He may have been an underdog. He may have run a disorganized, underfunded campaign. He may have let loose a few comments that caused his supporters embarrassment.
But Rick Santorum provided a stirring example of what a Catholic running for elected office can be.
While many self-identified Catholics in the nation’s political leadership have adopted a “personally opposed but …” position on abortion and set aside Catholic teaching and natural law tradition on marriage, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania offered an unapologetic, morally consistent articulation of the inalienable dignity of human life from conception to natural death and defended the right of children to have a mother and a father in the home.
Santorum didn’t hide behind a privatized understanding of faith, and that made him a target for a host of special interests.
Contrary to the unfair attacks of his critics, his stubborn — and sometimes awkward — articulation of Catholic moral teaching didn’t make him a theocrat. Indeed, a Catholic who seeks to govern or legislate needn’t ignore what his Church teaches — because the Church wants what all good government should aim for: the common good.
Santorum’s faith informed his political views and clearly inspired his devotion to his family, especially its most vulnerable member.
From the start of his shoestring campaign, he and his wife, Karen, sought to join the common good of their family to the struggle for the nation’s common good, a vision that inspired many of his supporters to back his campaign.
It is the family that is under siege in contemporary American life — from heavy financial and tax burdens leading both parents to work outside the home to ideology-driven school systems usurping parents’ roles as their child’s primary educators to a redefinition of marriage and a growing demand for government to replace the family’s role in an era of radical individualism.
Catholic teaching has so much to offer by way of answering those ills, and it takes a courageous public servant like Rick Santorum to inject the wisdom garnered over 2,000 years into a political reality that is little more than 200 years old.
Announcing the suspension of his campaign on April 10, Santorum said people had advised him to give up on what appeared to be an inevitable defeat.
“You can’t win,” they told him. But, he said, “We were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts. We were raising issues that, quite frankly, a lot of people didn’t want to have raised.”
That was true even when he was in the Senate, leading the fight for a bill to ban partial-birth abortion.
Yes, it was a long shot, and Santorum supporters must now wake up from a dream of a pro-life president to the reality of the political game of compromise. But Santorum’s presence on the political stage has raised the bar for other candidates.
The presumptive Republican nominee has an uneven record regarding life issues. He must now prove to Santorum’s supporters that his new stance arises from tough moral convictions, not political expediency.
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Rick Santorum was the only presidential candidate I have ever supported financially. I am sad to see him leave this race, but so very grateful for what he brought to it.
I applaud Rick Santorum for reminding Catholics what our core values and beliefs are. He was not afraid, he was not a coward. He did not bend to the “political correctness” that has permeated our society. I am grateful for his determination. He is a true role model. I only hope and pray that Romney chooses him as his running mate, then Romney will have my vote!
This was an excellent piece! As a catholic living in California I’ve been so disappointed with so many of the Catholics you speak of, Nancy Pelosi,Joe Biden, Harry Reid, etc., etc. It has often given me pause and concern as to why I remain Catholic. It’s one thing to recognize and walk in the “Right To Life” walks,etc., but it’s another to work for, support and cast your vote for a candidate that is Pro-Life and Pro-Family! Hypocrite’s were alive and well when Jesus was here and they remain with us today. For “Catholics” who truly reflect Gods biblical teachings and Catholic doctrine we must practice what is preached and stand for what we believe in or our nation will fall, just as Rome did!
God bless Rick Santorum and his family.
John F. Kennedy could have learned so much from Rick Santorum about what it means to be a true Catholic in todays world. Rick Santorums example taught all of us so much, and although he is no longer in the political race, he has already won in all the ways that really matter!
The shame of it all is that we have too many conservatives running and dividing up the conservative majority vote. The lone moderate RINO slides into the nomination with a slim minority of the vote. The Bush’s, McCain, and Romney are all Establishment guys who were picked as an easier opponent for the Marxist Democrat Party candidate.
Although I did not support the Senator, I do admit he stayed true to the faith in his campaign. We could sit here and Monday morning quaterback about what he should have said, where he should have gone, etc. But the primary is for all practical purposes over. There are larger battles still to fight, such as religious liberty. I aks all wh oread this to remember Cardinal Dolan’s words that the remedy of this adminsitration’s actions can only be corrected at the ballot box.
