19.04.2024.
In 2006, shortly after being elected Pope, Benedict XVI met in Rome with a very large group, some 500 parliamentarians of the European People’s Party, before whom he enunciated for the first time what has since become known as ‘non-negotiable principles’, non-negotiable principles that must mark not only the agenda that Catholic politicians must try to carry out, but also the vote of Catholics. He spoke about it again the following year when the apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis was published, and two years later, in 2009, before a group of bishops on an ad limina visit, Pope Benedict spoke clearly that it was inexcusable to stop guiding Catholics according to the ‘non-negotiable principles’, that it was the duty of bishops to guide Catholics in the matter of the vote based on these principles.
This was not the first time that the Church had spoken out on one of these issues. First of all, we must remember the three non-negotiable principles: firstly, the defense of life, from conception to natural death; secondly, the defense of the family, understood as the union of a man and a woman, a union through marriage, a stable union, open to children; and thirdly, the defense of the right of parents to have the last word in the education of their children and to be able to prevent the State from educating their children. These three non-negotiable principles, as I say, were enunciated as such by Pope Benedict in 2006 for the first time, at least the issue of abortion had already been taken into account by the Church, which had imposed, punished with the maximum possible penalty, which is excommunication, those who participated directly in an abortion and even politicians who in their legislative work had promoted or supported the approval of abortion laws, at least more abortionist than those that existed at that time. The non-negotiable principles were an effective reference throughout the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. The issues, especially the issue of abortion in the United States, had been important even before, during the triennium from 1974 to 1977, when Cardinal Bernardin, then Archbishop of Chicago, who at that time was not yet Archbishop of Chicago, was president of the Episcopal Conference. Bernardin, because there was strong pressure against abortion, and pressure to orient Catholics on the issue of abortion in the elections, elaborated a doctrine that became known as the ‘seamless robe’. It should be remembered that Bernardin became president of the episcopate in 1974 and it was in 1973 when the American Supreme Court approved the possibility of carrying out abortions legally.
The doctrine of the seamless tunic of Bernardin said that, he spoke of the tunic that our Lord had which was woven in one piece and that at the time of dividing his few possessions, his few garments before crucifying him, the soldiers had decided not to tear it in pieces but to cast lots for it. Bernardin, Cardinal Bernardin, said that this was what had to be done, that of the seamless tunic, not to tear it into pieces, when it came to orienting the vote, abortion was indeed an important issue, but it was not the only important issue, and it was necessary to take into account the whole, the whole was for example immigration, the rights of workers, the rights of women, abortion was one more element, and this, the doctrine of the seamless tunic of Cardinal Bernardin, was what allowed many American Catholics to continue voting for the Democratic Party even though it was becoming more and more radical. It should not be forgotten that the Democratic Party had traditionally been the party of Catholics in the United States, less so for a vast majority of Catholics, and that for them to renounce their party and that of their predecessors was very difficult. Justification came to them with this doctrine of the seamless tunic.
But then came John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and then the situation began to change, and this situation caused a crisis in the United States during the presidential race between Biden and Trump, Biden a Catholic but an abortionist. The issue of abortion was important in that electoral struggle, won by Biden who became, has become, is still President, increasingly radical on the issue of abortion, to the point that a large group of American bishops considered the possibility of applying the canon law that establishes excommunication late sentence, automatic excommunication, and to prohibit access to communion not only to him but to the then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Catholic also, because of her manifest, very clear, explicit support for abortion, they received a letter from the Vatican which said “it would be misleading to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only serious matters of Catholic social doctrine that demand the highest level of responsibility on the part of Catholics”, in other words, a return to the doctrine of the seamless tunic of Cardinal Bernardin. Abortion, now euthanasia was also included, well, these are important issues, there is no doubt, it has never been said otherwise, but it is one more, there is nothing else that can be done. In the face of this, the collective attempt, and I repeat of a group of bishops, an important group of bishops, to deny communion to Biden failed, it was stopped in its tracks. Well, we have been like that until, until very recently.
Dignitas Infinita has been published, that is to say, a document of the Doctrine of the Faith where the attacks against human dignity are listed, and abortion, gender ideology, euthanasia, occupy a very prominent place. something has to change after this, but to top it all, this Wednesday, in the message that the Pope gives every Wednesday on the occasion of the general audience, Pope Francis has used again the concept of ‘non-negotiable principles’, I may be wrong, I have not traced, I have not been able to find it, I may be wrong, it seems difficult to me to do it, all the words that Pope Francis has said throughout his pontificate, if he has ever used this concept, I do not remember it, I think it is the first time that Pope Francis uses this concept: ‘non-negotiable principles’, and it has been used immediately after Dignitas Infinita was published. It is true that the Pope has said that it has to be applied taking into account two elements, two things, first, moderation, and second, attentive listening to the reasons that those who think differently from us have, and I completely agree with the Pope, that is, we cannot defend life using violence, defending life with insults, with threats, or with physical violence is not our way nor can it ever be, and I am not referring only to life, the three non-negotiable principles: life, family and parental rights, moderation is essential, and in the same way, it seems to me not only charitable but intelligent to listen to those who have a different approach than ours, because that helps us to see if we are right or not, if we have to modify our approaches in something or even helps us to reaffirm ourselves more in them, but moderation and listening cannot mean lukewarmness.
