Pence and Harris clash on abortion, Amy Coney Barrett during debate

October 8, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

CNA Staff, Oct 8, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) sparred over accusations of anti-Catholic bias and filling a Supreme Court vacancy before election day. The candidates spoke during the in-person debate held on Wednesday evening at the University of Utah.

Amy Coney Barrett, a Catholic judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, was nominated by President Trump to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett is a mother of seven and a former law professor at the University of Notre Dame.

Debate moderator Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, brought up Barrett’s pending confirmation to the Supreme Court as a possible prelude to more abortion restrictions at the Court, including the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Pence praised Barrett’s “lifetime of experience and a sizable American family.” Although baptized Catholic, Pence began attending an evangelical church with his family.

“We particularly hope that we don’t see the kind of attacks on her Christian faith that we saw before,” Pence said of Barrett, noting that the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), told Barrett to her face at her 2017 confirmation hearing for the Seventh Circuit that “the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern.”

Pence then turned to Harris. “Senator, I know one of our judicial nominees, you actually attacked because they were a member of the Catholic Knights of Columbus, just because the Knights of Columbus holds pro-life views and pro-marriage views.”

In December of 2018, CNA first reported that Harris asked Brian C. Buescher, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, if he was aware of the group’s opposition to abortion when he joined it, and if he agreed with it. 

Harris, together with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), asked a number of questions of Buescher regarding his membership of the Catholic charitable group, with the senators referring to it as “an all-male society” that “has taken a number of extreme positions.” They asked Buescher if he was aware of the group’s opposition to abortion and “marriage equality” when he joined, and if he would quit the group if confirmed to the court “to avoid any appearance of bias.”

Harris actually questioned three different judicial nominees in 2018 over their membership in the Knights; in May of 2018, she asked district court nominee Peter Phipps if he had to “swear an oath” to join the Knights, and if he would “carry out” the Knights’ mission of the defense of the right to life as a judge.

“When your group’s organizational values conflict with litigants’ constitutional rights, how can litigants in your court expect a fair hearing?” she asked.

Harris, on Wednesday, responded that “Joe Biden and I are both people of faith, and it’s insulting to suggest that we would knock anyone for their faith.” As she noted, if elected Joe Biden would become only the second Catholic president in U.S. history. Harris herself, in a column in Deseret News this week, mentioned attending a Church of God growing up and said her faith has inspired her to serve others.

On Wednesday, Page noted that Barrett’s confirmation “would cement the Court’s conservative majority” and “would make it likely open to more abortion restrictions,” including the repeal of Roe, thus sending the issue of abortion restrictions to the states.

Harris refused to answer questions on whether a Biden-Harris administration would support adding additional justices to the Supreme Court following a Barrett confirmation.

Pence, when asked if he would like to see Indiana ban abortions should Roe be repealed, first pivoted to a previous topic and explained why the administration’s decision to kill top Iran general Qasem Soleimani via drone strike in January made Americans safer. Christian advocacy groups had warned that the strike could create more tension in the region and provoke counterattacks on minority Christian communities, especially in Iraq.

He then brought up Barrett’s faith and Harris’ questioning of Knights of Columbus member Brian Buescher.

Harris, discussing the court, said that “there’s the issue of choice, and I will always fight for a woman’s right to make a decision about her own body. It should be her decision, and not that of Donald Trump and the Vice President Mike Pence.”

In an following question about how the Trump administration would protect people with pre-existing health conditions if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, Pence then used some of his time to address abortion.

“I couldn’t be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life,” he said. “I am pro-life, I don’t apologize for it.”

He then highlighted the Biden-Harris ticket's support for taxpayer-funded abortion and increased funding of Planned Parenthood.

Neither Pence nor Harris said specifically what they wanted their home state to do on abortion if Roe is overturned at the Supreme Court.

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Related Articles

No Picture
News Briefs

Rebuilt from the ashes: The story of an American basilica

July 4, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

Norfolk, Virginia, Jul 4, 2017 / 03:41 am (CNA).- An immigrant parish, burnt down, with only the crucifix remaining. A parish rebuilt, transformed and a key part in giving back to the community. In a sense, one parish’s story of struggle, pressure and rebirth is metaphor for the American Catholic experience.

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, Virginia, is the only black Catholic church in the United States that is also a basilica. Its dramatic history captures both the broader American Catholic history of persecution, growth and acceptance, but also a witness to the unique challenges faced by black Catholics over the centuries.

Founded originally as St. Patrick’s Parish in 1791, it is the oldest Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond, predating the foundation of the diocese by nearly 30 years.

