Calif. Bishop To Gov. Davis: Pick Abortion Or Communion [formal excommunication?]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The message is blunt: Abortion hurts women and is the direct killing of children, and any politician who promotes such a heinous thing shouldn't receive Communion.

Bishop Weigand repeated his opinion twice: Once in a pro-life Mass marking the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and once in an interview with the Register on Jan. 27.

In the Mass, Bishop Weigand explained that one cannot be Catholic and pro-abortion.

"I have to say clearly that anyone - politician or otherwise - who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk and is not in good standing with the Church," Bishop Weigand said. "Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving holy Communion until he has a change of heart."

Davis has taken exception to Bishop Weigand's statement and says he will neither stop taking Communion nor renounce legalized abortion.

"The governor is a faithful, practicing Catholic who attends Mass in West Hollywood," said Russ Lopez, his spokesman. "We don't like abortion, but we do like choice on the issue. I'm wondering why the bishop is making a concerted effort to exclude and push away those Catholics who favor women having choice."

On Jan. 27, Bishop Weigand told the Register that he is considering formally forbidding Davis from receiving Communion if Davis doesn't change his mind on the issue.

"We're studying that right now," the bishop said. "That time could come. That time could be very near, especially with his statements that say he doesn't have to give one inch. He has manifested publicly a hardness of heart - an in-your-face hardness of heart response."

The bishop said that because of the public controversy he does not expect Davis to attend a Red Mass, a traditional Mass celebrated for members of the legal profession, he is celebrating Feb. 12. But if the governor does attend and approach the bishop for Communion, the bishop said he will give him a blessing and ask him to see him after Mass.

Bishop Weigand said he wants to follow canon law carefully, saying it requires two official admonishments before forbidding Communion. He said he has made attempts in the past to personally counsel Davis in his faith "since he obviously doesn't understand the faith." He said it was important to do this since Davis is a public official publicly espousing Catholicism.

There were two meetings scheduled between Davis and the executive committee of the California Conference of Bishops for this purpose. Both meetings were cancelled by the governor.

Bishop Weigand said he has tried to counsel the governor in a way that wouldn't embarass him, but the issue went public when a Catholic orphanage refused to allow Davis to visit its campus. The bishop said he wanted to make it clear that it's impossible to be both pro-abortion and Catholic.

Lopez said Davis has not been swayed one bit regarding his position on legalized abortion, nor has he considered avoiding Communion.

"I, myself, thought I would live and die Catholic," Lopez said. "Now I don't know. It depends on how ugly this gets. They're obviously trying to beat us up, and we're not backing down. The Church has so many problems right now that I'm surprised the diocese is embarking on something that's this exclusionary and divisive."

In the 30 years since its legalization, abortion has become the most common surgical procedure in America. More than 1 million mothers have abortions each year. The babies who are aborted are distinguishable as boys or girls within hours of their conception and have beating hearts within 10 days.

Bishop Weigand said Davis has "gone public saying that the bishop shouldn't be guiding people in the faith."

"This is very curious to me," Bishop Weigand said. "He's obviously not very informed about the teachings of the Church."

The Church has defended the lives of the unborn since the early days of the Church, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2271). It quotes the Didache, a liturgical book from the first century after Christ's death, as saying, "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish."

The catechism adds: "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae, 'by the very commission of the offense' and subject to the conditions provided by canon law" (No. 2272).

Abortion laws should be seen in terms of equality and human rights, the catechism says.

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by a civil society and the political authority. … The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law" (No. 2273).

Also, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Jan. 16 specifically addressed a Catholic's role in political life in its document, "The Participation of Catholics in Political Life," which called politicians and voters to be "morally coherent" and not lead "parallel lives" between one's personal and public life.

"Living and acting in conformity with one's own conscience on questions of politics is not slavish acceptance of positions alien to politics or some kind of confessionalism," the document said, "but rather the way in which Christians offer their concrete contribution so that, through political life, society will become more just and more consistent with the dignity of the human person" (No. 6).

In December, Msgr. Edward Kavanagh of the Sacramento Diocese told Davis and his staff they were not welcome to deliver Christmas gifts to children at St. Patrick's Home for Children, directed by Msgr. Kavanagh, because of the governor's pro-abortion stance. As a result, the children received their gifts from Davis at the Capitol.

"Msgr. Kavanagh has also suggested that Gov. Davis should be excommunicated over this abortion issue," Lopez said. "Well, that's not up to the monsignor, and the governor plans on remaining a Catholic while at the same time defending a woman's right to an abortion."

"The majority of Californians support our pro-choice agenda," Lopez said. "I, personally, have had a lot of supportive comments."

Most Hispanics, however - the fastest-growing and largest minority group in California and the rest of the nation - don't support Davis in this fight, said Marcella Melendez, president of the national Hispanics for Life organization.

"The bishop is 100% correct to be doing this," Melendez said. "It's his job to correct us when we stray from the teachings of the Church and to call us to repentance. You cannot be a faithful Catholic and be pro-choice on abortion. It simply isn't possible. The governor is putting political expedience ahead of his faith."

