Catholic Cardinal Calls for Americans to Voluntarily Surrender 2A Rights

[Spirit of 76]

Catholic Cardinal Calls for Americans to Voluntarily Surrender 2A Rights


https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/c...der-2a-rights/

https://www.rcan.org/pray-end-all-instances-violence

Pray for an end to all instances of violence
May 26, 2023


My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Today's news is dominated by senseless mass shootings that take the lives of innocent people, often the most vulnerable and unprotected. Gun violence has become so prevalent that it risks becoming commonplace, and all of us are in danger of becoming indifferent to what is one of the most serious threats to our society (neighborhoods, local communities and our nation as a whole).

For many years now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has called for action banning assault weapons. In the bishops' 2020 statement, A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence" (see below), the bishops write, "We support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns." I strongly agree with my brother bishops on the need to ban assault weapons and to control gun sales.

Legislation and regulations are absolutely necessary, but they are not sufficient. Like all life issues, when it comes to the prevention of gun violence, we cannot legislate morality. However, we can, and must, regulate our behavior in order to protect the vulnerable and ensure the common good. This is why reasonable licensing of all gun purchases, and strict limitations on access to weapons whose purpose is clearly of a military nature, are so important. It's true that we have a second amendment right to bear arms, but rights always involve responsibilities*in this case, the responsibility to protect the innocent and to secure public safety and good order. The mass shootings we are witnessing almost weekly now are a grave threat to the lives and well-being of all people.


With this in mind, I think it's time for me and other bishops and community leaders to call for a synodal effort to actively resist gun violence through a threefold process of prayer and work, advocacy, and voluntary self-restraint. Here's what I have in mind:

1. Prayer and Work. The Benedictine motto, Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work), stresses the fact that both are essential to discerning and doing God's will. Those who say that prayer is not enough are correct in this limited sense. In response to this grave moral crisis, we must combine our prayer with action to prevent the root causes of gun violence wherever it occurs. At the same time, Pope Francis reminds us: "We must never stop praying; indeed, let us pray to God more intensely."

2. Advocacy. As an integral part of our efforts to prevent gun violence, all Americans should make local, state and federal officials know how we feel about this critical issue. We should not assume that our elected representatives know where we stand. We should make our voices heard, demanding that actions be taken to protect the vulnerable and keep our communities safe. As the U.S. bishops write, "We have an obligation to respond. Violence -- in our homes, our schools and streets, our nation and world -- is destroying the lives, dignity and hopes of millions of our sisters and brothers."

3. Voluntary Self-Restraint. This is perhaps the most challenging and controversial proposal, but I honestly believe it is the best thing we can do to change the culture of violence that threatens us today. Let's voluntarily set aside our rights in order to witness the truth that only peace, and never violence, is the way to build a free society that is lived concretely in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, our nation and our world. This requires us to acknowledge that we are all sisters and brothers in one human family and that we have a responsibility to listen to one another, to respect everyone regardless of our differences and disagreements, and to work together to build a better, safer, more peaceful world. In the spirit of Pope Francis, let us together cry out from our hearts: Never again gun violence, never again so much suffering!


St. Paul, in his first letter to the Church of Corinth (1 Cor 8:8*9), addresses what I have called "voluntary self-restraint." Paul is speaking to the controversy about eating meat that has been prepared for the worship of idols, and he acknowledges that the Corinthians have the right to eat whatever they choose, but he admonishes them to think of the impact their behavior will have on others. With this in mind, he says: "Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do. But make sure that this liberty of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak."

Unrestrained gun ownership is a serious threat to the weak in our communities. Easy access to assault weapons encourages people suffering from emotional illnesses and those who have political agendas that are destructive of human rights, especially the right to life, to take out their rage on innocent bystanders and on first responders who give their lives to serve and protect our communities. The voluntary self-restraint that I am calling for will not solve the problem of gun violence all by itself, but it can help us change our culture from one that is obsessively focused on individuals' rights to a society dedicated to ensuring the common good.

"Violence is not the cure for our broken world," Pope Francis reminds us. Please join me in praying for an end to all instances of violence, especially gun violence in our schools, churches, places of business and in the public square. Come, Lord, make us instruments of your peace!

Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R
Archbishop of Newark

[EFK]

"...but it can help us change our culture from one that is obsessively focused on individuals' rights to a society dedicated to ensuring the common good."

So he leans communist, apparently?

[lager1829]

They don't want to get shot when they're caught raping a child

[Gman106]

If he succeeds in all the major cities first maybe I'll think about it.

