A Wisconsin Catholic priest recently urged voters to reject pro-abortion candidate Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court, saying the focus of her campaign has been on legalizing the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
In a March 26 bulletin, the Rev. Brian Dulli, pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Cottage Grove, said Catholics must oppose the “grave sin” of abortion, including by voting in local elections, the Catholic News Agency reports.
“As a Catholic, I urge you, for the salvation of your soul; do not vote for [Protasiewicz] in the Supreme Court race …” Dulli wrote. She has “tried to make this race entirely an effort to legalize abortion in the state of Wisconsin,” he continued.
The election Tuesday could affect the fate of thousands of unborn babies’ lives for years to come. The expensive, high-stakes race will determine if the court maintains its conservative majority and likely will be the deciding factor on whether unborn babies continue to be protected from abortion in Wisconsin.
Protasiewicz is running against conservative candidate Dan Kelly who has received endorsements from many pro-life organizations, including Wisconsin Family Action, Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Right to Life and SBA Pro-Life America.
Abortion has been a central issue of the election. Right now, Wisconsin protects unborn babies by banning elective abortions, but Democrat state Attorney General Josh Kaul is challenging the law and the state Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the coming months.
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In his message last week, Dulli asked his congregation to study the candidates’ positions carefully and vote “in accordance with the truths of the Catholic faith,” according to CNA.
“Abortion is the intentional taking of a human life. It is murder,” the priest continued. “Our Catholic faith is clear that this is grave sin. It should never be controversial among Catholics to say that you can never intentionally take any action that knowingly will help in the taking of a human life. You cannot publicly support abortion or abortion advocates and remain a Catholic in good standing.”
Dulli faced criticism for the message and responded Sunday by reiterating his call to oppose pro-abortion candidates, CNA reports.
“… given a choice between any two people, we must say ‘absolutely not’ to the person who says abortion should be on the table,” he wrote. “We need to say no to a system that demands human sacrifice of the unborn be on the table. Jesus said that we will be judged by what we do to the least among us. Babies are the littlest and least. If someone consents to the killing of unborn children, they will not stop at the destruction of you or your family.”
Other state Catholic leaders, including Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, Madison Bishop Donald Hying and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, also have urged voters to make unborn babies’ right to life a priority when they vote, but they did not name specific candidates.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Madison issued a statement to CNA after Dulli’s bulletin message sparked criticism, explaining that the church does not endorse or oppose political candidates
“The Catholic Church’s involvement in public life doesn’t extend to endorsing candidates for election to public office nor calling for their defeat and thus refrains from partisan political activities. The Church does encourage voter registration and encourages Catholics, as citizens, to vote and to be civically engaged,” the diocese said.
It continued: “However, the Church also has both a duty and a right to call attention to the moral and religious dimensions of public issues, measuring social policies and political activities against the natural moral law and Gospel values. Since the first century, the Church has consistently affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law in its respect for all human life.”
Under Roe v. Wade, abortions were legal for any reason up to 20 weeks in Wisconsin, and more than 6,400 unborn babies were aborted every year. Now, the state law is saving thousands of lives.
But pro-abortion groups are spending huge amounts of money to support Protasiewicz and return Wisconsin to the days when unborn babies could be legally killed for any elective reason.
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