Washington D.C., Aug 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Jesuit magazine, America, will publish an article in its Aug. 16-23 issue, in which a pro-abortion politician says he will not let Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis "coerce" him into imposing the Church's teachings on U.S. society.
The weekly international magazine provided reporters with an advance copy of the article last week.
In his article, titled “My Conscience, My Vote”, U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) says Archbishop Burke “attempted to use his interpretations of theology to coerce me into taking specific positions on matters that I believe are matters of constitutional law."
This is the politician’s first public response to Archbishop Burke since last year, when it became public that the archbishop, then bishop for the Diocese of La Crosse, sent letters to three Wisconsin politicians. The letters warned the Catholic politicians that their support of "anti-life" legislation was causing grave scandal and putting their spiritual well being at risk.