Catholic voters rise up

The Catholic vote may be back, but the fight for a culture of life is far from finished . . .

Patrick Novecosky

Exit polls from last month’s general election show that the pro-life Catholic vote is back!

More than 55% of Catholics voted for the GOP — a 20-point increase since 2008. But that’s only half of the story. More importantly, 17 pro-life Catholics will be added to Congress in January, while roughly 26 pro-abortion Catholics will be departing.

In his post-election analysis, Deal Hudson wrote that “perhaps the biggest news of all for Catholics on election night was the emergence of a pro-life Catholic Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) to replace Nancy Pelosi, a pro-abortion Catholic. With Boehner at the helm, Catholics can be assured that a real fight will be underway for ridding our nation of federally funded abortions.”

And Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee observed that “the election results were good in the Senate as well, where the net shift in the pro-life direction will be from four to seven votes, depending on the issue. No senator is being replaced by a successor who has a weaker position on abortion.”

On the marriage front, Iowa voters ousted three of its seven activist Supreme Court justices who voted to legalize same-sex “marriage” last year. Legate Brian Brown, who heads the National Organization for Marriage, said that “judges in Iowa began this fight by refusing to follow the Constitution, refusing to listen to the people and putting their own view of marriage on the citizens of Iowa.” Brown called the election results “a massive victory for judicial accountability.”

As many pundits have said, November’s elections weren’t so much a nod of approval to Republicans as they were a rejection of big government,  massive federal spending and a health care law that is destined ruin the best (albeit an imperfect) health care system in the world. Just as the Democrats were scrutinized by faithful Catholics and other conservatives over the past two years, so too will the GOP be scrutinized between now and 2012.

As faithful Catholics, we’re not only called to hold our elected representatives accountable, but we’re called to pray for them — especially our president and high court judges. In his letter to Timothy, St. Paul writes: “I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority” (1 Tim 2: 1-2). Without the prayers of the faithful, our nation would already be lost. So our continued prayer for those in office is now more urgent than ever.

With gay activists now targeting the Defense of Marriage Act and three new judges soon to be appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court — plus a host of other issues — this is no time for faithful Catholics to sit on the sidelines congratulating themselves on November’s victories. It’s time to pull together, not for a political party, but for the values we hold dear as members of the Body of Christ.

Patrick Novecosky is Legatus Magazine’s editor.