Catholic Bishop: Voting for Obama, Dems Could Place 'Eternal Salvation of Your Own Soul in Serious Jeopardy

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki from Springfield, Illinois, is getting attention after making some strongly-worded comments about those Americans who opt to vote for President Barack Obama in November. In a column and video that was posted by Catholic Times, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Springfield, Paprocki targeted portions of the Democratic platform that "explicitly endorse intrinsic evils." He also warned that supporting certain politicians could place peoples' "eternal salvation...in jeopardy."

While he noted that it's not his job to to tell people who do vote for, the faith leader said that he has a duty to speak out about moral issues. Despite his stated problems with the Democratic Party platform -- the initial removal of God, its stance abortion and its support of gay marriage -- Paprocki spoke relatively favorably of the Republican platform.

"I have read the Republican Party platform and there is nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin," he proclaimed.

While the bishop didn't overtly name President Barack Obama as a poor candidate for people of faith to support, he invoked religious themes and warned of spiritual damnation if religious voters stand in support of politicians who "promote actions of behaviors that are intrinsically evil."

"I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against. What I am saying is that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote," Paprocki said. "Because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy."

Here's a portion of the video that was cut and posted by Right Wing Watch:

Here's a longer version of this address, as published by the Catholic Times:

As noted, the Bishop is careful to continuously say that he's not attempting to influence votes. However, the overall logic, which can be seen in the text version of his comments, follows a telling pattern. In the sixth paragraph, he notes that the Democratic platform endorses "intrinsic evils"; in the next paragraph he claims that the GOP platform does not endorse these same purported evils.

Then, he says that, while he's not telling people which party or candidate to vote for, that "a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil" could carry dire consequences. Since the only party mentioned as embracing evil in this manner is the Democrats, the thesis is self-evident.

(H/T: Fox Nation)