only one issue that we need to get right, for if we get this issue right, I believe and I think we all know, we can all agree, all the other issues will start falling into place,” said Imbarrato.

This is “the issue of thousands of babies dying in our country every single day.”

“Over a hundred twenty thousand babies die from abortion each day worldwide,” Imbarrato continued. “This is such a river of blood, such an affront against God, the author of life, that there can really be no issue more important or demanding greater or immediate attention.”

He reiterated that the moral issues of abortion, same-sex “marriage,” euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and human cloning are “non-negotiable” for Catholics–that is, Catholics can never vote in favor of them.

“As important as all the non-negotiables are, and they are non-negotiables, we now have seen others try to make the list include all issues,” said Imbarrato. “Otherwise known as this ‘consistent life ethic,’ the ‘seamless garment,’ so to speak.”

“As much as we need to be mindful of the poor, and many other social issues…the fact is that marriage and moral experimentation do supersede all other social issues,” he continued. “But the even plainer fact is abortion is the pre-eminent and defining issue of our day and supersedes all other issues.”

“Really, how dare anyone say–I don’t care, laity, priest, bishop–that all issues are equal?” he asked. “That we adhere to some consistent life ethic as a reason to regulate murder at the beginning and end of life is just another issue facing our society?”

The many issues facing society will begin to be resolved and “fall into place” after we defend the right to life, Imbarrato said.

“As Catholics, we all understand” we should work to help the poor and resolve other social problems, but, quoting the U.S. bishops’ document Living the Gospel of Life, Imbarrato continued: “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.”

“Someone can be right in every single issue, but if they’re wrong on abortion, they’re wrong,” the priest explained. “Let us not fall prey or be deceived by the empty argument of modern day preachers and teachers who selectively quote weaker and less authoritative documents such as Faithful Citizenship. Living the Gospel of Life is the application, it’s the implementation, of our Catholic faith of Evangelium Vitae, the infallible encyclical of St. John Paul II.”

“Voting pro-life can mean only one thing, and one thing only: voting against and eliminating from consideration anyone who is unequivocally pro-death,” he said.

 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/priest-how-dare-clergy-suggest-abortion-is-just-another-issue