Posted on 10/18/2004 1:58:05 PM PDT by 26lemoncharlie
TESTING THE FAITH Is Kerry excommunicated? Indirect Vatican letter says pols who support abortion condemn selves
Posted: October 18, 2004 3:20 p.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com An unusual letter from the consultor to a Vatican agency rules that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights have already excommunicated themselves by their actions – a message that suggests Sen. John Kerry is no longer a member of the church. The Rev. Basil Cole, a Dominican theologian and consultor to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote the letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles lawyer of canonical law, the attorney told a host on the Catholic television network EWTN Friday. According to a report in Catholic World News, Balestrieri has previously sued John Kerry in ecclesiastical court for heresy. The attorney says the communication from Cole provides a basis to declare that any Catholic politician who says he is "personally opposed to abortion, but supports a woman's right to choose," incurs automatic excommunication. Catholic World News reported the letter potentially undercuts the entire debate over denying Communion to politicians who support abortion. An excommunicated Catholic may not receive any of the sacraments of the church, including the Eucharist, marriage and even Christian burial. According to the news service, the type of excommunication outlined in the new information is called latae sententiae, which means that it occurs automatically and does not require a formal pronouncement by any church official. Balestrieri says he went to Rome in late August to discuss his canonical case with experts, including an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Less than 10 days later, he said, he received a letter from Cole, who is based in Washington, D.C. In his letter, Cole says he had been delegated by the Rev. Augustine DiNoia, undersecretary of the congregation, to respond to Balestrieri's questions. "I went to Rome in person to submit two critical questions to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith," Balestrieri is quoted as saying. "The first: Whether or not the church's teaching condemning any direct abortion is a dogma of Divine and Catholic Faith, and if the denial and doubt of the same constitutes heresy. The second: Whether or not a denial of the church's teaching condemning every right to abortion also constitutes heresy. Father Cole, an expert theologian who studied the matter carefully, responded in the affirmative on both counts." Cole wrote, "If a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Can. 751 of the Code [of Canon Law]. Provided that the presumptions of knowledge of the law and penalty and imputability are not rebutted in the external forum, one is automatically excommunicated. ..." Balestrieri said the letter was unusual for several reasons, one being the fact he is a layman. "Normally, only a bishop may request such clarification of doctrine from the CDF, such responses usually take a much longer time to be received, and they are rarely made public," he said. Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, was perplexed by the letter. He posted on the service's website: "A ranking official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asks an American theologian – who is himself a consultor to CDF – to answer a question from a layman. And in his answer, that priest – who certainly seems to be speaking on behalf of the Vatican – says: Yes, Kerry is excommunicated! "Now that's a bombshell statement. But it was handled like an arcane scholarly query. ('Yes, the Monophysite heresy was condemned by the 2nd Council of Constantinople. Thanks for asking. And by the way, the "Catholic" candidate for the world's most powerful political office is excommunicated.') Why? "Could it be that the CDF sent this message unofficially, because it was clear no official pronouncement would survive the vetting of the Vatican bureaucracy?" Balestrieri says he will use the letter to file additional complaints against other Catholic politicians: Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. Cole's letter is posted on the website defide.com.
Without an official pronouncement, it won't be taken seriously by anybody, including those who would have to enforce it.
One internet Deacon says:
Without an official pronouncement, it won't be taken seriously by anybody, including those who would have to enforce it.
What do you say?
I mean...excommunicating people is so divisive, y'know?
Why is this letter written by an obscure Dominican?
The seriousness of Vatican statements can be determined by who is issuing the statement.
Except, the statement is unofficial, according to Fr. Cole.
"The seriousness of Vatican statements can be determined by who is issuing the statement."
So this letter ought to be ignored?
I says he's probably right.
It will be ignored, even though it shouldn't be.
That's my point...it's as official as you're going to get in today's Church, I'm afraid.
I think the speed of response should, however, be noted. There is a message in this, and it is not one of merely blowing off this charge.
Well now, that's very interesting.
If we wanted to be just like Iran, President Bush would just wave his hand and remove all democrats from the ballot.
Does any of the MSN read the pap they print?
Well now, that's very interesting.
If we wanted to be just like Iran, President Bush would just wave his hand and remove all democrats from the ballot.
Does any of the MSN read the pap they print?
The Rev. Basil Cole, a Dominican theologian and consultor to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote the letter.
I think the Rev Cole's position must place a heavy burden on the Vatican to promulgate the "Official Position, which according to other Catholic Bishops who have stated that they would refuse these politicians communion would agree that this is excommunication.
I am a Traditional Catholic, this continuing practice of support for abortion, homosexuality, etc is a cause for excommunication. As I have stated before -- Voting for Kerry is committing Heresey and Treason at the same time !!
Ok, Ok;
I just posted twice on the wrong thread. I just whapped myself with my key board.
Sorry
There is no necessity for a formal pronouncement.
The problem is that whether such a pronouncement were to be written by a functionary at the request of a higher up, by Ratizinger or the Pope himself, if will be ignored by all but a few of the US Bishops, as most of them are in material schism anyway.
They will not listen to Ratizinger, nor to the Pope himself.
What such a document will do is perhaps finally draw the line in the sand for all of the very sleepy Novus Ordo Catholics. It will put them on notice formally as to who is with Peter, and who is against him. And by this I refer to Bishops - not just politicians.
When and if the politicans use the strong arm of the government to retaliate against the Bishops - seizing property, and or jailing clergy, they will also show their hand.
They have been showing their hand for a long time.....but cloaking it in a velvet glove.
Can you explain what you mean by "material schism"?
I have been very frustrated by the lack of leadership of most of the Catholic Bishops. The laity seem to be the protectors of Catholic doctrine more than the Bishops are.
Please thank the man for including Mario Cuomo in the letter. Thousht he might forget.
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