Abortion proponent welcome in church, but don’t applaud

Recently the pastor of my Catholic parish received a letter sharply rebuking the introduction of Rep. Josh Harder at the end of Mass. Harder’s office requested an opportunity to meet with parishioners after Mass.

The reaction to Harder’s introduction was applause.

The thrust of the critical letter was that considering Rep. Harder’s public pro-abortion stance, he should not be welcomed in a Catholic church – let alone endorsed or cheered.

In response, my pastor beautifully presented as the weekly homily his own letter explaining that there was no endorsement of Rep. Harder; that he is an elected official who is not campaigning, and the parishioners are his constituents. Yet, there was the applause.

This situation offers an interesting intersection of church and state.

It is understandable that Harder’s public stance supporting abortion would be an anathema to pro-life Catholics. While there are a hundred shades of the environmental, gay marriage, immigration, legalized marijuana, and racism issues that can be debated by the faithful, abortion continues to be the bright-line. It should be a non-negotiable litmus test between faith and what is known in the law as malum in se: evil in itself.

Still, it has become trendy for some Christians (including some liberal clergy) to bash the current administration on its opposition to an assortment of liberal causes. This alignment makes strange bedfellows for Catholics and politicians such as Harder, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – all staunch abortionists.

It’s the applause for Congressman Harder at Mass that still bugs me. Freedom without morality is bankrupt and unsustainable. The debate between saving the mother’s unborn child versus controlling a woman’s body crumbles for lack of common ground. Without a common moral framework, there is blindness to the malum in se.

But as Christians (and I include my Jewish brothers and sisters), we know better. We know the unborn child is holy, made in the image of God. She or he is a person who has a name. “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13-14

Christians examine your cheers for an abortionist. We pray for him, we embrace him, we protest him and we love him because he is our brother. But we don’t applaud because he opposes an unpopular (to some) President or has an immigration policy we like.

So where does the saving love of Jesus Christ leave Rep. Harder? I do not believe our Lord would have chased the Congressman off the church property. He would have said, “I am coming to your house today. We are going to eat, drink and get to know each other. Then I am going to tell you about my Father.”

Church and state are not separated, but inextricably intertwined.