In many respects, the Catholic community today is divided into pro-life and
social justice camps. That is unfortunate, and while this division can be
overstated, it remains true that most Catholic activists sit in either one camp
or the other; cross-over Catholics are a rare breed.
Paul Ryan represents the pro-life wing, and Joe Biden represents the social
justice wing. Indeed, both exemplify the differences, and not just on the issue
of abortion. For example, Ryan’s idea of freedom of choice commits him to
supporting school vouchers; Biden’s notion of choice commits him to abortion
rights. Ryan is opposed to reinventing the institution of marriage; Biden wants
to expand marriage to include two people of the same sex.
The Catholic Church opposes abortion and gay marriage. On both of these issues,
Biden disagrees with the Church. Biden’s defenders, e.g., Catholics who
identify with social justice concerns, argue that Ryan’s budgetary
prescriptions make him the dissident Catholic; his ideas are said to hurt the
poor. This assumes, however, that there is a clear Catholic teaching on what
constitutes the best means to conquer poverty. There isn’t. For instance,
fidelity to the Church’s preferential option for the poor can be realized by
making a serious case to raise taxes, or to lower them. In effect, both Biden
and Ryan can plausibly maintain that he is a champion of the poor. But only
one, Ryan, can be identified as the champion of the unborn.
Not all policy issues are equal. Abortion is regarded by the Catholic Church as
“intrinsically evil.” Moreover, the bishops’ conference has explicitly endorsed
a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a
woman. This puts Biden at a decisive disadvantage in making the case that he
better represents Catholic teachings.