[Spirit of 76]

A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence
A statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), January 2020

"[W]e know that this "piecemeal" violence, of different kinds and levels, causes great suffering: wars in different countries and continents; terrorism, organized crime and unforeseen acts of violence; the abuses suffered by migrants and victims of human trafficking; and the devastation of the environment. Where does this lead? Can violence achieve any goal of lasting value? . . . Violence is not the cure for our broken world. Countering violence with violence leads, at best, to forced migrations and enormous suffering because vast amounts of resources are diverted to military ends and away from the everyday needs of young people, families experiencing hardship, the elderly, the infirm and the great majority of people in our world. At worst, it can lead to the death, physical and spiritual, of many people, if not of all." Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2017.


BACKGROUND
The news is filled with reports of violence, of news of mass shootings at home and raging wars abroad. Many studies conclude that mass shootings*when defined as four or more people shot in a single incident*have reached one or more per day in the United States. Overseas, the war in Syria has claimed hundreds of thousands of dead and displaced millions of refugees. Other conflicts take innocent lives around the world. More than ever, the Church and all people of good will must work together to confront the pervasive culture of violence.

The Church has been a consistent voice for the promotion of peace at home and around the world and a strong advocate for the reasonable regulation of firearms. Christ's love and mercy must guide us. The Church recognizes that recourse to self-defense is legitimate for one's own safety. In today's world, however, weapons that are increasingly capable of inflicting great suffering in a short period of time are simply too accessible.


USCCB POSITION
In 1994, recalling the words of Pope Paul VI, "If you want peace, work for justice," the U.S. bishops issued their pastoral message, Confronting a Culture of Violence: A Catholic Framework for Action. The bishops stated, "We have an obligation to respond. Violence -- in our homes, our schools and streets, our nation and world -- is destroying the lives, dignity and hopes of millions of our sisters and brothers."

With this reality in mind, the USCCB supported the Assault Weapons Ban initially passed in 1994, which expired in 2004. In 2000, the U.S. bishops issued their pastoral statement, Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, and called for all people to work toward a culture of life, to do more to end violence in our homes, and to help victims break out of patterns of abuse. Regarding gun violence prevention, the bishops wrote, "We support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns."

The U.S. bishops have also addressed domestic violence. In their 2002 statement, When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women, the bishops emphatically declared that violence against women, inside or outside the home, is never justified and that violence, whether physical, sexual, psychological or verbal, is immoral. The bishops also acknowledged the toll domestic violence takes on men but especially children, who are particularly sensitive to the impacts of such evil acts.

In addition to several statements and testimony offered to Congress on gun violence following several of the tragedies in recent years, the USCCB formed a Special Task Force to Promote Peace in Our Communities in response to the violence of the summer of 2016, which issued a Final Report and Recommendations in the fall of that year. The USCCB has consistently urged policy changes in the wake of violent tragedies, which have become far too frequent in our cities and towns.

ACTION
For many years, the USCCB has supported a number of reasonable measures to address the problem of gun violence. These include:

A total ban on assault weapons, which the USCCB supported when the ban passed in 1994 and when Congress failed to renew it in 2004.
Measures that control the sale and use of firearms, such as universal background checks for all gun purchases;
Limitations on civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines;
A federal law to criminalize gun trafficking;
Improved access to and increased resources for mental health care and earlier interventions;
Regulations and limitations on the purchasing of handguns;
Measures that make guns safer, such as locks that prevent children and anyone other than the owner from using the gun without permission and supervision; and
An honest assessment of the toll of violent images and experiences which inundate people, particularly our youth.
At the Bishops' General Assembly in the fall of 2019, Bishop Frank J. Dewane, then Chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, gave a comprehensive overview of various policy responses to gun violence and spoke favorably of Extreme Risk Protection Orders among other options. The USCCB also supports recent proposals to set a more appropriate minimum age for gun ownership and to ban "bump stocks." Finally, the USCCB supports holistic measures, such as the promotion of mercy and peacebuilding in our communities through restorative justice policies and practices, ongoing encounters and discussions at the parish level regarding violence in communities.

Catholics and all people of good will are urged to contact their Senators and Representative to support policy and legislative measures that uphold the safety and well-being of all persons in our communities.

https://www.rcan.org/pray-end-all-instances-violence

[streaker69]

If God wants my guns, he can come take them.

[akley88]

im good. they can give up their rights im not going to.

[bogey1]

That's a cardinal sin.

[Capt]

The good news is I'm not catholic and like I've mentoned before i'll give my guns up when they pry my cold dead hands off them

[KCJones]

If God wants my guns, he can come take them.

There's an old joke about a priest, a rabbi and an imam discussing how they divvy up donations between their congregation and their 'central authority'.

One of them draws a circle, tosses the donations in the air and what falls outside the circle gets sent on. One draws a circle, tosses the donations in the air and whatever falls inside gets sent on. One says "I throw it up in the air, what God can catch he can keep".