“It is the family that is under siege in contemporary American life.” This election, more than any other in history is about spiritual warfare with it’s attack on family, morality and life. I am deeply saddened that Santorum did not have the resources to continue the battle. What a sad state of affairs that the moral community could not have backed him more substantially. With what are left? Again we are reduced to voting between two lesser goods whose positions waffle with public opinion or the biggest bidder.
Spiritual warfare is not won in the public arena but on our knees!
I was very saddened that Rick dropped out, but I continue to have his bumper sticker on my car and I drive around with it, proudly. I am not ashamed to support a true Catholic as it truly takes guts, in this country, to even be a real Catholic. I hope that Romney DOES indeed take what Santorum started and support the true values that this country was founded on and defend life in all it’s stages and marriage in the true sense that God, Himself, intended. Life cannot be achieved by a same-sex couple; thereby, the answer is easy - it is not God’s plan.
I had a clear vision of who I wanted to be our nation’s leader. An individual who continued to fight for the passion in his heart. A politician with the guts to speak how he really believed, hold no punches. This is what the people wanted, right? But “the people” voted instead for a moderate who believes that just getting a politician from their side elected is all that matters. I am very disappointed in the fight for the White House already. I wanted a President I would be proud to stand beside & Rick Santorum was, and hopefully in the future will be, that man. And a Catholic who actually speaks the truth about his religion & does not shove uncomforable issues aside to be elected. I really admire the MAN that he is.
If Mitt is smart he would pick Rick for VP.It sure would make it a lot easier to pull that lever for us conservative Catholics. Rick Santorum could bring a lot to the table, we love him down South!
I would totally disagree with your assessment that Mr. Santorum showed what a candidate with ‘Catholic values’ can be like. Why? Because he took the Church’s stand on ONE issue (abortion)? Mr. Santorium, in my opinion as a public health professional, is the epitomy of everything wrong with politicians trying to ‘represent’ Catholic values. When did Jesus teach that we should all be out for ourselves and not care about our neighbors? That is EXACTLY what Mr. Santorum preaches with his speeches aimed at getting rid of a health care system that is working to provide coverage to all, most especially those with limited resources and those who are disadvantaged, which, at least in my years in Catholic schools and the Church, is what Jesus taught. And this from a man who has a child with a medical condition? Mr. Santorum is owned by lobbyists, many of whom represent the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and was overwhelmingly voted out of office by Pennsylvanian’s for ethical misconduct just a few years ago. That is what makes a candidate who represents ‘Catholic values’? It is very disappointing that so many in the ‘Catholic media’ and heirarchy of the Church in the U.S. support a candidate who spews such hateful political vitriol. I really hope the Catholics who have fallen into this trap of political divisiveness and hate-filled rhetoric learn to open their hearts once again and work to spread kindness and charity. Just my 2 cents…
I couldn’t agree more! If Catholics declared the belief and strengths of their Church the way Santorum rightly does then the Church would once again be healthy. I admire him! And he’s blessing to all orthodox Catholics and correctly identifies the Church beliefs.
I will have a hard time voting for the two current republican candidate for president. As of now I will be writing Senator Santorum name in when I vote. I supported the senator all along and was sad to see him leave. It will be a interesting elections. May God Bless the Senator and his family. Joe
I am proud to have supported Rick Santorum’s bid for the presidency, for the reason articulated above, he is the most clearly committed Catholic who has ever run for the presidency. Not perfect, but it is easy to see how the birth of his special needs daughter Bella taught him much about keeping his priorities straight on life issues. As the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome, I know what he means.
Rick brought issues which American society considered dead; family breakdown and its causal relation to poverty, the harm caused to marriage and society by contraception, the link between educational choice and educational quality. It certainly was a beautiful dream to think of a traditional large, homeschooling Catholic family in the White House.
On Monday night, Rick Santorum told 4,000 supporters and members of the pres to ‘stay tuned’. He promised to continue the fight for these values we hold dear, and I will be ready to support him in this effort.
