I'm definitely not a Catholic apologist because I'm no fan of Benedict but in the things you cited, I have no issue with those. The Pope recently said some things you and I BOTH would agree with though and not sure you heard about it. He said that universal healthare is a right, not a privilege.
If the Pope actually spread that through the Bishops to all Catholics (Including our friend, Burn the Ships), the Christians on the Left would finally be able to compete with the Party of NO!
Bluesapphire never fails to bring out my name on threads. She is "muy equivocada."
In the United States, BS, we have this little document called the Constitution.
Obamacare is unconstitutional, which is why it is being challenged in the courts.
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Andrew-Napolitano-barack-obama/2010/03/26/id/354008
Catholics cannot support a government that does not give consideration to its own laws.
The Catholic teaching is of subsidiarity, which also happens to mesh perfectly with the US Constitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity_(Catholicism)
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. As such, the principle of subsidiarity conflicts with centralization and bureaucracy in political systems.
We have a responsibility to the poor, the marginalized, the sick, the hungry, but public healthcare is just another name for socialized medicine.
The Pope said nothing about socialized medicine.
Christians, and certainly Catholics, should oppose it.
"...Socialism...cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth."
QUADRAGESIMO ANNO, 117, Encyclical of Pope Pius XI
Reconstruction of the Social Order, May 15, 1931
"...no Catholic [can] subscribe even to moderate Socialism."
MATER ET MAGISTRA, 34, Pope John XXIII
On Christianity and Social Progress, May 15, 1961
"Socialists...debase the natural union of man and woman...the [family] bond they...deliver up to lust. Lured...by the greed of present goods...they assail the right of property. While they seem desirous of caring for the needs and satisfying the desires of all men, they strive to seize and hold in common whatever has been acquired either by title, by labor, or by thrift."
QUOD APOSTOLICI MUNERIS, 1, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII
On Socialism, December 28, 1878
From the US Constitution, the X amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
And lastly, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c2a1.htm
I could bold relevant parts, but IT IS ALL RELEVANT. I will therefore bold ALL OF IT SO IT CAN BURN INTO YOUR BRAIN, and so you will stop this crazy nonsense of yours, BLUESAPPHIRE.
Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of the lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”
God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing, according to the capacities of its own nature. This mode of governance ought to be followed in social life. The way God acts in governing the world, which bears witness to such great regard for human freedom, should inspire the wisdom of those who govern human communities. They should behave as ministers of divine providence.
The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.
Under Obamacare, the injustice of the currently uninsured will be replaced (to some extent although not all will be insured in the end) with the injustice of rationing, of a reduced standard of care, of less specialization and development. As in all socialized systems, the truly innovative and cutting edge treatments will be reserved for the wealthy, while mediocrity will prevail throughout under the inability of socialization to provide motivation. The one end that will be served is centralized planning, which is what always feeds socialism and is the true motive for it.
And by the way, it is not the party of NO. It is the party of HELL NO.