Ash Wednesday photo opportunity at St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland. (AP/Wide World Photos)
Posted on 03/31/2004 2:47:28 PM PST by kattracks
More: Senate's 'Deadly Dozen' Fake Catholics,
Pope Says Catholic Pols Must Oppose Abortion
and Bishop Tells Gray Davis: Choose Abortion or Communion.Sen. John Kerry's defiance of his Church's condemnation of abortion and approval of gay marriage is not only a problem for him and Catholic bishops, but for individual Catholics as well, according to a leading Catholic layman and editor.
He says Catholic priests should refuse to give Holy Communion to Kerry even if their bishops have not specifically warned the senator that he is not to receive Communion.
That demand of excommunication for Kerry is made by Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis magazine, the nation's leading intellectual Catholic journal.
Hudson is a respected Catholic layman, and his views are often sought by national media and government officials, including the Bush White House.
In an exclusive interview with NewsMax.com, Hudson said that the matter of individual bishops ordering Kerry to refrain from receiving the Eucharist when in their dioceses - in other words, excommunicating him - was between Kerry and America's individual bishops, including his own.
"It's in the hands of his ordinary [bishop] - and when his ordinary has spoken and said that politicians should refrain from communion, he's alluding to the fact that someone like Sen. Kerry should not consider themselves part of the Catholic community."
Photo Opportunity
The issue will arise as Kerry campaigns around the nation and continues to insist on publicly receiving communion under the watchful eyes of the media. As a result, Hudson said, some bishops will have to face the issue head-on.
"Some bishops will be very likely be forced to clarify the Catholic faith in the wake of any campaign stops by Sen. Kerry, especially if the human life issue arises."
Hudson left no doubt that in the absence of action by their bishops, individual Catholic priests should still turn Kerry away from Communion. "Absolutely, they should," he said.
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has specifically warned Kerry to avoid receiving communion when visiting his archdiocese. In Kerry's home archdiocese, without mentioning him by name, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley has said that Catholic politicians who do not vote in line with Church teachings "shouldn't dare come to Communion."
Commenting on Archbishop Burke's instruction to Kerry, Hudson noted that Kerry avoided the confrontation by visiting a black Baptist Church when he was there recently.
Asked if he believed that the bishops individually or together should tell renegade Catholic politicians such as Sen. Kerry that they must not receive communion and that they are excommunicating themselves by so doing, Hudson said: "I think that it's what's happening, little by little. When a bishop says that someone should refrain from receiving communion without using the word excommunication, he's implying it. I think they are beginning to speak up, and Kerry's ordinary has spoken up, although he hasn't specifically mentioned Kerry as has Archbishop Burke."
While observing that the problem was a large issue for the Catholic bishops, Hudson said it also was a problem for the laity.
'Pretending to Be a Catholic'
"My view that this is a huge decisive moment for Catholics in the United States. I hope they will rise to the challenge and refuse to endorse another Catholic politician who is pretending to be a Catholic while rejecting the Church's central moral and social teachings.
"I think that the challenge is bigger for the laity than it has been for the bishops. It's an election. The issue is who's going to vote for the guy.
"I agree on one hand that it's an issue for the bishops, but in a very real sense it's even a bigger issue for the laity. If they show massive support for Kerry, that's going to set back the church in this country for at least a generation, just at a time when a significant number of bishops and laity are beginning to get active on this issue. I am keeping my eyes more focused on the laity and hoping they will reject such Catholic politicians," Hudson said.
"It is a problem for the church - the Church's identity is at stake - the church being the bishops and the laity. If they don't respond to the situation now, the Church will lose credibility."
As NewsMax.com has reported in Vatican Worries About Kerry, the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit magazine America, is quoted in Time magazine as saying, "All you need is a picture of Kerry going up to the Communion rail and being denied, and you've got a story that'll last for weeks."
But Hudson told NewsMax.com he doubted that will happen. "They [Kerry's staff] are checking it very carefully, everywhere he goes to Mass.
"They're not going to let him be embarrassed, as Al Gore was embarrassed in 2000 when he was planning a campaign stop at Catholic hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the bishop canceled the visit. After that I don't believe Gore many any more attempts to visit any Catholic hospitals."
Time on Monday quoted a Vatican official, who is American, as saying: "People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion."
Kerry, who likes to think of himself as JFK, has said: "We have a separation of church and state in this country. As John Kennedy said very clearly, I will be a president who happens to be Catholic, not a Catholic President."
A former altar boy, he has described himself as a "believing and practicing Catholic, married to another believing and practicing Catholic."
He insists he will continue to attend Mass and take Communion.
On Tuesday, the largest abortion rights group in the United States endorsed Kerry for president.