I thank God for Santorum. He is a real person and not an overly polished facade. He gets angry. He makes mistakes with words and in situations. What real person doesn’t? I don’t want some smooth talking fool that will sell us out to another country (i.e. to China, Afghanistan, etc) but a person with good old fashioned values and common sense that looks before they leap and checks for the strings attached. I want someone that knows that you can’t get anything in this life without a price to be payed. I want someone that can say the hard stuff that needs to be said and stands firm even when people laugh. Being apathetic and a spineless noodle without guts to deal with the hard stuff in life gets us a communist president like Obama with an idiot vice president like Biden.
Absolute 110% BS. As a former campaign worker for his Senate campaign I assure you Faith to him was nothing more than a gimmick to win votes. His record as a Senator shows numerous votes and statements that were against Catholic teachings and against Blessed John Paul. Internal campaign memos from the start of his Presidential campaign show him being encouraged by polling to highlight his Catholicism to exploit a perceived credibility gap in voter polling. He is and. Always has been a. Charlatan of the highest degree which is why we PA voters threw him out of office in the biggest defeat in Senate history and why he got onlly 17% of the Catholic vote in his reelection efforts.
Rick Santorum had been the underdog, but could have gone farther if others had dropped out sooner. Had Ron Paul and/or Newt Gingrich left the race even two months ago, those votes could have gone to Santorum, and he could have won more delegates and more states. His losses to Mitt Romney were rather close in some states. I do not understand why Gingrich or Paul are still in the race. They are so far off the radar, even if they were to receive Santorum’s votes, they could not beat Mitt Romney.
Santorum’s exit from the race was surprising but responsible. While he did win the hearts of many Americans, he gave Catholics hope that a good honest politician could make a difference. I feel he could have turned around so many of the problematic issues we are facing today. But with a string of family issues and financial issues that Mitt Romney does not have to worry about, he made the right choice by putting family first. So many politicians today who claim to be Catholic do not have as much courage as Santorum, standing up for what is right at all times. God bless him and his family.
I will vote for Rick SanTorum (Saint Torum) every chance I get from now on. My main disappointment in the 2012 election is that SanTorum dropped out - I was looking forward to voting for him. Rick really impressed me with his deep knowledge of Catholicism, Jesus’ teachings, the U.S. Constitution, family, honesty, integrity, and Politics; and he wove them all together seamlessly.
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Santorum was NOT the Catholic candidate anymore than Romney was the Mormon candidate. By the way, Newt was also NOT the Catholic candidate.
I am a devout conservative pro-life Catholic who much prefers Romney over Santorum for President. Santorum is a career politician who has NO success in the PRIVATE SECTOR; moreover, he supported the EVIL Sen. Arlen Specter for re-election and also always supported pro-Union legislation.
Rick gave us a little dose of Christian hope for a while… I saw him on a whim back in October of 2011 at the College of Mary Magdalene in Warner, NH. The ‘Gaystapo’ probably didn’t know he was there… I was one of only a few non-student adults present. Coming from ultra-liberal, nihilist, secularist Massachusetts, I was able to shake the hand of an actual, honest, proud, Orthodox Catholic like myself, and I was later able to vote for him in my state. Ten percent of us here voted for him, (I’m unenrolled in either major political party), and it felt very good to vote for Rick…
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God Bless America
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Sadly, many Catholics (political liberals & conservatives) didn’t support this wonderful man. Liberal Catholics because they tend to support anyone and anything that isn’t Catholic; but that is to be expected. What is surprising is how many politically conservative Catholics backed Ron Paul because he seemed to have a better game plan economically or because of his positions on international affairs. What I think my conservative friends overlooked in Santorum is this: nothing is superior to a Catholic world view. Santorum had this solidly. Evangelicals saw this in him and backed him, but his own people turned their backs on him. He could have stayed in the race if people realized how imperative it is for our leaders to have a real Catholic world view. Some people supported New Gingrich, who I am happy to know, became a Catholic; but Mr. Gingrich you should have bowed out gracefully earlier in the race and given Senator Santorum the votes and the momentum so that conservatives wouldn’t have to settle for Carl Rove’s selection of a presidential candidate. God gave us an opportunity to select a Godly man, and we caved.
I am more than a 100percent on Santorum,s issues. I give The National Register to ppublis my comment.
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