Following a recent pro-gun control statement from the Vatican, “Catholics from a range of influential posts — former U.S. ambassadors, national representatives of theologians, sisters and more — called for new gun control measures, naming Catholic members of Congress seen as roadblocks to tighter regulations” [via ncronline.org]. Question: what was the Vatican’s stance when Germans were sending millions of unarmed Jews to extermination camps? What’s the Holy See’s policy on the unarmed civilians currently suffering under the jackboot of government tyranny? Click here for catholicculture.org’s criticism of the Vatican’s anti-2A statement and here for the nytimes.com’s coverage of the letter-writing campaign. Make the jump for the full text of the pro-gun control letter . . .

All Americans share responsibility for public safety. This requires reasonable measures to regulate the sale and use of lethal weapons. As faithful citizens – Catholic theologians, priests, sisters and social justice advocates – we join our bishops, the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA in calling for common-sense reforms to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation. Pro-life citizens and elected officials have a responsibility to show greater moral leadership and political courage when it comes to confronting threats to the sanctity of life posed by easy access to military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Members of Congress who take pride in their pro-life stance and appeal to family values have no excuse for inaction, and neither do any of us who share a firm commitment to these values.

We especially encourage our fellow Catholics in Congress, including prominent leaders such as House Speaker John Boehner, to stand up to the National Rifle Association and other gun

lobbyists who choose to obstruct sensible reforms. Catholics who earn an “A” rating from the NRA – including Republicans like Speaker Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan and Democratic lawmakers such as Sen. Joe Donnelly and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp – should not put powerful special interests before the common good. We urge you to reflect on the wisdom in our church’s call for a “consistent ethic of life” as you consider legislation in the coming months that can provide greater protection for our families and communities.

Thousands of Catholics will gather this week for the annual “March for Life” in Washington to speak out against the tragedy of abortion. Our faith and our Church call us to remember, as we reflect on our most recent massacres, that the defense of human dignity extends beyond protecting life in the womb. Gun violence demeans human life and tears communities apart. There have been more than 70 mass shootings since the January 8, 2011, massacre in Tucson, Arizona. More than 900 people have been killed with guns since the Newtown tragedy.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently renewed their call for measures to address gun violence by echoing their 2000 statement, Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice. Bishops have called for “measures that control the sale and use of firearms” and “sensible regulations of handguns.” The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in a 1994 document, “The International Arms Trade,” urges political leaders “to impose a strict control on the sale of handguns and small arms” and states that “limiting the purchase of such arms would certainly not infringe on the rights of anyone.”

All of us need to work against the glorification of violence, remedy our inadequate mental health services and address the breakdown of family support structures. No single law or set of regulations will prevent all tragedies, but the complexity of this urgent challenge must not be an excuse for protecting the status quo when it comes to regulating the sale and use of lethal weapons.

President Obama and Members of Congress can honor the memories of those killed in Newtown, Conn., and work to prevent future tragedies by acting now.

Signed,

Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (retired) and University Professor of Faith and Culture at the University of Dayton

Thomas P. Melady, U.S Ambassador to the Holy See, Uganda and Burundi (retired) President Emeritus, Sacred Heart University

Francis X. Doyle, Associate General Secretary, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Retired) Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International

Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, Professor of Theological Ethics, Marquette University

Rev. John A. Coleman, S.J., Associate Pastor, St. Ignatius Parish, San Francisco

Rev. John Langan, SJ, Professor of Philosophy and Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University Rev. T. Michael McNulty, SJ, Marquette University, Jesuit Residence

Rev. Gerry Creedon, Holy Family Parish, Dale City, VA

Rev. Joseph Nangle, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, VA

Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Timothy Collins, Executive Director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development (Retired)

Tom Allio, Diocesan Social Action Director, Diocese of Cleveland (Retired)

