Use political voice to defend life

Feb. 8, 2007

My Dear Friends in Christ,

A few years ago Bishop Wilton Gregory, at that time the President of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote an interesting piece on the role Catholics should play in the political arena. A couple of Bishop Gregory's ideas caught my eye. Here is what he said:

We need to be political, but not partisan. Politics is always practical, not theoretical; it is about moral questions of life and death, war and peace, who moves ahead and who is left behind. It is especially about choosing carefully among different means of achieving common goals. But we cannot choose morally if our moral values are subordinate to a partisan standard. We must never allow ourselves to become captive to any party or cheerleader for any candidate.

We must be principled, but not ideological. Our Catholic principles define who we are in public life, and what we stand for as Catholics. We clearly cannot abandon the unborn on the one hand, nor the poor and immigrants on the other. Within the limits of our clear, unchanging moral norms, we must consider a variety of ways to protect life, empower the poor and welcome the immigrants. We leave particular choices to the well-formed and inspired consciences of the Catholic faithful.

We should be civil, but not soft. A Church that preaches justice and charity in public life must practice it. No cause is advanced by calling names or impugning motives. However, we will not stand by silently as politicians distort or dismiss or ignore Catholic teaching. We will especially not allow politicians who wish to be Catholic and to be supported by Catholics to flaunt Catholic teachings in their political decision-making.

These observations are especially important to Iowa Catholics because of discussions that are right now taking place under the capital dome in Des Moines. Governor Chet Culver, in office for less than a month, wants the legislature to consider repealing the statewide ban on human cloning. The next step, obviously, is a relaxation on the rules governing embryonic stem cell research.

Just last week, Governor Culver suggested we spend what he called a "modest $12.5 million" to create a new facility dedicated to stem cell research at the University of Iowa.

Even former Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack wanted nothing to do with the stem cell research. In 2002 he signed legislation that prevented scientists from creating or using human embryos for research.

Governor Vilsack had the right idea on this critical issue. Catholics across the diocese should let Governor Culver and their elected statehouse officials know that human cloning and embryonic stem cell research are not acceptable, moral solutions to the needs of our citizens.

As your Bishop, I strongly urge you to use your political voice to defend life. Refuse to fall to the temptation to sacrifice one life for another. If stem cell research is valuable, then demand from our political leaders the kinds of research that do not kill the innocent: adult bone marrow stem cells, umbilical cord blood stem cells, placental stem cells all show more medical promise with no ethical condemnations than the false hope offered by embryonic stem cell research. Once again today, it is time to be political, principled and civil.

Your Brother in Christ,

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City