Posted: Sept. 5, 2020
More and more right-wing Catholic priests are falsely claiming it's a sin to vote for Joe Biden. This isn't just bad policy -- it's bad theology, and a distortion of both the Gospel and Catholic teaching.
One prominent voice is Wisconsin's Fr. James Altman, whose angry homily "You cannot be Catholic & a Democrat. Period," has 280,000 views on YouTube.
In his misleading sermon, Altman sneers that "zero faithful Catholics" voted for Barack Obama. He also calls the antiracist Southern Poverty Law Center "godless, communist, anti-American" and attacks pro-LGBTQ Vatican adviser Fr. Jim Martin, SJ, as a "heretic."
The truth is that Catholic teaching allows discerning Catholics to vote for any candidate. Both the U.S. bishops' conference and retired Pope Benedict have acknowledged that voters must often weigh multiple moral issues at the polls -- including workers' rights, protecting the poor, and stopping racist behavior.
Grassroots Christians are sick of seeing religion hijacked and the Gospel distorted for a hateful, right-wing agenda. We need to raise up a counter voice so that these dishonest, pro-Trump messages do not swing the election this November.
Sign the petition:
Love thy neighbor.