Last evening at Carlow University in Pittsburg, the Sisters of Mercy hosted a Catholics for Obama event. I received a call from someone who attended the event who told me the “high point was when a Catholic priest urged everyone in the crowd to report any priest to the IRS and to the diocese of Pittsburgh who preaches from the pulpit that you must vote based on one issue.”

There were about 15 sisters present and three priests. Here is the description of the event sent to me by those who attended.

A paper was supposed to be delivered by Prof. Nicholas Cafardi, a professor of Law at Duquesne University. Dr. Cafardi cancelled his appearance at the event, but one of the Sisters of Mercy read his paper (it is not known whether Cafardi authorized his paper to be read at the event.) Cafardi is the second high-profile Catholic jurist to endorse Obama, Doug Kmiec being the first.

Thirteen Franciscan University Students attended the event from the Students for Life and the College Republicans (Cafardi is a trustee of Franciscan University). The purpose of their attendance was to ask thought provoking questions and to evangelize to the attendees at the event.

Students distributed literature from Priests for Life following the event. They were not allowed to bring in a video camera.

Cafardi’s paper began, “I believe that abortion is an unspeakable evil. . . . I support Obama in spite of the fact that he is pro-abortion.” He referenced the Nov. 2007 USCCB Faithful Citizenship, particularly sections 34, 35, and 42.

Cafardi claimed, “We have lost the abortion battle, and I believe we have lost it completely.”

He then criticized the pursuit of Supreme Court Justices by pro-lifers asking, “What guarantee do we have that Roe would be overturned?” and “What would be accomplished if Roe was overturned?”

He equated an “unjust war” to genocide.

He criticized the Bush administration on human trafficking, not mentioning that President Bush has done more than any other president to address the issue of human trafficking around the world.

He neglected to talk about the candidates’ stances on cloning or euthanasia.

He concluded his talk by saying, “The next president is not going to be able to affect abortion very much.”

Cafardi argued you should support a candidate that will use “government action to reduce abortions” by supporting “comprehensive approach to ending abortion.”

After the talk, the sister opened it up to questions. At this point it became evident that at least half of the attendees to this event were pro-life McCain supporters.

One priest encouraged people in the audience to turn in their priests to the IRS if they encourage parishioners to vote pro-life, or if they mention that abortion is an intrinsic evil; but they do not mention all of the other intrinsic evils.

While the sister specifically avoided calling on Franciscan students to ask questions, she did call on two students unknowingly.

John Lysaght, a sophomore at Franciscan University, offered a statement to the group saying that he is 19-years old and he is going to support John McCain because he sees the issue of abortion to be the most near and dear to his heart.

Mary Novick, a junior at Franciscan University, asked a question about two points that were made in the talk, namely, the point that the abortion battle is already lost and that the next president is not going to be able to affect abortion.

She said, “The next president may not be able to completely end abortion, but he could greatly expand “abortion rights,” as Barack Obama has promised to do with the Freedom of Choice Act.

One student, who was sitting directly in front of the sister who read Cafardi’s paper, attempted to ask a question but was being ignored. He insisted on asking her what she thought about Obama saying his biggest political regret was trying to save Terri Schiavo's life.

The sister dismissed the question saying she didn't know what he was talking about. He responded by saying, "Well ,sister, it certainly surprised me because I would have thought he could have used the opportunity to say that supporting infanticide in Illinois was his biggest regret."

That clearly infuriated her, and she said that not only did Obama not support infanticide, but also that he was being brainwashed by propaganda.

This same nun also grabbed him by the arm immediately after the talk and said very sarcastically, "Have a nice drive BACK to Steubenville!"