“Catholicism was not legal to practice” in Virginia when the colony was founded, said Fr. Jim Curran, rector of the basilica. In much of Colonial America, before the Revolution and the signing of the Bill of Rights, churches that were not approved by the government were prohibited from operating, he told CNA.

The land originally bought in 1794 for the parish is the same ground on which the basilica today stands. From the beginning, according to the parish’s history, Catholics from all backgrounds worshiped together: Irish and German immigrants, free black persons and slaves.

However, by the 1850s, the parish’s immigrant background and mixed-race parish drew the ire of a prominent anti-Catholic movement: the Know-Nothings.

Largely concentrated in northeastern states where the immigrant influx was greatest, the movement rose and fell quickly. Concerned with maintaining the Protestant “purity of the nation,” it worked to prevent immigrants – many of whom were Catholic – from gaining the right to vote, becoming citizens, or taking elected office.

“I consider the Know-Nothings to be a sort of gatekeeper organization, by which I mean that they were both anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic at the same time,” said Fr. David Endres, an assistant professor of Church History and Historical Theology at the Athenaeum of Ohio.

He told CNA that the Know-Nothing Party was able to bring together both pro- and anti-slavery voters in the mid-1800s, united in the common “dislike of foreign-born and Catholics.”

While most anti-Catholic activities took the form of defamatory speeches and public discrimination, the prejudice sometimes turned to violence and mob action, Fr. Endres explained.

The anti-Catholic discrimination and threats found their way to St. Patrick’s doorstep, where the Know-Nothings were unhappy that the pastor was allowing racial integrated Masses, said Fr. Curran.

The pastor at that time, Fr. Matthew O’Keefe, received so many threats directed against the Church and himself that police protection was required to stop the intimidation of the Catholics worshiping at the church, according to the locals.  

Despite the threats, however, Fr. O’Keefe did not segregate the Masses. In 1856, the original church building burned down, leaving only three walls standing. Only a wooden crucifix was left unscathed.

More than 150 years later, it is still unclear exactly who or what caused the fire, but since the days following the blaze, parishioners have had their suspicions.

“We don’t know for sure if they were the ones who burned it, but it’s widely believed, it’s a commonly held notion that it’s the Know-Nothings who burnt the Church,” Fr. Curran said.   

Fr. O’Keefe and the parishioners worked hard to rebuild the church, seeking donations from Catholics along the East Coast. A new church building was constructed less than three years after the fire and is still standing today.

After the church was rebuilt, the parish renamed itself in 1858 in honor of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It claims to be the first church in the world named for Mary of the Immaculate Conception following the declaration.

In 1889, the Josephites built Saint Joseph’s Black Catholic parish to serve the needs of the black Catholic community, and the two parishes operated separately within several blocks of one another. However, in 1961, St. Joseph’s was demolished to make way for new construction, and the two parishes were joined, reintegrating – at least in theory – St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

But the merger was not popular with many of the white parishioners and conflicted with the segregation policies of local government institutions and public life, Fr. Curran said. “St Mary’s became a de facto black parish.”

During this demographic shift, many parishioners of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception had to draw deeply upon their faith. Black Catholics had to be stalwart, facing prejudice from both some white parishioners, who did not view them as fully Catholic, and some black Protestants, who did not support their religious beliefs.

“They were devoted, and still are,” the rector said. “You have to be very devoted to be a Black Catholic.”

This devotion and witness of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception was formally celebrated when, in 1991, Saint Pope John Paul II elevated the 200-year-old church to a minor basilica.

“Your black cultural heritage enriches the Church and makes her witness of universality more complete. In a real way the Church needs you, just as you need the Church, for you are a part of the Church and the Church is part of you,” Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed at the elevation.

Today, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception plays a vital role not only as the only Catholic basilica in Virginia, but also as an important anchor of the neighborhood. The basilica operates a “robust” set of outreach ministries to local families, including rent assistance and food aid, serving thousands of people.

“The Church standing proudly and beautiful in the midst of the poor is where we need to be,” Fr. Curran said.

He also pointed to the basilica’s history as an example of one way communities can aid churches affected by violence, such as the – such as the half dozen black churches across the South that have burned since late June.

“The reason why we were able to raise so much money so quickly was because there were so many people that were appalled at the burning of St. Patrick’s,” the rector said.

Tragic events like the burning of a church can actually help bring people together in a common cause, he continued.

“It unites people of faith. If people of faith who are appalled by this stand up and assist and let our voices be heard, we can do something wonderful.”

This article was originally published on CNA July 4, 2015.

[…]

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*