Sister Florence Deacon, President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Sister Ann Scholz, Associate Director for Social Mission, Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Eli S. McCarthy, Director of Justice and Peace, Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Rev. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM. Chair of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Directorate of the Franciscan Province of Holy Name

Rev. James E. Hug, S.J. President, Center of Concern, Washington, DC Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, NETWORK

Patrick Carolan, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network Sister Maria Riley, OP. Center of Concern

Nancy Dallavalle, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Department of Religious Studies, Fairfield University

John Inglis, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Cross-appointed to Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

Tobias Winright, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics, Saint Louis University

David O’Brien, Professor Emeritus, University of Dayton and the College of the Holy Cross

Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Stillman Professor for Roman Catholic Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School

Terrence W. Tilley, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Professor of Catholic Theology and Chair, Theology Department, Fordham University, Bronx

Sandra Yocum, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of Dayton Kristin E. Heyer, Bernard J. Hanley Professor, Religious Studies Department

Santa Clara University

Daniel Finn, Professor of Economics and Theology, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN

Todd Whitmore, Associate Professor, Theology. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Mark J. Allman, Religious Theological Studies Department, Merrimack College Susan Ross, Professor of Theology, University of Loyola (Chicago)

Nancy Sylvester, IHM, President, Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue Detroit, MI

Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. of Theology, Boston College Kevin Ahern, Vice President for North America, Pax Romana-ICMICA

Vincent J. Miller, Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture, Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

Gerald J. Beyer, Associate Professor of Theology, Saint Joseph’s University Alex Mikulich, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University New Orleans Lisa Sowle Cahill, Professor of Theology, Boston College

James Salt, Executive Director, Catholics United

John Sniegocki, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Xavier University, Cincinnati Rev. James Keenan SJ, Professor of Theology, Boston College

Rev. Drew Christiansen, SJ Editor, America Magazine (retired)

Christopher Pramuck, Associate Professor of Theology, Xavier University

Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University Rev. David Hollenbach, University Chair in Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College M. Shawn Copeland, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Boston College

Eugene McCarraher, Associate Professor of Humanities and History, Villanova University Stephen J. Pope, Professor of Theology, Boston College

Paul Lakeland, Aloysius P. Kelly, S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies, Fairfield University Richard Gaillardetz, Professor of Theology, Boston College

Daniel Speed Thompson, Chair of Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

A.J. Godzieba, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University

Una Cadegan, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton

Joseph A. McCartin, Director, Kamanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University

Sister Paulette Skiba, Professor of Religious Studies, Clarke University

Stephen F. Schneck, Director, Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, The Catholic University

of America

Kathleen Maas Weigert, Assistant to the Provost for Social Justice Initiatives, Loyola University, Chicago

Anthony B. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton Bradford Hinze, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, Theology Department, Fordham University

(Bronx, NY)

Marian K. Diaz, University of Dayton

Joseph P. Fahey, Manhattan College, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice Dolores Christie, Ursuline College (retired)

 

 

 

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106 COMMENTS

  1. Why is it that it is always the powerful/influential and their useful idiots calling for gun control?

  2. The mystics live in their own version of religion. I believe a man, quite admired for his professing love and peace, commonality of humanity is quoted as saying ” If a man has no sword, let him sell one of his garments and get one”. Jesus was not one one to promote self emulation. HE believed in self defense and the defense of family and property

    • Remember context. The Christ was not talking about defense; he was talking about fulfilling prophecy. Why do you not quote the lines that follow? Christ says, “‘Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.’ The disciples said, ‘See, Lord, here are two swords.’ ‘That is enough,’ he replied. ”

      If we want to be literalists about the Bible, Jesus tells us that one weapon for every six men is enough.

      • Jesus was not just some man.

        6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. – John 14:6

  4. As a gunner who considers himself a Christian only, but not the only kind of Christian, official Catholic policy seems to be very schizophrenic.

    • True, but that can be said about a lot of organizations.

