I Am One Of Those People Who

I Think There Has Been An Unfortunate Tendency For A Lot Of Different Groups To Forget That Distinction Between Natural Law And Revealed Truth And To Say: Our Complete Agenda Is To Be Enacted Into Laws Governing The Entire Society. Many Different Religious Groups Claim That Authority, Not Only Catholics. A Lot Of Different Protestant Groups As Well Are Stepping Forward To Say: Here Is Our Agenda, It Is A Moral Agenda, Ergo It Must Be Enacted Into Law. I Think That The Distinction Between Natural Law And More Ultimate Kinds Of Doctrine Is Being Lost.

We Have To Preserve It And Use It Sustainably. And The Short-term Use Of Resources At The Destruction Of The Long-term Heritage Of This Country Is Not A Policy That We Can Pursue.

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.

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.

The Northwest Is In Better Shape Than It Was Eight Years Ago.