"The prohibition of God and the law of nature is abundantly clear: 'Thou shalt not kill,'" Bishop Weigand said in his homily.

"We know it is not politically correct to be pro-life; but right and wrong, good and evil, are never revealed in a poll," he said. "All human life is sacred. A true leader stands up for what is right, not for what is popular."

St. Vincent's was the only church in that area with a website:

January 28, 2003

St. Victor's Catholic Church is an urban community of faith located in the heart of a busy and heavily populated metropolis. We seek to follow the Lord and live the good news--the gospel--according to our ancient Catholic tradition. We welcome all, regardless of race, nationality, gender, socio-economic class or sexual orientation. We believe in the power of the gospel to transform our lives and society around us, even in the most cosmopolitan of settings. We are a city on a hill. We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. We are located in West Hollywood and serve residents of that city and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles.

We are pleased to offer an outstanding music program to complement our liturgy. We provide more than 1,000 meals each month to the poor and homeless. We seek to serve the outcast of society, those marginalized through economic status, social disapproval or any kind of discrimination. God does not discriminate. We invite you to join us in our service to God and neighbor, especially those in our midst who are shunned by the rest of society. All are welcome at St. Victor's. Come home to St. Victor's.

Our society continually reinforces messages of exclusion and hatred toward gay and lesbian individuals. Unfortunately, this spirit of ridicule and judgment has also at times seeped into the Church. More than a few times we have heard shocking tales of gay and lesbian Catholics being excluded by priests, thrown out of their homes, fired for no cause and ridiculed in our Catholic schools. The pain caused by such ignorance can last a lifetime.

At St. Victor's, we extend an invitation to members of the gay and lesbian community to join us, just as they are, and to heal these wounds of shame. We encourage gay and lesbian Catholics to rediscover their birthright to membership in the People of God, a right bestowed by their baptism. Thus we all share in the dignity of being called sons and daughters of God

"We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body." —2 Cor. 4:8-10

visit the AIDS Memorial Chapel at St. Victor's
NEXT HIV MASS: SEPTEMBER 16, 2 p.m.

Q. If I decide to go to confession, do I have to confess things that I do not believe are sins?

A. You should only confess actions or lack of actions that your conscience tells you are wrong. If you are conflicted about something, talk to the priest about it. Tell him why you don't think it is wrong. He will help you work through your feelings and resolve any conflicts you may have. If you are not conflicted about something, or if your conscience is genuinely confortable with a perticular course of action, why should you bring it up, unless you are truly bothered by it? The confessional is not for debating; it is where you come with sincerity to reconcile yourself with God and the faith community.

There's more and notice how Davis has arrogantly rebuffed his Shepherd!!!

A price to pay, church has said

Ads to blast officials, like Gov. Davis, who back abortion rights.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/5994653p-6951687c.html

By Jennifer Garza -- Bee Staff Writer

Published 2:15 a.m. PST Sunday, January 26, 2003

Bishop William K. Weigand last week gave Gov. Gray Davis a choice: Followthe teachings of the Roman Catholic Church or face religious consequences.

By doing so, the Sacramento-area bishop stepped to the forefront of an emerging national campaign to hold Catholic politicians accountable for their stance on abortion.
At a mass Wednesday commemorating the anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States -- Weigand called on the governor to "have the integrity" to stop receiving communion until he changes his position favoring abortion rights.

It's a challenge other Catholic politicians soon will face.

Over the next few months, the American Life League (www.all.org) one of the country's largest anti-abortion organizations, will target other Catholic politicians and make a similar ultimatum.

"A lot of Catholics have had it with these politicians," said Joe Giganti, director of media relations for the Virginia-based American Life League.

"They want to be Catholics on their own terms. They do not have the right or ability to do that. ... They are bringing scandal to the church."

In a campaign that Giganti says is the first of its kind in America, the group will sponsor ads in newspapers giving the names of Catholic politicians who favor abortion rights and their bishops. The group is calling on the bishops to deny these politicians communion until they change
their ways.

The first ad -- labeled the "Deadly Dozen" -- will focus on high-profile U.S. senators, including Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, John Kerry and Barbara Mikulski. The second phase of the campaign will target governors, and Davis will be at the top of that list, Giganti said.

Giganti's group had not contacted Weigand before his rebuke to Davis, but Giganti said "we were thrilled" with the bishop's remarks.

"We are very proud and very happy with what he's done. This is what we are asking bishops to do, to stand up for what is right," Giganti said. "By saying what he did, he became a leader on this issue ... a lot of people are watching to see what happens next."

Others, however, were not thrilled with the bishop's remarks.

"I think the church is trying to distract from its own problems," said Bob Mulholland, a senior adviser to the state Democratic Party. Mulholland, a Catholic, said Weigand and other church leaders should not start
reprimanding anyone publicly.

"The church has lost credibility with me," he said.