We are at such a transcendental moment in the history of mankind, not only because of the threats of war, but also because of the situation we are experiencing with regard to the birth rate, in the year 2022, which are the latest data available, more than half of the people who died in the world, including those who died due to Covid, more than half of them died due to abortion, and that is taking into account that this does not include abortions by chemical means, the morning-after pill, for example, because nobody knows whether or not there was an abortion, among other things. The situation of the family is equally serious, there are no marriages, not only in the Church, we are not talking about worldwide, that is to say, the situation is so serious that it is not only affecting us Catholics, but the destiny of humanity is at stake. Faced with this situation, it is suicidal for the world, and of course for us Catholics, to take a lukewarm, ambiguous position. The non-negotiable principles must once again guide the vote in a decisive way, not as one more element in a set of 20 things, but in a decisive way the vote, as Pope Francis has just said, although he did not speak of the vote, he just said it, it is enough to quote these two words ‘non-negotiable principles’ for everyone to know what he is referring to with the nuances he has made, and which he has done very well in making, we must remember those words that are written in the Apocalypse, because we are perhaps facing an apocalyptic situation, we must remember those words written by St. John: “I vomit the lukewarm”, we cannot be lukewarm at this time, when it comes to defending the three principles non-negotiable principles.
Naturally and unfortunately, we are always faced with the dilemma of what to choose, because there is not or it is very difficult to find something that fully satisfies us at the time, for example, to vote, it is very annoying, it even creates problems of conscience to have to vote for the lesser evil, it creates them for me, of course, but there are situations in which there is no other choice. And this is true for the United States, for Mexico and for all countries where Catholics are still a relatively significant force, when it comes to influencing the vote, it is the duty of pastors to pay attention to the Pope, to pay attention to Dignitas Infinita, Pope Francis has just said that the ‘non-negotiable principles’ must be taken into account again, it is the duty of pastors to pay attention to this. It is true that the chances of being listened to are decreasing, unfortunately, but that which is important is not as important as the fact that they keep quiet. Our faithful, our Catholics, need to know what to do at a time like this when more than half the deaths in the world are due to abortion, when no children are born, when there are no families. If in this context we continue to be ambiguous and we continue to apply the seamless tunic, that this is just another element, then the words of St. John in the Apocalypse will apply to us, ‘I vomit the lukewarm’, God willing this will not happen.
Until next week, God willing.
Non-negotiable principles or Apocalypse
19.04.2024.
In 2006, shortly after being elected Pope, Benedict XVI met in Rome with a very large group, some 500 parliamentarians of the European People’s Party, before whom he enunciated for the first time what has since become known as ‘non-negotiable principles’, non-negotiable principles that must mark not only the agenda that Catholic politicians must try to carry out, but also the vote of Catholics. He spoke about it again the following year when the apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis was published, and two years later, in 2009, before a group of bishops on an ad limina visit, Pope Benedict spoke clearly that it was inexcusable to stop guiding Catholics according to the ‘non-negotiable principles’, that it was the duty of bishops to guide Catholics in the matter of the vote based on these principles.
This was not the first time that the Church had spoken out on one of these issues. First of all, we must remember the three non-negotiable principles: firstly, the defense of life, from conception to natural death; secondly, the defense of the family, understood as the union of a man and a woman, a union through marriage, a stable union, open to children; and thirdly, the defense of the right of parents to have the last word in the education of their children and to be able to prevent the State from educating their children. These three non-negotiable principles, as I say, were enunciated as such by Pope Benedict in 2006 for the first time, at least the issue of abortion had already been taken into account by the Church, which had imposed, punished with the maximum possible penalty, which is excommunication, those who participated directly in an abortion and even politicians who in their legislative work had promoted or supported the approval of abortion laws, at least more abortionist than those that existed at that time. The non-negotiable principles were an effective reference throughout the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. The issues, especially the issue of abortion in the United States, had been important even before, during the triennium from 1974 to 1977, when Cardinal Bernardin, then Archbishop of Chicago, who at that time was not yet Archbishop of Chicago, was president of the Episcopal Conference. Bernardin, because there was strong pressure against abortion, and pressure to orient Catholics on the issue of abortion in the elections, elaborated a doctrine that became known as the ‘seamless robe’. It should be remembered that Bernardin became president of the episcopate in 1974 and it was in 1973 when the American Supreme Court approved the possibility of carrying out abortions legally.
The doctrine of the seamless tunic of Bernardin said that, he spoke of the tunic that our Lord had which was woven in one piece and that at the time of dividing his few possessions, his few garments before crucifying him, the soldiers had decided not to tear it in pieces but to cast lots for it. Bernardin, Cardinal Bernardin, said that this was what had to be done, that of the seamless tunic, not to tear it into pieces, when it came to orienting the vote, abortion was indeed an important issue, but it was not the only important issue, and it was necessary to take into account the whole, the whole was for example immigration, the rights of workers, the rights of women, abortion was one more element, and this, the doctrine of the seamless tunic of Cardinal Bernardin, was what allowed many American Catholics to continue voting for the Democratic Party even though it was becoming more and more radical. It should not be forgotten that the Democratic Party had traditionally been the party of Catholics in the United States, less so for a vast majority of Catholics, and that for them to renounce their party and that of their predecessors was very difficult. Justification came to them with this doctrine of the seamless tunic.
