When someone writes as eloquently and in such depth as Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, summarizing what's said in a manner that honors its complexity presents unique challenges.

But the speech the Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop delivered October 17 to a dinner of the Catholic Women's Group ENDOW (''Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women'') is so elegant, so important I'm going to give it a go.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

An additional reason for talking about his far-reaching remarks is that I can mention what I have inexcusably failed to note earlier. Archbishop Chaput is the author of the wonderful new book, "Render Unto Caesar."

Let me begin by emphasizing what the Archbishop emphasized. He was not telling anyone how to vote and that what he had to say were "my personal views, nothing more." (He added, "I think they're pretty solidly grounded in Catholic teaching and the heart of the Church.")

Let me offer four quotations from his remarks.

1. "[D]emocratic pluralism does not mean that Catholics should be quiet in public about serious moral issues because of some misguided sense of good manners. A healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive. Real pluralism demands that people of strong beliefs will advance their convictions in the public square--peacefully, legally and respectfully, but energetically and without embarrassment. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the public conversation."

What a fascinating insight, not limited to Catholics citizens, of course. It not only is incumbent on us to argue our case vigorously, to do otherwise is to deprive the public conversation of an important ingredient. Our participation is not an unnecessary add-on, but a crucial component to an educated citizenry.

2. "I believe that Senator Obama, whatever his other talents, is the most committed 'abortion-rights' presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973. " The "party platform Senator Obama runs on this year is not only aggressively 'pro-choice.' it has also removed any suggestion that killing an unborn child might be a regrettable thing."

Obama supporters have spun the changes in the party platform every which way but up. Far from suggesting a softening or a "reaching out" to pro-lifers, the Democratic Party's 2008 platform is even more cold-hearted, even more committed to enlarging the pool of aborted babies.

3. Referring to Prof. Douglas Kmiec's book, Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question about Barack Obama, Archbishop Chaput said, "Prof. Kmiec argues that there are defensible motives to support Senator Obama. Speaking for myself, I do not know any proportionate reason that could outweigh more than 40 million unborn children killed by abortion and the many millions of women deeply wounded by the loss and regret abortion creates. To suggest--as some Catholics do--that Senator Obama is this year's ''real' prolife candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse. To portray the 2008 Democratic Party presidential ticket as the preferred 'prolife' option is to subvert what the word 'prolife' means."

4. (This falls in the "nothing new under the sun" category.) "And here's the irony. None of the Catholic arguments advanced in favor of Senator Obama are new. They've been around, in one form or another, for more than 25 years. All of them seek to 'get beyond' abortion, or economically reduce the number of abortions, or create a better society where abortion won't be necessary. All of them involve a misuse of the seamless garment imagery in Catholic social teaching. And all of them, in practice, seek to contextualize, demote and then counterbalance the evil of abortion with other important but less foundational social issues."

What is new is the level of intensity, sophistication, and sophistry we've seen going back to 2004. Following the defeat of Sen. John Kerry, pro-abortionists grasped that they had to rhetorically change their position while (if anything) hardening their commitment to abortion on demand at tax-payers' expense. The American electorate needed to be convinced the leopard had changed its spots.

Right now, depending on whom you believe, the Catholic vote is either slightly tilting toward Obama or split down the middle. What's clear is that this segment of the electorate is the most willing to tell pollsters that they are uncommitted or could change their minds by election day.

To help Americans of all religious persuasions or none understand the abortion positions of pro-life Sen. John McCain and pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama, please download the presidential comparison sheet at http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparison0909084c.pdf. You can also order multiple copies online at only a nickel each at http://www.nrlchapters.org/comparisonbuy.htm and have them sent out the same day.

Part Two -- CFC and Other Workplace Campaigns Indispensable to Pro-Life Educational Efforts