Opinion: Michael Steele, Black, Pro-Life Catholic Takes the Helm of the G.O.P.

The Republican Party is in need of leadership which can inspire it to become the Party of Lincoln and stand up for a true new birth of freedom that includes the freedom to be born.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - He was born at Andrews Air Force base in Prince George's County, Maryland on October 19, 1958 and subsequently adopted. This African American child was then raised in a family of Democrats. His political turn to the Republican Party did not come from his having attained success in almost every endeavor he has undertaken, which he has. Rather, according to this well spoken and inspiring man, it came from watching the lived example of his mother, Maebell and hearing the convincing positions of a man named Ronald Reagan.

Michael Steele's mother suffered a tragedy in 1962 when her husband, Michael's father, died of liver disease. She went to work and through her sacrifice raised him and his sister on a minimum wage job. Her ethic of hard work and deep dedication to her children were an inspiration to her young son. They have also been replicated in him, according to those who know him best. He is considered one of the hardest working and most ethical public servants in American political life.

He attended Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington D.C. and is among the first in his family to go to College. He earned his Bachelors degree (B.A.) in international relations at Johns Hopkins and his Law Degree (J.D.) from Georgetown University Law Center. Michael Steele has a deeply rooted and sincere Catholic Christian faith. As a young man he considered a vocation to the priesthood and spent time at the Augustinian seminary at Villanova. After a period of discernment and study he chose to pursue marriage and family and what would become a distinguished career in law and public service. His Novice master for the Augustinians, Fr. Francis J. Doyle, told the Baltimore Sun "Michael was a very bright, articulate man who I would say gave himself very sincerely to the whole process of discernment." Michael Steele is happily married to Andrea Steele. They have two sons, Michael and Drew. The Steele family faithfully attends Mass at and belongs to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Landover Hills, Maryland.

Steele has held positions of leadership in the Republican Party at the State level and became the first African American to hold the Office of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland where he assumed office in 2003. However, it was his keynote address at the 2004 Republican National Convention which put him on the radar screen of many political observers as a rising star.

Witness the Words of Jesus Come to Life

Michael Steele is Pro-Life. In an unsuccessful bid for the Maryland Senate in 2006 he responded to a question concerning "stem cell research". The manner of the question was typical. It was phrased generically to make it sound as though those of us who support adult stem cell research but oppose deadly embryonic stem cell research are therefore against scientific advance. Michael Steele spoke: "I do support stem cell research. Where I have drawn the line is federal funding for research that destroys the embryo...." He was pressed further "Why are you opposed to using embryonic stem cells? Taking of a life?" He answered with clarity again, "Yes, I see that as a life, and I don't think that we should use federal funds to do that." Michael Steele is also a defender of true marriage and the family founded upon it. He is dedicated to expanding participation in educational and economic opportunity to all Americans. He is known to turn a phrase which can frame a debate. For example his insistence when queried as to his position on the civil rights struggle that it was time to "move the struggle to the right to own the diner, not just sit in it."

His election to the Chairmanship of the G.O.P. on January 30, 2009 was not easy. That is evidenced by the fact that he only secured the position by a vote of 91-77 in the sixth round of voting. Three other candidates had already dropped out. Some within in the G.O.P. accuse Steele of being "too moderate". Others suggest that he adheres to some sort of "big tent" idea of the Republican Party, using the term pejoratively. My friend Deal Hudson is a veteran of Republican Politics and has had his share of difficult experiences in the rough and tumble of Republican Politics. In a January 28, 2009 piece for his "Inside Catholic" he told a story of Michael Steele which speaks volumes to me and I share it with you:

"Michael Steele made his pro-life views very clear when he was running for the Maryland Senate seat in 2006. Maryland is not a state especially friendly to pro-life politicians, and the fact that Steele did not down-play his convictions should settle the matter.... In 2003, Russ Shaw and I convened a meeting in DC with the then-president of the USCCB, Bishop Wilton Gregory, and its executive committee. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss various concerns that had risen from their secretive meeting with a group of prominent dissenters earlier in the year. I invited Michael Steele, then Lt. Gov. of Maryland -- very few people in D.C. knew Steele then, and even fewer knew he was a Catholic.

Announcing NEW Catholic Online News - Visit Today!

"In addition to the bishops, there were about 60 Catholic leaders and journalists present, including Peggy Noonan, Kate O'Beirne, Gene Zurlo, Frank Hanna, Bill Donohue, Pat Madrid, and Tom Hoopes. But one of the most memorable interventions was made by Michael Steele. When he rose to his feet, very few people knew who he was. The fact that he was Lt. Gov. of Maryland got everyone's attention, but the fact that he was an African-American Republican really raised some bishops' eyebrows, as I recall.

"Steele talked about being raised as a Catholic in Northeast Washington, DC and attending Archbishop Carroll H.S. before spending three years in the Order of St. Augustine Seminary before receiving his law degree at Georgetown University. Steele then proceeded to speak very directly, but diplomatically, to the bishops about their need to promote the pro-life cause with greater vigor. He talked about his disappointment with their leadership and its consequences among the African-American community. When he finished talking there was a powerful silence in the room. Bishop Gregory, as readers may know, is also an African-American, and Steele's words had a visible impact on him. ... in my opinion, Steele is a real pro-lifer and a real Catholic and would in no way exclude social conservatives from the "big tent" of the GOP."

The Republican Party has imploded. It is in need of leadership which can inspire it to become once again the Party of Lincoln and stand up for a true new birth of freedom that includes the freedom to be born. Perhaps this articulate, dedicated Catholic Christian and loyal family man is just the recipe needed to bring some leaven to that old dying loaf. Of course, my positions on many issues have not fit the litmus test of the voices in that Party who think the "solution" is some return to a kind of knee jerk "conservatism". After all the very word "conservative" is becoming almost a chameleon in its usage these days. Some who use the term mean fiscal and economic conservatism alone. Oh they try to throw a bone now and again to what they call "social conservatives". In reality, I think they want to jettison people like me who had to leave the Democratic Party when its leaders turned their back on the poorest of the poor, children in the womb. I left that Party when they lost their moral integrity and right to claim that they care about the poor. I have often called myself a "Reluctant Republican". Maybe Michael Steele can help take away some of my reluctance.

Secret Archives of the Saints, Subscribe Today

I welcome Michael Steele's new leadership of the G.O.P. Most of all I hope he strongly challenges the growing disregard for the poorest of the poor, children in the first home of the whole human race, in that Party. I also hope that he continues to open up the tent if by that expression he means embracing and encouraging a fresh new coalition. I have longed for the day when both major Parties start from the foundation of all true social justice by recognizing in both of their platforms that the first right is the right to life and without it there are no other rights. Maybe that day will come. I still watch with great hope the growth and influence of groups like "Democrats for Life". However, with the President rescinding the Mexico City Policy on the day after the National day of mourning for the 50 million Americans we have lost due to the horror of abortion on demand, I know that the fight for life is an uphill battle.

Let us hope and pray that Chairman Michael Steele rises to this historic moment of leading the Republican Party. But let us also never put our confidence in any one Political Party. Instead, we must become the prophetic voice of conscience, always remaining faithful to the truth.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'