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| DeLauro |
The invitation reads, all in caps: “REP ROSA DELAURO TO SPEAK AT SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY ABOUT BEING CATHOLIC IN CONGRESS.”
An enticing preview of DeLauro’s upcoming remarks was
provided by Kimberly Schwartz, the Director of Communications at Sacred Heart
University in Fairfield Connecticut:
“U.S. Representative
Rosa DeLauro will address the Sacred Heart University community in a talk
titled ‘Being a Catholic Member of Congress in a Changing World.’”
On the matter of abortion, DeLauro’s views are heterodox
rather than orthodox. That is to say, DeLauro’s views on abortion are not those
professed unchangingly by the Catholic Church roughly from the 1st to the 21st
century. The orthodox view of the Catholic Church on abortion is available to
anyone -- Catholic politician or not – who has a finger and access to a
computer.
However much the world has
changed in the intervening centuries, the orthodox position of the Catholic Church
on abortion has remained ever the same.
According to Wikipedia, “the
Catholic Church opposes all
forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose ( emphasis mine) is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or
fetus, since it holds that "human life must be respected
and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a
human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which
are the inviolable right of every innocent being to life".[1] However, the Church does recognize as
morally legitimate certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus,
as when the direct purpose is removal of a cancerous womb. Canon
1397 §2 of the 1983 Code
of Canon Law imposes automatic (latae sententiae)
excommunication on
Latin Catholics
who actually procure an abortion,[2] if
they fulfill the conditions for being subject to such a sanction.[3] Eastern
Catholics are not subject to automatic
excommunication, but by canon 1450 of
the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
they are to be excommunicated by decree if found guilty of the same action,[4]
and they may be absolved of
the sin only by the eparchial
bishop ( emphasis mine).[5] In addition to teaching that abortion is
immoral, the Catholic Church also generally makes public statements and takes
actions in opposition to its legality… According to Respect For
Unborn Human Life: The Church's Constant Teaching, a document released by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Committee on Pro-Life Activities, the Catholic Church has condemned procured
abortion as immoral since the 1st century.”
DeLauro may
not be subject to “automatic excommunication” because she has not herself procured
an abortion; even so, her church frowns upon those who assist others in
procuring abortions. The frown is taken seriously by orthodox Catholics and
brushed aside as politically irrelevant by heterodox Catholics, those out of
communion with their church on decisive doctrinal matters.
At the very
least, the political position taken by DeLauro on the matter of abortion – she has
promoted abortion at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason – runs afoul of
the position of her church. Her position may be accurately described as
follows: my political position trumps Catholic orthodoxy.
DeLauro’s bona
fides as an upright Catholic of long-standing are detailed in the
invitation to her address at the Dr. Michelle C. Loris ’70 Forum in the Martire
Center for the Liberal Arts, 5401 Park Avenue, Fairfield on Wednesday, October
14, at 2 p.m. at Sacred Heart University.
“Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro represents Connecticut’s
Third Congressional District and serves as ranking member of the House
Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education, and Related Agencies. In these roles, she helps oversee
the nation’s investments in education, health and human services, and
employment. DeLauro’s Catholic faith has guided her entire life and political
career. Over the years, she has led Catholic Democrats in issuing statements of
principles to discuss how their faith and the teachings of the Catholic Church
influence their work in Congress. She recently launched a Catholic Democrats
Working Group. DeLauro received 16 years of Catholic education, beginning at
St. Louis School, where she was taught by the Daughters of the Holy Ghost. She
later attended the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall, operated by
the Sisters of Mercy, and Marymount College, founded by the Religious of the
Sacred Heart of Mary.”
On the key
issue of abortion in 2025, DeLauro was given a 100 percent approval rating by Reproductive
Freedom for All, formerly
NARAL Pro-Choice America:
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection
Act, H.R. 21. Final
Passage. A bill to interfere with the medical practice of abortion care under
the threat of severe penalties. A vote for reproductive freedom was against
passage – nay
One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1. On motion to agree to the Senate passed
version of H.R. 1. (Some anti-abortion lawmakers cast what appear to be
pro-repro votes; most observers recognize that those votes were cast for
reasons unrelated to reproductive health.) A vote for reproductive freedom was
against the motion – nay
One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1. Final Passage. A bill to drastically cut
Medicaid funding and disqualify Planned Parenthood from participating in the
program for one year. A vote for reproductive freedom was against passage –
nay.
Abortion Coverage Ban. H.R. 6703. Final Passage. Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, H.R. 6703. Final
Passage. A bill to ban abortion coverage in certain health plans and to raise
health care costs. A vote for reproductive freedom was against passage – nay.
In its
media release, the university that will serve as a platform for DeLauro
describes itself in these terms: “Sacred Heart, a Laudato Si’ campus, stands
out from other Catholic universities as it was established to be led by the
laity. This contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic
intellectual tradition and the liberal arts and, at the same time, cultivates
students to be forward thinkers who enact change in their own lives,
professions, and communities. Sacred Heart University has earned national
recognition for academic excellence, student success, career outcomes, and
campus experience.”
Orthodox Catholics
may want to attend DeLauro’s heterodox secular political service at Sacred
Heart University and bring along with them the apostle Paul’s instruction to
Christians in Romans 12:2 – “And be not conformed to this world: but be
reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and
the acceptable and the perfect will of God." According to early Christian
tradition, so non-conforming to the world were the apostles that all of them
but one – Judas, who committed suicide – were martyred by the secular
authorities of their day.
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