Calling the choice "clear," NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman called Kerry "a president pro-choice Americans can rely on" to ensure "Roe vs. Wade remains the law of the land."
Only last week, Kerry, in a rare episode of showing up for work, was among the minority of senators voting against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which, when President Bush signs it, will finally make it a crime to harm or kill an unborn child, abortions excluded.
Ash Wednesday photo opportunity at St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland. (AP/Wide World Photos)
We had a Catholic man run for state rep endorsement at our R caucus earlier this month. Someone asked him if he was pro-life.
His answer: "Of course I'm pro-life. I'm Catholic."
The response: "So is Ted Kennedy. So is John Kerry."
We didn't reach a definitive conclusion, and it is unlikely that the church will publicly provide clarity to the situation.
It's very sad that we have gotten to this point. I hope the bishops think back on it when they are roasting on their spits.
Makes you wonder if there's new leadership over there...
And, no doubt, if a priest says that neither he, nor any of the Eucharistic Ministers will distribute the Eucharist to Kerry, the Kerry people will likely try some other church, or just advise him to not attend Mass that day. The wisest thing for the clergy involved to do is to make sure that the Kerry camp knows, in advance, that he will be denied and that it would be better for all concerned if Kerry simply stayed away, or stayed in his pew.
I suspect the bishops are trying to stay away from any direct confrontation, as it could provoke a backlash in favor of Kerry, and against the Church.
OTOH, a refusal would also likely fire up a lot of Catholics and evangelicals, who would applaud someone in the Church for taking a strong and decisive stance.
I'm very willing to listen to someone explain to me why I'm wrong about this, but I'm just uncomfortable with the idea of the clergy telling politicians how they are supposed to vote in Congress. Think about it; how would we feel if they started taking this stance with politicians who supported the war?
Do they want to risk being accused of using a Church service for a photo-op? Especially when Bush has courted Catholics, and got the majority of the Catholic vote last time, and the priest told Kerry's camp in advance that he would be turned away?
I wish the bishops would establish a policy, and let it be known that Catholic politicians who publicly advocate a pro-choice position will simply be refused the Eucharist.
It is not fair to put a local priest on the hot seat and throw him into the middle of a potential political brouhaha.
The bishops should step up to the plate. Now.
The Pope opposed using military force in Iraq; he did NOT oppose the War on Terror. In fact, he was silent when the US and allies begain bombing the Taliban.
I wouldn't like it if these bishops started calling for priests to stop giving Communion to politicians who supported the war, or if they started questioning the "Catholicism" of politicians who supported the war.
That's a slippery slope possibility that I share, as there are many bishops who vehemently oppose the death penalty.
However, bishops are not telling politicians how to vote. What they are doing is saying that taking a public stance against a doctrine of the Church is scandalous, and that those who do that cannot consider themselves to be part of the larger Catholic community.
The politician who votes pro-choice simply cannot claim membership in an organization that is not.
"18-year marriage ‘annulled’ In 1976, Kerry became an assistant district attorney in Boston shortly before Thorne gave birth to their second daughter, Vanessa, though he eventually settled into a stable family life and a private law practice from 1979 to 1982.
"But Kerry re-entered the political world, it cost him his marriage to Thorne, who sunk into a deep depression she attributed to Kerry’s cold nature, fierce ambition and prolonged absences. On the eve of his election as lieutenant governor in 1982, Thorne separated from Kerry.
"Political opportunity arose again after Paul Tsongas announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1984. Kerry won the race to fill that seat and entered into what current wife Teresa Heinz called his “gypsy phase,” commuting between apartments in Washington, D.C. and Boston, and dating actresses Morgan Fairchild and Catherine Oxenberg as well as a former law partner.
"Kerry and Thorne finalized their divorce in 1988. After Thorne requested an increase in alimony in 1995, Kerry sought an annulment of their marriage from the Catholic Church, a move observers saw as retaliatory.
"Kerry eventually received the annulment from the Boston diocese despite Thorne’s vehement objections. Past media reports did not indicate the grounds on which Kerry sought to annul his marriage of 18 years, after it produced two children, and the campaign also declined to provide any explanation."
It could be a lie or hearsay. Actally, I accept that he was likely to have received an annulment if he had pursued the process to its finalization. We don't know if that was the case. If an annulment is fought, I believe it has to be reviewed by the Vatican. I don't know if I believe the Washington Blade on the matter. No source is specified for that segment of the article, whereas in other parts of the article, people are quoted.
I wish I could find my copy of the Catechism. If I'm not mistaken, the Church is not, officially, opposed to the death penalty. I also worry about rogue clergy members who might start dictating how politicians should vote on anything from girl alter servers to smoking in public. If it's limited to official Catholic doctrine, then I don't have a problem.
Well, application of the Just War theory is the responsibility of civil authority, and there were plenty of people who told the Pope that the Just War theory was perfectly applicable to the situation in Iraq. He simply did not believe that overthrowing Hussein with military force was justified.
Opposition to abortion IS Church doctrine.
Opposition to the death penalty, like the Just War theory, is the responsibility of the civil authorities. It is they who must determine the threat that a particular perp presents to society at large.
I predict that, at some point in the future, the Church will strongly suggest that opposition to the death penalty is a teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium.
BTW, here's my two adopted girls. They're sisters, and could not bear to be separated. So gosh darnit, we just had to get both.
A Primer on Canon 915 Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion
Teresa on the Stump, Teresa Heinz Kerry, from Mozambique, PRO-ABORTION Catholic, UN Employee, etc.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, Drummond Pike and the Communist TIDES FOUNDATION
The Bible and homosexuality [Kerry thinks the bible is for homosexuality]
Catholic Pro-Abortion, Pro-Homosexual
Catholic and 100% Pro Abortion
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DOCTRINAL NOTE
on some questions regarding
The Participation of Catholics in Political Life
Living the Gospel of Life:
A Challenge to American Catholics
A Statement by the Catholic Bishops of the United States
Faithful Citizenship:
Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium
An Old Testament, Litany of Life
Canon Law and Abortion
Sign Petition: To Excommunicate
The Gospel of Life--Evangelium Vitae
Herod's Heroes, Sign Petition
Hughes exhorts Catholic pols to toe line
Times Picayune, LA - 7 hours ago
support abortion, assisted suicide or any other "life issues" out of step with church
teachings should refrain from Holy Communion, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes.
Archbishop aims call at some Catholic politicians
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - 1 hour ago
Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes' statement, contained in his column in this week's
Clarion Herald, the archdiocesan newspaper, is in stride with nationwide.
Bishop Raymond Burke's Strange Nemesis
DisInfo.com -Dec 29, 2003 By Matt C. Abbott. ... On Saturday, October 26, 2002 I stood before Archbishop ... Alfred Kunz. ... When I asked, via e-mail, Detective Kevin Hughes of the Dane County
2) No Catholic is under any obligation to agree with the Pope about the invasion of Iraq. The Pope is entitled to his opinion; I am entitled to my opinion.
3) The Church's teaching on abortion--and the Church teaches that the STATE has the DUTY to prohibit abortion--is a teaching that goes back to the very beginning. It is not a "political" position. It is an unchangeable constant. It is dishonest politicians, like Kerry, who PRETEND that when the Church condemns MURDER, the Church is "meddling in politics."
Or like the funeral for John Cardinal O'Connor ...
Cardinal John O'Connor gets last word at his own funeral
For those who missed it, the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston preached at the funeral of his close friend John O'Connor, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York. O'Connor was a bold and fierce preacher on the subject closest to his heart: the sanctity of human life.
The funeral, broadcast live nationwide, was attended by the president and vice president, their wives and numerous dignitaries including the mayor of New York City.
At one point in the sermon, O'Connor's hand picked homilist said, "What a great legacy he has left us in his constant reminder that the Church must always be unambiguously pro- life."
There was a beat and then applause broke out. It grew louder, increasing as the cameras fixed on the Clinton-Gore party showing them on screens throughout the cathedral. Cardinal Law attempted to quiet the crowd with his hand, when suddenly the congregation began to stand up, applauding in a wave that moved from the back of the church to the front. If it hadn't been a funeral they would have cheered. It was a defiant, pivotal moment.
Then the bishops and cardinals in the sanctuary stood up. The elder George Bush stood up applauding, as did his son somewhere off camera. The camera panned back to the Clinton- Gore party who looked bemused and bewildered.
Having no water glasses to reach for as they did in 1994 when Mother Teresa received a thunderous ovation for telling the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington that there could be no peace as long as a mother could kill the child in her womb, Clinton leaned back and started whispering in Hillary's ear. Gore's face was as blank, flat and white as a sheet of paper. Behind them another abortion "rights" supporter, Rudy Giuliani, began to applaud, albeit weakly, and stood. And lest they be the only ones left seated, the Clintons and Gores lamely stood up but refrained from applauding.
It was not Cardinal Law's intent to embarrass anyone. He was merely doing his job and honoring his friend. The vehement applause came from the people.
When the applause subsided, Law quipped, "I see he hasn't left the pulpit."
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
Yes ALL of them and any other activists that support abortion. I think they will finally forced to take this on because if Kerry becomes President he will be leading many young Catholics all over the world into error by bad example. He does not care... he might like it... the more potential prochoice voters the better. So if the bishops don't do something now then it's like a millstone should be put around their necks for letting our kids and all Christian kids see this terrible example.
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