Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 11:55pm

What Faith Was That, Governor?

 

Pat Quinn is the Governor of the State of Illinois.  He was Lieutenant Governor under Rod Blagojevich and took over after Blago was impeached and convicted by the State Legislature.  Quinn bucked the Republican tide this year and won election to a four year term, narrowly defeating pro-life Republican Bill Brady.  In that campaign Quinn emphasized that he is a pro-abort.

Pat Quinn claims to be a Roman Catholic.  The State Legislature this week passed a civil unions (pretend marriage) bill for homosexuals.  Quinn has vowed to sign it.

Gov. Pat Quinn – who campaigned on the issue, lobbied members and was on the floor of the House for much of Tuesday’s debate – lauded the House’s action. Quinn said he would sign the bill if it passes the Senate, where a vote is expected today.

“My religious faith animates me to support this bill,” Quinn, a Catholic, told reporters after the vote. “I think, as a matter of conscience, this was the right vote.”

 

The Bishop of Springfield, Thomas Paprocki, wasted no time correcting the Governor:

After the Illinois House of Representatives approved legislation that would require the state to recognize same-sex unions, Governor Pat Quinn was quoted as saying, “My religious faith animates me to support this bill.” He did not say what religious faith that would be, but it certainly is not the Catholic faith. If the Governor wishes to pursue a secular agenda for political purposes, that is his prerogative for which he is accountable to the voters. But if he wishes to speak as a Catholic, then he is accountable to Catholic authority, and the Catholic Church does not support civil unions or other measures that are contrary to the natural moral law.

The Governor met the Bishop’s rebuke with a shrug of indifference:  Asked about the bishop’s statement, Quinn said, “I follow my conscience. My conscience is not kicking me in the shins today.”

Bravo for the Bishop!  Quinn obviously doesn’t care a fig for the Faith, and the Bishop performed a public service by making that fact crystal clear.

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T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 5:47am

Bishop Paprocki most appropriately availed himself of this opportunity (“teachable moment”) to make perfectly, succunctly clear the Church’s Truth on this faith and morals issue.

There is another form of bankruptcy (besides fiscal bankruptcy): moral bankruptcy.

IL is bankrupt on both counts. It just hasn’t declared bankruptcy . . . yet.

Elaine Krewer
Admin
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 6:22am

My guess is that this is more about Quinn paying back the gay activist groups who contributed money to his campaign, than it is about his faith. I don’t recall him making an issue of civil unions/gay marriage until maybe a couple of months before the election.

Do these statements indicate that Bp. Paprocki will invoke Canon 915 against Gov. Quinn or is considering it? Anything is possible, I suppose. However, if he did, I don’t know that it would have much of an effect. You see, Quinn still has a home in Chicago, and most of his public appearances on weekends are in that area. More likely than not he goes to Mass there. The Cathedral is only 2 blocks from the governor’s mansion and I belong to that parish but I have yet to see him or any other well-known, Catholic statewide official at a weekend Mass. Of course, maybe I’m just going to Mass at the wrong times 🙂 A formal canonical action, if it comes to that, would need Cardinal George and all the bishops of Illinois on board to really be effective.

Afghani"stan"
Afghani"stan"
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 12:42pm

The news just gets worse and worse for the Land of Lincoln. I applaud the Bishop for his clear remarks.

Disaster I fear looms for Illinois, that’s what happens when your state is taken over by Public Service Unions.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 4:14pm

“I follow my conscience. My conscience is not kicking me in the shins today.”

He’s a pol from Chicago. What conscience?

What is disgustingly amusing about this is that the Governor professes it a matter of conscience that the gay lobby be given a bauble that was dreamed up around about 1986. Our social policy is being set by people who are driven by fashion and when asked to explain themselves have nothing to offer but ‘whatever’.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 4:27pm

My guess is that this is more about Quinn paying back the gay activist groups who contributed money to his campaign, than it is about his faith.

Thirty some years ago, the National Organizaton for Women had occasion to complain that state Governors were unwilling to horse trade to get their pet project (the ‘Equal Rights Amendment’) passed. I think it was Governor Thompson of Illinois who offered in reply that for the opposition it was a matter of conscience as well and ‘you don’t trade a constitutional amendment for a job or a bridge’. I guess standards in Illinois have been in long-term decline.

Elaine Krewer
Admin
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 7:30pm

Actually this bill opens up even more cans of moral, societal, and fiscal worms than just gay marriage…

Because the civil unions provided for in this bill are open to BOTH opposite-sex and same-sex couples, some senior citizens think it might provide a convienient resolution to the dilemma of widows/widowers who want to remarry without losing Social Security, pension or other benefits from their previous spouses.

A civil union under this law would be recognized by the State and grant all the rights the State normally grants to married couples (inheritance, insurance coverage, medical decision making, etc.), but since it wouldn’t be recognized by the FEDERAL government, wouldn’t affect Social Security benefits or change one’s income tax filing status.

So, what happens if a Catholic or mixed-faith couple, one or both of whom is widowed and has a pension or other source of income they would lose upon remarriage, decides to opt for a civil union instead, and then decides to marry in the Church? What are they going to tell the priest when he asks for their marriage license? What is the priest going to do when he discovers they don’t have one? Is the couple guilty of fraud or cooperation with evil? Does their legal status impinge upon whether or not the sacrament is valid?

Teresa
Friday, December 3, AD 2010 8:24pm

Bravo Bishop Paprocki!! I love how he spoke up and set the record straight.

It’s really all about these secularists tearing down the family and the importance of marriage, and not about them participating in marriage or civil unions.

Elaine Krewer
Admin
Saturday, December 4, AD 2010 12:35am

Another group that may be interested in civil unions as a “lite” form of marriage: young people who want to get on their significant other’s health insurance plan (if it doesn’t already cover domestic partners) but aren’t yet ready for a “real” wedding because they can’t afford the big bridezilla party, or for other reasons.

However, the ability to have one’s wedding… er, civil union, cake and eat it too won’t last very long if and when the federal government decides to recognize same-sex unions or put them fully on a par with civil marriage. That might please gay activists but probably won’t please the opposite-sex couples who use civil unions to game the benefit system.

Pax Christi of Bakersfield, CA
Pax Christi of Bakersfield, CA
Saturday, December 4, AD 2010 12:41am

Quinn needs to be told: “Get thee behind the church, Satan!” Then maybe he will start properly forming his conscience.

Paul
Paul
Saturday, December 4, AD 2010 3:00pm

This is as much a rebuke of Quinn as it is the blue collar Chicago catholics who voted him back into office. The fact that catholics continue to vote for such pro-aborts is also a poor reflection on the unfortunate ineffectual leadership of Cardinal George.

R.C.
R.C.
Monday, December 6, AD 2010 10:03am

So…

I gather Quinn is not permitted to receive at any Catholic parish within the Springfield diocese? Is that right?

I ask because doing so would be, under the circumstances, dangerous for Quinn personally. St. Paul asserts that some folk get sick or die as a chastisement from God for taking the body and blood while not properly disposed.

So, did Bishop Paprocki take this additional pastoral step of keeping Quinn out of harm’s way? (I suppose he could have done it privately.)

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