But then came John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and then the situation began to change, and this situation caused a crisis in the United States during the presidential race between Biden and Trump, Biden a Catholic but an abortionist. The issue of abortion was important in that electoral struggle, won by Biden who became, has become, is still President, increasingly radical on the issue of abortion, to the point that a large group of American bishops considered the possibility of applying the canon law that establishes excommunication late sentence, automatic excommunication, and to prohibit access to communion not only to him but to the then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Catholic also, because of her manifest, very clear, explicit support for abortion, they received a letter from the Vatican which said “it would be misleading to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only serious matters of Catholic social doctrine that demand the highest level of responsibility on the part of Catholics”, in other words, a return to the doctrine of the seamless tunic of Cardinal Bernardin. Abortion, now euthanasia was also included, well, these are important issues, there is no doubt, it has never been said otherwise, but it is one more, there is nothing else that can be done. In the face of this, the collective attempt, and I repeat of a group of bishops, an important group of bishops, to deny communion to Biden failed, it was stopped in its tracks. Well, we have been like that until, until very recently.
Dignitas Infinita has been published, that is to say, a document of the Doctrine of the Faith where the attacks against human dignity are listed, and abortion, gender ideology, euthanasia, occupy a very prominent place. something has to change after this, but to top it all, this Wednesday, in the message that the Pope gives every Wednesday on the occasion of the general audience, Pope Francis has used again the concept of ‘non-negotiable principles’, I may be wrong, I have not traced, I have not been able to find it, I may be wrong, it seems difficult to me to do it, all the words that Pope Francis has said throughout his pontificate, if he has ever used this concept, I do not remember it, I think it is the first time that Pope Francis uses this concept: ‘non-negotiable principles’, and it has been used immediately after Dignitas Infinita was published. It is true that the Pope has said that it has to be applied taking into account two elements, two things, first, moderation, and second, attentive listening to the reasons that those who think differently from us have, and I completely agree with the Pope, that is, we cannot defend life using violence, defending life with insults, with threats, or with physical violence is not our way nor can it ever be, and I am not referring only to life, the three non-negotiable principles: life, family and parental rights, moderation is essential, and in the same way, it seems to me not only charitable but intelligent to listen to those who have a different approach than ours, because that helps us to see if we are right or not, if we have to modify our approaches in something or even helps us to reaffirm ourselves more in them, but moderation and listening cannot mean lukewarmness.
We are at such a transcendental moment in the history of mankind, not only because of the threats of war, but also because of the situation we are experiencing with regard to the birth rate, in the year 2022, which are the latest data available, more than half of the people who died in the world, including those who died due to Covid, more than half of them died due to abortion, and that is taking into account that this does not include abortions by chemical means, the morning-after pill, for example, because nobody knows whether or not there was an abortion, among other things. The situation of the family is equally serious, there are no marriages, not only in the Church, we are not talking about worldwide, that is to say, the situation is so serious that it is not only affecting us Catholics, but the destiny of humanity is at stake. Faced with this situation, it is suicidal for the world, and of course for us Catholics, to take a lukewarm, ambiguous position. The non-negotiable principles must once again guide the vote in a decisive way, not as one more element in a set of 20 things, but in a decisive way the vote, as Pope Francis has just said, although he did not speak of the vote, he just said it, it is enough to quote these two words ‘non-negotiable principles’ for everyone to know what he is referring to with the nuances he has made, and which he has done very well in making, we must remember those words that are written in the Apocalypse, because we are perhaps facing an apocalyptic situation, we must remember those words written by St. John: “I vomit the lukewarm”, we cannot be lukewarm at this time, when it comes to defending the three principles non-negotiable principles.
Naturally and unfortunately, we are always faced with the dilemma of what to choose, because there is not or it is very difficult to find something that fully satisfies us at the time, for example, to vote, it is very annoying, it even creates problems of conscience to have to vote for the lesser evil, it creates them for me, of course, but there are situations in which there is no other choice. And this is true for the United States, for Mexico and for all countries where Catholics are still a relatively significant force, when it comes to influencing the vote, it is the duty of pastors to pay attention to the Pope, to pay attention to Dignitas Infinita, Pope Francis has just said that the ‘non-negotiable principles’ must be taken into account again, it is the duty of pastors to pay attention to this. It is true that the chances of being listened to are decreasing, unfortunately, but that which is important is not as important as the fact that they keep quiet. Our faithful, our Catholics, need to know what to do at a time like this when more than half the deaths in the world are due to abortion, when no children are born, when there are no families. If in this context we continue to be ambiguous and we continue to apply the seamless tunic, that this is just another element, then the words of St. John in the Apocalypse will apply to us, ‘I vomit the lukewarm’, God willing this will not happen.
Until next week, God willing.