fbpx

August 2022

CatholicVote is committed to holding self-professed Catholic leaders and institutions to the standards of Church teaching. That’s what our Catholic Accountability Project is all about. 

You deserve to know exactly where our Catholic leaders stand – both the heroes who are standing up for the truth, and the “zeroes” who cause grave scandal by their words and actions.

Every month, we will hold these Catholics accountable – and praise them when they deserve it. 

We ask that you pray for all Catholics in the public square, heroes and zeroes alike.


HEROES 

Jim Harbaugh

Michigan Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh drew fire this summer when he was “outed” as pro-life on social media. Progressive news sources publicized a speech he gave celebrating the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade – and turned him into a target for vile attacks. But the devout Catholic father and football star leaned into the pressure, making no secret of his pro-life convictions even as he became a target of the “Summer of Rage.” Far from backing down… he doubled down.

He knows that being pro-life isn’t just about private opinions. It has to be public and it has to be bold.

Wendell Perez 

In January 2022, Catholic father Wendell Perez sued employees of his local school district after his 12-year-old daughter attempted to hang herself in a school bathroom. The child had suffered from gender dysphoria and school staff manipulated her into adopting male behaviors while at school and hiding her struggles from her parents. The suit contends that the school recklessly endangered the child’s health and violated Perez’s fundamental rights as her parent. 
One school counselor, according to the lawsuit, cited Perez’s Catholic faith as the reason they were trying to “protect her confidentiality.” The case gained national attention in August as thousands of Floridians ousted progressive school board leaders in multiple counties, including Perez’s own county.

Bishop Robert Barron, Diocese of Winona-Rochester

In an August 23 video, Bishop Robert Barron presented the deep moral flaws inherent in President Biden’s pro-abortion advocacy. “I am sorry to say that, in regard to the most pressing moral issue of our time, he stands athwart both right reason and the explicit teaching of his Church,” Barron stated. 

Bishop Barron enjoys a following of millions of Catholics and non-Catholics – and takes a fair share of censure from both. He chose to use his platform to charitably but firmly rebuke not only President Biden but all self-described Catholic politicians who aggressively advocate for abortion. 

We are grateful for the bishop’s teaching and courage.


ZEROES

Joe O’Dea, Republican senatorial candidate in Colorado 

Republican Joe O’Dea is the self-proclaimed Catholic challenging Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in Colorado. And O’Dea deserves to lose. After winning his primary by just nine points – in spite of outspending his conservative opponent 25-to-1 – O’Dea launched an ad campaign touting his support for same-sex marriage and unlimited abortion access. We are appalled that O’Dea uses his Catholic faith to justify his pro-abortion stance. As CatholicVote President Brian Burch stated:

Joe O’Dea sounds like a nightmarish blend of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Obama infamously said that the question of when life begins was above his paygrade, and Pelosi constantly invokes her Catholicism when she defends unlimited abortion. This guy takes the worst of those two and combines them into one of the worst Republicans I’ve ever seen. He’s a fraud, and he deserves to lose.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-OH

As he fights for reelection this November, Rep. Tim Ryan – a self-described Catholic – has been attempting to distance himself from “progressive” stances on the “culture wars.” But there is no hiding it: NARAL gives him a 100% score on his pro-abortion report card, he refuses to say that men cannot get pregnant, and he has voted to eliminate conscience protections for healthcare workers. He’s even recently bragged about his support for unlimited abortion access, even up until birth. “Tim Ryan claims he takes no part in the culture wars,” says challenger J.D. Vance, “but his record proves that he is the face of woke, radical far-left extremism in Ohio.”

Ryan should stop using the Catholic faith as a prop, and start being honest.

Villanova University

Villanova bills itself as a university in the “Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition.” But St. Augustine would have a thing or two to say about the school’s new “Gender Inclusive Practices Guide.” Its intellectual incoherence and craven worship at the altar of LGBTQ propoganda would elicit only disgust from the saint. Developed by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in collaboration with the Gender & Women’s Studies program, the guidelines coach students, faculty, and staff to practice LGBTQ pronoun usage, apologize immediately if they “misgender” someone, and display “ardent receptivity” to “a variety of human experiences.”

Students, don’t entrust yourselves to an institution that spends thousands of taxpayer dollars on this drivel. Look elsewhere for your education.

Want to hear breaking news first? Join us.