      I’ll defend their right to believe whatever myth they want but that support ends when they use that special status to deny the rest of us our rights.

    • The thing to remember about the Catholic Hierarchy is that it is a political as well as spiritual org. there are many sects inside the church and some of them have been totally turned to Totalitarian Progressive Ideology’s such as the Liberation Theology Movement by intentional infiltration.
      The above is an example of the results.

    • It isn’t official Catholic policy unless it comes from the Pope. Father Lombardi the director of the Vactican Press office was the one who made the statement on his own during a radio program. It’s the antis who are twisting it and claiming the Catholic Church is for Obama’s gun grab.

  5. Gee, the Catholics don’t want to have to provide birth control pills for their employees under ObamaCare, do they?

    I guess it depends on whose ox is being gored.

    If the Catholic educators wants to be in the gun control debate maybe they should forefit their tax-exempt status. Please, stick to teaching the Gospel.

      • You must remember that these PPL, these Religious Leaders are all decdicated Leftists, they were Crypto-Commies long before they infiltrated various churches and are simply Zeke’s puppets

        • Ooookay… Everyone smile and nod like we understand WTF that was all about as we slowly back away…

        • I don’t know what others’ problem is, but I understood you perfectly. You are basically correct.

        • +1 It’s funny to see catholics continue to vote for and endorse liberals and then have these pro life rallies. That would be as asinine as us pro 2A guys voting for Obama, oh wait….

    • What a sheep. You are a idiotic sheep who does not think for yourself.

      This whole tax exemption crap is getting old. They are a non-profit. No one complains about the political crap from Susan G Komen or the SPLC. Why is it when it because a religious institution, politics is off limits.

  7. So now the same guys who dreamed up the Crusades are going to lecture us about the appropriate use of violence?

    C’mon, guys, if you REALLY believe and you REALLY have faith you would spend your time praying about this and let God decide who should or shouldn’t have a gun for self protection. I don’t see Him taking much interest in disarming the Muslims. As a matter of fact they’re pretty close to getting a nuke, which even the Second Amendment does not allow for me, apparently.

    You are hypocrites! Pray to God, let him decide, and inthe mean time – leave me and my rights alone!

    • The above is a totaly bankrupt argument akin to blaming 9=11 on “THE JEWS”
      The Crusades was a RESPONSE to the depravations and incursions in Christian lands.
      The “Whole Islam Is a Religion of Peace” argument is as false as the Citizen Disarmament will bring an end to violence meme

      • You misunderstand me, sir, if you think I am in any way supporting Islam. And you do not know much about the Crusades if you do not understand the excesses perpetrated by the Crusaders in the name of Christianity. My point being that the Catholic church felt a violent response to Islam was appropriate then but a violent response in protection of self, family and/or community now is somehow un-Christian, or at least un-Catholic.

        I am not a Catholic and I take offense when representatives of that or any particular religion inject themselves in the discussion to disarm me as though they own some moral high ground that trumps my Second Amendment rights.

        Further, if they truly had the faith they proclaim ,they would, as I suggested, pray over this issue and let God decide the outcome. Hence they are hypocrites.

        • As a representative of the Catholic faith, a fervent supporter of the second amendment, and a deep believer in the freedom of conscience for all to practice any religion (or lack thereof), I would suggest that you realize that not all Catholics are hypocrites for the reasons you state and that- in fact- the Catechism of the Catholic Church (actual policy of the Church as opposed to the misguided opinions of some of its members) explicitly affirms the right of all people to self defense up to an including taking a life if your own is threatened. Making brash, bigoted generalizations in these comments only serves to divide our common interests in protecting our 2a freedoms. Lets leave the dividing and conquering to Obama and Feinstein instead of destroying our movement from within.

  8. If it is really “for the children” start with condemning pedophile priests, Hypocrites. And, yes I am Catholic.

    • It IS for the children, if insane nut jobs like Lanza keep killing children than that doesn’t leave any left for the priest.

