Cross-posted from Bold Faith Type
Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters and Kathryn Jean Lopez have been cheerleading for fellow Catholic Rick Santorum's presidential campaign. When their fellow blogger Joshua Mercer chimed in with reasonable concerns about the former Senator's hawkish foreign policy positions, Lopez quickly responded:
I'd not worry as much as you seem to that Santorum is war-happy. I actually think he is an example of someone who takes Catholic social teaching seriously on a whole host of issues, including war and peace.
Lopez and Mercer's debate centers on Santorum's rhetoric about Iran, but you don't have to speculate about hypothetical wars to find an answer on Santorum's record on these issues -- his current positions and past votes are clear.
As a Senator, Santorum voted to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, starting a war the Pope himself very publicly opposed. Even three years later, after the Church's fears about the shaky justifications for the war were proven correct, Santorum still refused to admit his vote was a mistake.
But even more clearly, Rick Santorum openly supports torture, which the Church designates an intrinsic evil that can never be justified in any circumstance. Pope Paul VI even described such acts as "infamies" that "poison society," do "supreme dishonor to the Creator," and "do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from injury."
It'd be one thing for Lopez to explain that she and Santorum disagree with the Church on these issues, or argue that despite Santorum's dissent he's still the best option for Catholics for other reasons. But to claim that Santorum "takes Catholic social teaching seriously" on war while ignoring his stances on the two most relevant examples of the last decade is an explicit instance of putting partisan apologetics before faith principles.