The Roman Catholic Hierarchy: Putting the Squeeze on Politicians; The Catholic Church Is Pursuing a New Policy of Aggressive Interference in Lawmaking and Elections (Cover Story‪)‬

When Pope John Paul II annually addresses the ambassadors to the Vatican in his New Year's "state of the world" speech, he sets forth his priority concerns for the coming year. In his 2005 address, given January 10 and followed by a posting of its English translation on the Vatican website, the pope maintains that the greatest challenge facing humanity "is the challenge of life" and that "the State has as its primary task precisely the safeguarding and promotion of human life." In this the pope specifically refers, first, to "the beginning of human life," declaring: "the human embryo is a subject identical to the human being which will be born at the term of its development." In this context he speaks against both abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Second, the pope refers to "the very sanctuary of life: the family," which he says is, in some countries, "threatened by legislation which--at times directly--challenges its natural structure, which is and must necessarily be that of a union between a man and a woman founded on marriage." He adds that the family "must never be undermined by laws based on a narrow and unnatural vision of man"--in other words, by laws recognizing gay marriage. Though he takes up other issues in this speech, such as war and natural disasters, it's only in these matters that he argues in terms of government action. This is part of a pattern. The current leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has moved in recent years from pastoral persuasion to political pressure, using intimidation, coercion, and force to achieve obedience to its teachings on contraception, abortion, euthanasia, divorce, same sex marriage, and a range of other issues. The church seeks not merely to discipline recalcitrant church members but to require that church teachings on these subjects be imposed by coercive measures upon entire nations.