Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Women in Religion
Priests and Homilies on Abortion

Priests and Homilies on Abortion

Last updated on: June 28, 2022 at 1:26 pm by Lois Kerschen

Priests and Homilies on Abortion 2022-06-28T13:26:06-07:00 Lois Kerschen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In our travels, my husband and I happened to witness an unforgettable response to a parish priest who dared to bring up the subject of abortion in his homily.

We were at a friend’s parish, and it was October, just before a national election. The point of the priest’s homily was that his parishioners had a responsibility to vote pro-life.

He was very careful not to mention any candidate’s name or any political party. He talked only about pro-life issues, particularly abortion.

Here was a priest who understood his responsibility to educate his parishioners about the teachings of the Church and to guide them on the right path.

Photo by Father James on Unsplash

Religious or Political?

I have had people tell me that abortion is a political matter and should be kept out of church. More commonly, the pro-abortion advocates say that opposition to abortion is a religious thing and thus such a biased view should be kept out of politics.

This schizophrenic divide is annoyingly ironic. It’s not religious because its political, but it’s not political because it’s religious. Huh?

The people who want it kept out of church are probably those who are “pro-choice” and don’t want the Church criticizing their opinion. After all, they can think for themselves and don’t need some stodgy old priest telling them what to do.

Also likely is that many people find abortion just too uncomfortable a topic for church. They go to church to feel good, so they don’t want to hear anything heavy. They are happy to ignore the tough issues and leave all that to the politicians.

Then again, there are those who don’t want any topics related to sex or “women’s issues” to be discussed in church. It’s just not appropriate in a holy place, they say.

Constitutional Protection or Prohibition?

Those who claim religious opinions about abortion should be kept out of politics defend their position with the over-used and little-understood citation about the separation of church and state.

The Constitution says in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In other words, no state religion and no keeping people from practicing whatever religion they want.

That’s it. Nothing else. So those who get hysterical if anything religious touches anything related to government are way off base.

Image by Wynn Pointaux from Pixabay

There are tax laws that prohibit churches, and other nonprofits, from engaging in political activities. As a result, pastors and bishops shy away from anything that smacks of politics for fear of losing their tax exemptions.

Responsibility of Pastors and Bishops

That, however, is a just an excuse. They are allowed, of course, to talk about matters of morality, even if they come up in politics. After all, just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. Capital punishment and abortion are legal, but they are not morally acceptable, and the priest should say so to his parishioners.

Nonetheless, as I mentioned in a recent blog on “Catholics and Abortion,” only 44% of Catholics reported hearing a homily on abortion the month before a general election. Otherwise, outside of election time, very few homilies are given on the topic. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/musingsfromthepew/2021/10/p361/

In another blog, I discussed the fear of speaking out, of showing affiliation with a certain cause. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/musingsfromthepew/2021/10/blogs-musingsfromthepew-p331/

My suspicion has been that priests are afraid of offending their congregations and being sent packing by popular demand. I’ve seen that happen when some parishioners complained to the bishop over a homily that was perfectly in line with church teaching (which is not left wing or right wing), but they saw as partisan.

A couple of priests have told me that actually the bigger problem is priests being afraid of disciplinary action from bishops who are even more afraid of causing controversy.

A Happy Ending

The pastor at my friend’s church appeared nervous throughout his homily. When he finished and turned back to the altar, his face said, “Well, I just lost this job!”

Not so. Much to his surprise, everyone in church stood up and applauded!

If think there were tears in the priest’s eyes and in the eyes of many others. I know I was in tears because I was so proud of him and so touched by the reaction of the parishioners.

You never know how people will react. While a homily on abortion could bring lots of trouble, it could also be just what people want from their priests — truth, guidance, and courage.

Previous Post

October 17, 2021

Being Catholic First

Next Post

October 21, 2021 Submissiveness: Wife to Husband or the Other Way Around?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Patheos Catholic Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 May 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 September 2023 July 2023 June 2023 February 2023 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which letter wraps up with the reminder, "Let everything be done decently and in order"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1 Corinthians James Hebrews 1 Timothy