The largest Catholic organization of layman added its voice to the growing chorus of criticism leveled against the comments of pro-abortion vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden in his appearance on Meet the Press. Signed by Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, the “Open Letter to Senator Joseph Biden” criticized Biden for having “cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion.” The letter appeared in several major newspapers. (See Part Three for Mr. Anderson’s letter.)

Biden had compounded the errors made in an August 24 appearance by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) when he was interviewed on the same program September 7. In fact, Sen. Biden echoed many of the same confusions spoken by Pelosi, who described herself as “an ardent, practicing Catholic.”

As Anderson put it, “Statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision.”

The letter observed that Biden said that he “accept[ed] the Church's teaching that life begins at conception-- as a matter of faith.” But Anderson pointed out, “It is not a matter of personal religious belief, but of science.” Modern medical science, he wrote, “leaves no doubt about the fact that each person's life begins at conception.”

Anderson alluded to the criticism from some 58 Bishops “who have taken public issue with your remarks on the Church's historical position on abortion,” adding they “are far from alone. Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly when he introduced you as his running mate, and so your statements carry considerable weight, whether they are correct or not. You now have a unique responsibility when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.”

In his Meet the Press appearance, Biden was asked the same question Pelosi was by moderator Tom Brokow: what advice would you give to Sen. Barack Obama to aid him in answering the question Rick Warren posed to both Obama and Sen. John McCain at the Saddleback Forum: when does life begin? (What Warren actually was, “At what point is a baby entitled to human rights?”)

Biden’s misstatements prompted a second letter from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley, whose first missive corrected Pelosi’s uninformed forays into theology. Among many other excellent corrections, they addressed Biden’s contention that it wouldn't be right for him to "impose" his "morality" on others. They wrote,

"In his Meet the Press interview, Sen. Biden used a morally exhausted argument that American Catholics have been hearing for 40 years: i.e., that Catholics can't 'impose' their religiously based views on the rest of the country. But resistance to abortion is a matter of human rights, not religious opinion. And the senator knows very well as a lawmaker that all law involves the imposition of some people's convictions on everyone else. That is the nature of the law. American Catholics have allowed themselves to be bullied into accepting the destruction of more than a million developing unborn children a year. Other people have imposed their 'pro-choice' beliefs on American society without any remorse for decades.”

Congratulations are in order to the leadership of the Catholic Church and Catholic lay organizations for not allowing untruths to go uncorrected.

Part One -- Excuses for Obama Melt Away
Part Three -- OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN