The recent news photos of Rick Santorum tenderly cradling his stricken daughter, Isabella, touched my heart. A victim of Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, Isabella suffers from a far graver condition than the better-known Down Syndrome, who often live into their teens and beyond—Trisomy 18 children rarely survive the first week.

But as a fellow Catholic, the fate of such children shook me into some serious questioning about the relation among Rick Santorum’s religion, his public policies, and his personal family tragedies. And I wonder especially how Santorum’s version of Catholicism aligns with these policies.