Illinois Bishop Sartain: “To be Catholic Means to be Pro-Life”

The good Bishop reminds CINO's of Catholic teachings and what it means to be Catholic.

Speaking with LifeSiteNews.com after the Vigil for Life Mass in the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception last week, Joliet Bishop Peter Sartain insisted that there is no wiggle room when it comes to being Catholic and holding pro-life values.

Bishop Sartain said he was proud that over 225 youth from his diocese had come to the D.C. March for Life. “They’re a great group from Joliet,” he said. “We’re teaching them the meaning of being truly pro-life.”

Asked about the example Nancy Pelosi gives of being in favor of abortion while calling herself Catholic, Bishop Sartain replied, “Any Catholic who is going to understand our faith and live by the faith seriously must be pro-life.”

The Joliet Bishop explained, “It’s at the very core of our understanding of living a moral life because all life comes from God. It’s a message that we have a responsibility to continue to get out.”

He concluded, “To be Catholic means to be pro-life.”

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From the Catechism:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.


2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.