TN Prelate Slams Democrats Over Infanticide

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A bishop in Tennessee is calling out the Democratic Party over its support for infanticide.

Bishop Richard Stika of the Knoxville diocese said on Twitter late Tuesday, "How can a political party state that their election will bring back morality to the United States when the party is now in favor of unrestricted abortion and infanticide?"

This comes soon after Senate Democrats shut down two pro-life bills in procedural votes on Feb. 25. One measure sought to protect the right to life of babies born alive after attempted abortions; the other would have banned late-term abortions. (In years past, Democrats scuttled previous versions of both bills, also in procedural votes.)

On the day the bills were canned, Kansas City, Kansas Abp. Joseph Naumann, chairman of the U.S. bishops conference's pro-life committee, called it "appalling" that people voted against the pro-life measures.

Archbishop Naumann said in a statement, "It is appalling that even one senator, let alone more than 40, voted to continue the brutal dismemberment of nearly full-grown infants and voted against protecting babies who survive abortion."

This is not the first time Bp. Stika has called out Democrats over their position on abortion.

For example, he slammed party members in February last year for blocking pro-life legislation in the U.S. Senate, calling them "the party of infanticide" and comparing them to those who defended slavery prior to the U.S. Civil War.

In September, Bp. Stika blasted abortion giant Planned Parenthood, referring to its founder, Margaret Sanger, as a racist. Sanger was a proponent of eugenics and believed in encouraging contraception and sterilization for those thought to have "weak" genetics.

Last November, Bp. Stika remarked on a Democratic presidential primaries debate, "The Democrats on the stage tonight are shameless in their promotion of the ability to deny children the right to life."

Stika has said in the past that he is not a fan of President Donald Trump, but is willing to thank the president when he stands up for the right to life of unborn children. For instance, after the 2019 State of the Union address, he thanked President Trump "for his words regarding the slaughter of babies in the womb."

Bishop Stika has a mixed reputation among faithful Catholics, as indicated by previous reporting from Church Militant.

Last July, he tweeted in favor of letting married men become priests to serve remote regions of the Amazon, saying, "Since the Church already has married priests in the world, I see no reason not to."

In January last year, the Knoxville bishop spoke in favor of excommunicating pro-abortion politicians, such as Democrats in New York State who had recently passed pro-abortion legislation.

Bishop Stika has joined other bishops in warning against pro-gay Jesuit Fr. James Martin — a speaker and author who has been widely criticized for emphasizing inclusion for the LGBT community in the Catholic Church while downplaying the need to repent of one's sins and live chastely.

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