Mailer asks me to support Trump. I’m not that kind of Catholic, Puyallup doctor says

I recently received a mailing labeled as Catholic Voter Registration and Presidential Preference Ballot. It surreptitiously suggested that the “right side” of the upcoming presidential election is the Trump side. It solicited both a commitment to vote for this alleged “right side” and a monetary donation.

I am not that kind of Catholic.

I do not consider Catholics to be either conservative or liberal. A Catholic person is simply a person who follows the Law of Christ, which is an unconditional mandate to love everyone regardless of party preference.

It obliges one to welcome the stranger, the alien in our midst. It directs one to feed the hungry and house the homeless. The Law of Christ condemns the death penalty and war.

Our Gospel mandates the we respond to one another with compassion and mercy. These are, among others, distinctive marks of a Catholic person.

President Trump and his administration produce untold pain at the borders by cruelly separating children from their parents and withholding the sanctity of refuge from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It has tried to erode protections for members of our LGBTQ community, despite the fact that the Gospel does not express any opinion regarding who you have as a sexual partner. (Read Matthew 25 to find out who is admitted to the elect; there is no mention of sexual preference.)

Abortion is abhorred by everyone I know, regardless of party preference. While the law of the land decriminalizes it, it does not oblige you to obtain one.

Do these Catholic voters prefer that a desperate woman try to perform an abortion herself or seek an illegal and unsafe one? Are Catholics not obligated by the Gospel to treat that woman with compassion and give her the support that she urgently needs?

In the name of pro-life, Trump has decried access to abortion services while simultaneously destroying the very safety net that protects these most vulnerable people.

How can Catholics in true conscience align with the Trump cause when it so blatantly contradicts the mandates of the Gospel?

Are we really, as the mailing suggests, to confer the title of “most PROLIFE” administration to one whose misguided policies and neglectful leadership have needlessly caused more than 180,000 deaths from COVID-19?

This same administration, which continues to recommend ineffective and dangerous treatments for the disease, actively tries to dismantle healthcare coverage during the worst pandemic in our lifetimes. It urges re-opening for the sake of the economy at the expense of health and life.

And this is considered “PROLIFE”?

The mailing I received seems to have been created by people with no conscience or compassion, the antithesis of a Catholic person.

Needless to say, I am offended by this mailing and as a Catholic, I firmly reject and stand up against such misguidedness. I urge my fellow Catholics to join me.

Ovidio Peñalver is a longtime Puyallup resident and pediatrician who closed his practice in 2017 after 37 years in business.