  9. Pretty sure some of these guys have also signed
    an ok for abortions. Goes to show how much they
    adhere to the faith.

  10. I admit, it was foolish of me to think (being a Christian) I would never see a religiously-driven witch hunt up close within my lifetime. But I still find it difficult to grasp that I and people like me could actually be the subjects of that witch hunt. God help us all.

  13. Robert,

    I’m not familiar with or well informed about the WW2 era Vatican actions in regard to the German Nazi treatment of European Jews. I have read that behind the scenes the Pope did take certain actions to protect the Italian Jews while other Italian Catholic leaders took actions or positions in support of the Nazis.

    • Aharon, It was the Italian people, not the government, that saved a larger percentage of Italian jews from the camps. The only country that had a larger percentage of its Jewish population saved was Denmark.

      The Italian government, fascist all the way, put harsh laws in place against the Jews. But Italians wouldn’t turn on their Jewish neighbers and actively protected them.

      I know that doesn’t answer the question about the Vatican. But it seems the man in the street in Italy wasn’t waiting for divine guidance or allied armies in this matter.

      • The Italian government put in place all sorts of anti-Semitic laws that never had any intention of enforcing From top to bottom the Italians paid lip service to Hitler in public while they thumbed there nose at him in private.

  14. As a Catholic I can answer your questions and more.
    Attitude toward the Jews in Nazi Germany–indifference.

    In fact, after the war, the Holy See helped hundreds of Nazis escape to South America.

    Our current Pope, Benedict VI, was a member of the Waffen-SS–served as an AA-gunner.

    • I think that’s “Benedict XVI.” He was 16 when drafted into the army in 1943 and deserted in early 1945. I think his connivance in the shielding of pedophile priests is a much greater black mark.

  15. EVERY one of the people who signed the “letter”, when confronted with strong evidence, conspired (or at a minimum knowingly looked the other way) to move pedophile priests from one parish to another, rather that calling the police. This practice has been going on for centuries.

    For that reason, at least in my mind, the Catholic Church has lost all credibility where moral issues are concerned.

  17. I always find it interesting how some religious leaders or scholars have no qualms about weighing in on political issues, whether it be gun control, gay rights, healthcare, or anything else they might not agree with, in the name of their religion. However, reverse the situation and let the politicians start looking into how their churches conduct their business and they start screaming “separation of church and state” (a phrase which some of them are shocked to find out appears nowhere in the Constitution). Folks, you can’t have it both ways!

  18. These people are as much “Catholics” as Obama is a “Constitutionalist.”

    Official Catholic teaching does not eminate from the mouths of various organizations, bishops, or priests. It is codified in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and clearly supports armed self defense as an individual right and duty.

        • This, coming from the person asking for tolerance of his voting choice and political views. Incredible…

          You either grow a thicker skin in all aspects or no one can make fun of anyone else.

          Supporting/voting for a particular group/party/etc. that is actively trying to erase a right you claim to defend is nonsensical. For example, the Catholic Church’s habit of covering up the misdeeds of their clergy, and their stance upon legal firearms ownership is why I, though raised Catholic, am no longer practicing. Your mileage clearly varies.

          Self defense is the most basic of human rights. If I don’t have that, I am not free to practice any religion. The fact that the Catholic Church in general and the Vatican in particular appears to have forgotten the defenseless Catholics rounded up and killed in Germany, Russia, China and Burma is shockingly shortsighted.

          But the Pope sure enjoys his Swiss Guards…

          Double standards…I hate them.

  19. Organized religion trying to intimidate and control people? Really? I’m shocked.
    /sarcasm

    The only thing I hate more than religious people telling me how to live my life, is government telling me how to live my life.

    So long as my life’s activities hurt no one, I shouldn’t need to ask anyone for permission to live my life as I see fit.

    This includes:
    How I raise my children.
    Owning firearms.
    Whom I marry.
    How I worship – if I choose to.

