DENVER, Colorado, October 5, 2016 – Catholics “in good conscience cannot support candidates who will advance abortion” and the Democratic party “platform is aggressively pro-abortion,” the Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila wrote in a column lambasting abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and hostile attacks on religious freedom.
Describing a dinner party conversation he had with other Catholics, Aquila said he shared his “aversion for both candidates” but said Catholics “need to reflect on the platforms of both parties, with an emphasis on the human life issues.”
“This is the most important guidance I can give: allow your ongoing personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the Church to guide your political decisions,” Aquila said. “I say this because we believe that the truth about ourselves and the world we live in is revealed in and through him. Our society suffers and has suffered for quite some time because too few people live an integrated life – one that does not divide ‘the personal’ from ‘the public.’”
“The [Democratic] platform is aggressively pro-abortion, not only in funding matters, but in the appointment of only those judges who will support abortion and the repealing of the Helms Amendment, which prevents the U.S. from supporting abortion availability overseas,” he continued. “Conversely, the Republican party platform is supportive of the Hyde Amendment and just this year strengthened its support for life by calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, banning dismemberment abortion and opposing assisted suicide.”