The authority of Pope Benedict XVI now has some competition from the House Democratic Catholic caucus, which has issued an election-season encyclical.

The authority of Pope Benedict XVI now has some competition from the House Democratic Catholic caucus, which has issued an election-season encyclical. That effort was spearheaded by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and the former executive director of the abortion-rights group Emily's List, who explained, "We're rebelling against the idea of a one-issue church." The letter was signed by 55 Democrats, 35 of whom voted to keep partial-birth abortion legal. (They're perfectly willing to take dictation from a single-issue PAC.) The letter tries to have it both ways on abortion. It claims that the signatories agree with the Church on the "value of human life and the undesirability of abortion" while acknowledging "the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas." To disagree with the Church on the injustice of abortion, however, is to disagree with it about the value of human life. And as both this pope and his predecessor have explained, Catholics cannot treat this grave injustice as just another issue, on par with agriculture subsidies and the minimum wage. What is perhaps most disappointing about the letter is that a few genuinely pro-life Democrats signed it, providing cover for their pro-abortion colleagues and putting party loyalty ahead of the cause which they have, until now, faithfully served. It is a sadness; but it is unlikely that the magisterium of the Catholic Church has met its match in Rosa Dekauro.