    The Catholic church fails to realize that without the 2nd amendment, freedom of religion would not exist.

    • When you’ve grown rich and complacent living on the proceeds of your private taxation system (tithes) while being largely exempt from government taxation, you tend to get a seriously distorted view of how the world works.

      It wasn’t that long ago that the Catholic Church was one of the major military powers of the Western Hemisphere.

      • Yep. The Papal States, the Bishop of Rome’s earthly dominion complete with army, were only lost for good in 1870. He regained a tiny state, The Vatican City, only in 1929.

    • Look, they could clear this entire “who’s for guns?” matter up quickly enough with an Inquisition. NBC could help with the lighting and cameras.

  21. I’m so sorry, once an organization has systematically concealed and enabled multi -generational child rape, they don’t get to have an opinion on morality anymore.

    It’s kind of a no brainier, they have disqualified themselves form the conversation.

    They shouldn’t even have a place at the table anymore.

    Just to be clear I’m not specifically anti-Catholic, I’m anti-child rape… so I guess I am anti-Catholic, but only by default…

  22. “There have been more than 70 mass shootings since the January 8, 2011, massacre in Tucson, Arizona.”

    Where are they getting those numbers? Every source I’ve heard said there have been like 62 mass shootings (defined as 3+ killed) since 1950. All of them except for Tuscon have occurred in gun free zones.

  23. Strange the only clergy is from the new Sodom and Gamora. San Francisco or Washington DC. Most real Christian know we live in a fallen world and need guns to be safe. Ignore liberals demagogs and fakers who live in scum bag parts of the nation like San Francisco or DC. We believers are with you to all gun rights supporters.

  24. The Catholic Church has a Patron Saint of Pistol Shooters – St Gabriel Possenti – a soldier-priest who used his pistol shooting abilities to save several people during WW-2. Interesting that these supposed luminaries would conveniently forget him and other warrior-saints like Ignatius Loyola.

    • St. Ignatius, ironically enough, was also the founder of the Jesuits, a depressing number of whom signed this document.

  25. Hmm, I have wondered about the concept of separation of church and state. I was pretty sure there was a very good reason for it.

  26. This is coming from the “Churchianity” side of the house.

    Christ himself did not believe in pacifism, nor did he believe that men ought to be disarmed.

    Rather, he knew that those who followed him would be persecuted mercilessly and needed to be able to defend themselves.

    I’m not even Christian and I know more about their religion than they do.

  27. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has been in lockstep with the left for 40 years. The only excepts are the right to life and opposition to gay marriage. Like many pro-Second Amendment Democrats, the Catholic Bishops cannot draw the connection between the Progressive’s dismissal of their concerns and the corrupt nature of entire Progressive agenda.

  28. Oh how quickly we forget our history. During the Cristero War the Knight’s of Columbus and other Catholic groups in the US took donations to buy arms and munitions for the rebels battling Plutarco Elías Calles left wing government in Mexico with full blessing from the Vatican. While the US Federal government openly backed Calles and his violent oppression of Catholic peasants with arms and munitions from US armories.

    I am about as Catholic as a man can be and I’m am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms and my staunch support in large part comes from my deeply rooted faith.

  30. I can’t wait for the day that religion is officially classified as a mental disorder, then we won’t have to put up with this crap anymore.

    • Careful what you wish for. I’m no fan of organized religion myself, but it is just as protected under the constitution as the right to keep and bear arms. The Bill of Rights is a packaged deal. It’s all or nothing, no matter how much we may dislike that fact. Classifying religion as a mental disorder is no better than classifying an AR15 as an “assault weapon”.

      • Classifying religion as a mental disorder is no better than classifying an AR15 as an “assault weapon”.

        Hardly. A grown adult believing that everything is controlled by their imaginary friend with magical powers is not a rational person.