Weigand is leader of the 500,000 Catholics in a diocese that stretches from Solano County to the Oregon border. His remarks drew both praise and criticism from area Catholics.

"The bishop is doing what is right. We are very lucky to have him," said Mary Felton of Cameron Park, one of many who e-mailed The Bee applauding Weigand.

"I think the bishop should stop making moral judgments about other people and look at (the church's) own problems," wrote Sam Harrington of Sacramento, referring to the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the church the past year.

Some people felt the issue of communion is too personal to raise in public.

"This is something that should have been done between the bishop and the governor," said Mary Larkin of Clarksburg.

Communion is one of the most sacred rites in the Catholic faith. Catholic doctrine holds that the bread and wine received during the sacrament literally are changed into the body and the blood of Christ during the Mass.

Only those who are "free of sin" or at peace with God and themselves are to receive communion. In practice, parishioners generally are allowed to follow their own conscience in deciding whether to receive the sacrament.

"Cutting someone off from the sacraments is pretty drastic," said Ted Jalen, chair of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, who has written extensively on religion and the politics of abortion.

"What you are essentially saying is that you are no longer a full-fledged member of the church."

Giganti's group is calling on bishops to deny the sacrament to Catholics who favor abortion rights. Weigand, however, did not go that far. He said he would not deny communion to Davis but instead wants the governor to abstain from receiving communion "of his own volition."

In an interview, Weigand said two incidents prompted him to challenge the governor during last week's Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento.

The first was a run-in between Davis and Monsignor Edward Kavanagh, who oversees St. Patrick's orphanage in Sacramento. Shortly before Christmas, Kavanagh refused to let the governor distribute gifts to the children of St.
Patrick's unless he changed his views on abortion. Davis refused and the gifts later were given to the children at the Capitol. Weigand said he wanted to publicly show his support for Kavanagh.

A 19-page document from the Vatican, released Jan. 16, also influenced the bishop's decision to rebuke the governor. In the "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," the pope stated that Catholic politicians must uphold church teachings on bioethics and other issues guided by moral law,
such as euthanasia and abortion.

Weigand said one of the most important reasons he spoke out is that he wanted to address recent questions from parishioners about the Davis-Kavanagh incident. As the shepherd of the diocese, Weigand said, he needed to deal with these concerns.

"People wanted to know how the governor could remain a Catholic in good standing and still have those policies," said Weigand. "I said he can't be."

Weigand also said he has tried repeatedly over the past four years to talk to the governor about his abortion-rights policies but has been rebuffed. "I just want to sit down and talk with him and explain the teachings of the
church."

Longtime church watchers say Weigand's remarks to Davis are in accordance with church law but wonder how effective a national campaign challenging Catholic politicians will be.

"Bishops can tell people they're not living up to the requirements of their faith," said James Walter, director of the Bio-Ethics Institute at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "But I think they stand a chance of a
backlash. ... People may think they crossed the line between separation of church and state."

This is what happened in 1989 after a San Diego bishop banned an assemblywoman from taking communion because she favored abortion rights.

Many disagreed with the bishop's action, and Democrat Lucy Killea went on to win an upset victory that has been credited to that reaction.

There may also be a difference of opinion about the governor within the Catholic Church. Davis and his wife regularly attend Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills. Good Shepherd pastor Colm O'Ryan did not return calls from
The Bee requesting an interview, nor did his bishop, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony.

However, in an interview with San Francisco's Faith, a Catholic publication, O'Ryan said he was not bothered by Davis' abortion rights stance.

"Oh, no," he was quoted as saying in Faith's February 2003 edition. "He's a very private person. He's a very faithful Catholic. He and his wife come to Mass very faithfully when they are in town."

O'Ryan said that his own stance toward the governor was "judge not and you shall not be judged."

[Please note the following reasons why public excummunication is necessary and good:

Excommunication of 7 Women for Mock Ordination Is Confirmed
Move Necessary to Protect Doctrine and Guide Consciences, Says Vatican

zenit.org ZE03012703

Moreover, the Holy See considers that the "refusal to comply with the penal precept established by the Church" is "further aggravated by the fact that some of the above-mentioned women have been gathering round them members of the faithful, in open and divisive disobedience to the Roman Pontiff and diocesan bishops."

It adds: "In view of the gravity of this contumacy (cf. can. 1347 CIC), the penalty imposed is not only just, but also necessary, in order to protect true doctrine, to safeguard the communion and unity of the Church, and to guide consciences of the faithful." ]

you can write/call Father Colm O'Ryan, Davis' misguided pastor, and Cardinal Mahoney at:

Good Shepherd Catholic Church
Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region, Deanery 13

505 North Bedford Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210-3298
Voice phone: (310) 285-5425
Fax phone: (310) 285-5433

Website: NoParishURL.htm

Sorry, this Parish does not yet have a URL assigned to it.
Please check back another time.

Mailing address and telephone number

Archdiocese of Los Angeles
3424 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241
213 637 7000
info@la-archdiocese.org

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Last modified: Thursday September 20, 2001 .