Counterpoint: Catholics can support a faithful president

Tom Perriello's June 22 commentary "Bishops betray a faithful president" brings to mind the early 1980s when Cardinal John O'Connor, archbishop of New York, was warning Catholic politicians that they risked excommunication if they supported abortion rights.

The conservative wing of Catholics and their clergy, all devout and well-intentioned people, have always had trouble recognizing and respecting freedom of religion — that most of their dogmas are articles of faith, not objective moral truths willingly accepted by people of most faiths. In his 1864 Syllabus of Errors, Pius IX declared freedom of religion and speech heresies. For the past century when the Catholic Church has held political sway, it has frequently imposed its articles of faith by law and force on people who do not share them.

In particular, the Catholic doctrine against abortion is an article of faith, not an objective moral truth. How do we know? Because in 2,000 years of strident theological and moral dispute, there is nowhere even close to consensus. Indeed, this article of faith is held by less than a majority of Americans. The majority of American Christians, equally devout and well-intentioned, hold a different article of faith: They believe that a fetus does not acquire a right to life until later in pregnancy (some hold not until first breath). This belief is shared by the majority of Americans generally.

Fortunately, there has been a staunch wing of Catholics and clergy who do recognize the paramount value of religious freedom, not only as American citizens and not only for other faiths but for Catholics themselves. They have a humility worthy of Francis, their present vicar.

A landmark example came in 1984. Then-Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York, the most prominent Catholic politician of that era, in response to Cardinal O'Connor, gave a powerful address at Notre Dame — "Religious Belief and Public Morality: A Catholic Governor's Perspective," one of the finest expositions reconciling one's own religious beliefs and morals with freedom of religion. His remarks are deeply universal for people of all religions and no religion, and I commend for study the entire address to legislatures, courts, the American people and, especially, today's conservative Catholic clergy. Here is a profound excerpt [italics mine]:

"In addition to all the weaknesses, dilemmas and temptations that impede every pilgrim's progress, the Catholic who holds political office in a pluralistic democracy — who is elected to serve Jews and Muslims, atheists and Protestants, as well as Catholics — bears special responsibility. He or she undertakes to help create conditions under which all can live with a maximum of dignity and with a reasonable degree of freedom; where everyone who chooses may hold beliefs different from specifically Catholic ones — sometimes contradictory to them; where the laws protect people's right to divorce, to use birth control and even to choose abortion. In fact, Catholic public officials take an oath to preserve the Constitution that guarantees this freedom. And they do so gladly. Not because they love what others do with their freedom, but because they realize that in guaranteeing freedom for all, they guarantee our right to be Catholics: our right to pray, to use the sacraments, to refuse birth control devices, to reject abortion, not to divorce and remarry if we believe it to be wrong. The Catholic public official lives the political truth that most Catholics through most of American history have accepted and insisted on: the truth that to assure our freedom we must allow others the same freedom, even if occasionally it produces conduct by them which we would hold to be sinful. I protect my right to be a Catholic by preserving your right to believe as a Jew, a Protestant or non-believer, or as anything else you choose. We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might someday force theirs on us. This freedom is the fundamental strength of our unique experiment in government. In the complex interplay of forces and considerations that go into the making of our laws and policies, its preservation must be a pervasive and dominant concern."

President Joe Biden has said that he personally believes abortion is a sin. But he has also said he has taken an oath to defend the Constitution, including free exercise of religion for all Americans. I am sure this devout man will find ample clergy of his faith from whom to receive communion.

Walter McClure lives in Edina.