  31. I wonder how they would feel if the pols started having a “discussion” to “compromise” about “reasonable restrictions” on the freedom of religion. Ugh… I’ll never donate $$$ to a catholic charity again.

  32. Whatever happened to the “Church” winning people to Christ? Shouldn’t that be their mission statement ?

    • Who said that catholics know how to? They have been taught from an early age to esteem the words of men greater than the word of God. ( King James Bible )

  33. As a Catholic covert, I am disgusted by those anti-gun comments!

    The Church Christ founded is, like its founder, The Truth. It has been around for 2000 years, and if I were a betting man, I’d say it’ll be around for another 2000 years.

    The Church works for me and many others out there, and I do hope everyone becomes Catholic one day — Can’t force truth on anyone though…

    I believe that the Church and her members should strive to be a light to the world:

    I personally believe that the state can redefine marriage to whatever the state wants it to be, it won’t change what marriage ultimately is and as long as we’re not forced to perform gay marriages, it won’t affect us and we should STFU. We Catholics should also get our own contraception use and abortion rates down to zero before we criticize others.

    On the other hand… Some of the Church’s crazier members like in that letter (Who don’t speak for the Church) can ESAD!!

    • “as long as we’re not forced to perform gay marriages, it won’t affect us and we should STFU” Exactly. Churches are allowed to set the rules about whom they will marry. Catholic churches will not marry people who have been divorced, but they don’t try to prevent the government from recognizing second marriages.

    • Jesus never founded the catholic church. The apostle Peter had a wife (But “Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.” -mark 1:30) and Peter was never a ‘pope’, (the word is not found in the Bible) he was an elder (1 Peter 5:1). What “truth” comes from the catholic organization?

  34. Actually, I regard myself as a very active and pretty well informed Catholic, and I recognized only one name on that entire list. I doubt whether Boehner or any other Catholic pol will be impressed.

    On a related note, the Pro-Life March–a major annual grass roots Catholic event if there ever was one, even if others also participate in large numbers–took place Friday and drew upwards of half a million people. Far more than the Inauguration, by all accounts. As has become usual, it received just about zero coverage from the MSM although, incredibly, NPR of all outlets did comment on its size. OTOH, Mothers (or whatevers) against guns held some events and got wall to wall coverage.

    Nobody in the MSM or establishment circles gives a sh*t about Catholics or any other Christians unless they parrot the establishment line.

  35. As Dunn stated the catholic church didn’t do much to save the Jews during WWII. They did help a lot of nazi’s escape after the war. Also their holidays were changed to be on pagan holidays.

  36. This is not a statement by theologians, but politicians parroting anti-gun generalizations and sanctity-of life nostrums. No logic, no appeal to Scripture.
    The Bible has a lot to say about self-defense and doesn’t condemn lawful use-of-force.
    Check out my book,”A Time To Kill-The Myth of Christian Pacifism” @www.bibleselfdefense.com or on Amazon.com

  39. I for one am striking back. After years of devoting thousands of dollars to Catholic Charities (who signed-on as a supporting organization to Feinstein’s civilian disarmament plan) and our local parish; the money has just been tuned off. I will not support ANY entity that has no respect for my civil and Constitutional rights. Yesterday I told Catholic Charities they would never see another cent from me as they are in league with tyranny.

    There is no way in hell I sending cash to pro 2A groups only to have my church fight the effort with the money I am sending them. This afternoon I told my local priest that when the church removes it’s collective head from it’s holy arse I may resume supporting the parish; until then I am sure my other charitable concerns will be happy to accept a gun owner’s cash.

  42. Like I really care what a man with a funny hat thinks. He certainly has the right to take his rocket trip to the moon, leave that in the church though, Randy

  43. When I visited the Vatican in 2000 I had an excellent time speaking with some officers of the Swiss guard about the fully automatic assault rifles and other firearms they carry. Surely they’ve removed all their firearms since then and went back to only swords and halberds right?

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