Catholic Vice President

The 2012 election will have Democrats and Republicans both putting forward a Catholic as the Vice Presidential nominee. Almost four years ago I blogged about Catholics in politics and concluded, "My impression is this group votes on issues rather than parties." For the past four years the VP has been a Catholic and I cannot think of a time when that fact mattered to anyone, either within the Catholic community or to the public at large. That, plus the fact two-thirds of the Supreme Court and a quarter of Congress are Catholic, and the lack of focus on Mitt Romney's own Mormon faith, should suggest American politics moved beyond boxing candidates into their religions.

However, after Romney named Paul Ryan the stories of Catholic virtues proliferated. NPR reported, "...divisions within the Catholic faithful are sharpening... Catholics have never been so polarized..." I heard this on the radio and laughed. Without any data, stories like these emerge and need no proof to gain traction. Despite the abundance of other candidates who share a faith holding diverging political opinions, weaving a narrative about the VP stand-off being a referendum on Catholicism is too enticing to pass over (pun!). So we have stories like the US News report that addresses 'how Catholic' is Paul Ryan; "...the churchman who knows Ryan best has vouched for him" - as if this were a qualification for the election. Despite recognizing that "Neither the Democratic nor Republican party platforms perfectly align with the wide body of Catholic social doctrine," the Huffingon Post claims, "the 'Who's the Better Catholic?' debate may become far more than an intrachurch squabble."

A thread in the story of the 2012 election seems to be about Medicare and a corollary thought is how Catholicism correlates with Medicare. Whether or not either party's candidates have any real intentions to change health care in America, this is a topic of interest for voters. How does this relate to Catholicism? Not much if you are not a Catholic. Within the Church there is not a clear answer that remedies the situation as the Vatican holds strong to a higher moral authority than government so there is no official Vatican stance specific to Medicare. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a host of quotes one could deploy either for or against politicians' policies. For example, in 2007 the USCCB stated plainly, "We urge you to reject any funding reductions in Medicaid or Medicare that could result in less access to health care for those in need." However, the USCCB statement on 2010 health care reform "opposed final passage because there is compelling evidence that it would expand the role of the federal government in funding and facilitating abortion and plans that cover abortion" and "...immigrant workers and their families could be left worse off..." Perhaps the most insightful quote USCCB posted on an unrelated topic, "It is wrong to use religion as a cover for political, economic or ideological causes." In 2004 the USCCB remarked, "The polarizing tendencies of election-year politics can lead to circumstances in which Catholic teaching and sacramental practice can be misused for political ends." The Catholic VP topic fits into that category to me.