I Am One Of Those

I Was Nurtured In The Church; I Went To A Catholic School; I Was An Altar Boy; I Went To A Catholic University; I Was Steeped In The Moral Tradition Of The Catholic Church. My Catholicism Plays A Very Strong Role. But I Thought President John F.kennedy Answered Rather Well When He Said That Ultimately My Conduct As A Public Official Does Not Come Ex Cathedra From Rome; It Comes From My Conscience.

We've Set Aside Tens Of Millions Of Acres Of Those Northwestern Forests For Perpetuity. The Unemployment Rate Has Gone Not Up, But Down. The Economy Has Gone Up.

I Have No Question That The Roman Catholic Church Teaches That Abortion In Virtually All Circumstances Is Wrong. I Think The Church's Position At All Times In Modern History Has Been That It Is Unequivocally Opposed To Abortion.but That's Not The Question For A Catholic Who Is A Public Official. I Happen To Subscribe To The Church's Position As A Person. Still The Question, As Governor Mario Cuomo Suggested, Is: What Is Your Obligation As A Civic Leader? I Agree Entirely With John F. Kennedy. I Answer Only To My Conscience In My Public Life And That's That.

On Areas Like Abortion Where There Is Major Disagreement Among The Mainstream Religious Groups In The Judeo-christian Tradition, I Believe That Requires A Lot More Caution. The Jewish Position On Abortion Is Very Different From The Roman Catholic Position. That Is Reason To Be Cautious About Enacting Laws Rather Than Saying To The Religious Group: Instruct Your Followers On These Matters As Matters Of Personal Religious Belief.

We Must Identify Our Enemies And Drive Them Into Oblivion.