Catholic Church asks Tom Daschle to stop calling himself a Catholic

Weekly Standard (via Matt Drudge) ^ | April 17, 2003 | SB00

[SB00]

TOM DASCHLE may no longer call himself a Catholic. The Senate minority leader and the highest ranking Democrat in Washington has been sent a letter by his home diocese of Sioux Falls, sources in South Dakota have told The Weekly Standard, directing him to remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.

This isn't exactly excommunication--which is unnecessary, in any case, since Daschle made himself ineligible for communion almost 20 years ago with his divorce and remarriage to a Washington lobbyist. The directive from Sioux Falls' Bishop Robert Carlson is rather something less than excommunication--and, at the same time, something more: a declaration that Tom Daschle's religious identification constitutes, in technical Catholic vocabulary, a grave public scandal. He was brought up as a Catholic, and he may still be in some sort of genuine mental and spiritual relation to the Church. Who besides his confessor could say? But Daschle's consistent political opposition to Catholic teachings on moral issues--abortion, in particular--has made him such a problem for ordinary churchgoers that the Church must deny him the use of the word "Catholic."

[CaptainJustice]

Hahahaha
Well, let that be a sign to anyone who says the catholic church won't clean up its act. Getting rid of Daschle is a start! ;)

[keithtoo]

FYI: He's a French-Catholic at that! So, being disengenuous and two-faced really is part of his heritage.

[Grit]

Does Teddy K. get a pass?

[TomServo]

Does Teddy K. get a pass?

Deeper pockets..

[RAT Patrol]

Catholic ping (I know there are more but you were the only two I could think of right now.)

[chit*chat]

About time the Catholic Church began to exhibit the same moral standards and values as the precepts they teach and that are upheld by their true members.

[CholeraJoe]

* ping

[Zavien Doombringer]

Man, he must be really bad if the church sees him as a non-repentant sinner. Washington, take note...Constituents take note!

[Digger]

Thank you, Bishop Carlson. This may just put more people back into the churches as this hypocrisy comes to an end.

[sinkspur]

Does Teddy K. get a pass?

Deeper pockets..

Make no mistake about it. Carlson has thrown down a gauntlet, and ordinary Catholics are going to be asking about Kennedy, and Mikulski, and Pelosi.

What's more, they're going to be asking their bishops why they don't do what Carlson has done to these public figures.

Things could get very interesting for Catholic Democrats.

[Grit]

Gotcha.

Gray Davis doesn't get a pass evidently:

Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento was the first American bishop to use the new note from Rome. At a pro-life Mass on January 22, he spoke of California Governor Gray Davis's claim to be a "pro-choice Catholic."

After describing the efforts by Davis's pastor to get the governor to see the moral incoherence of his position, Weigand declared, "As your bishop, 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. 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."

Russ Lopez, a spokesman for Davis, responded with the hilarious and deeply revealing complaint that Bishop Weigand was "telling the faithful how to practice their faith."

[MHGinTN]

Bravo! Every time a good steward does what is right, we ought to applaud it, because it's a sure bet that every other failure is splayed across the press! I must confess, I'm not 'deeply saddened' for the little spittlebug.

[EllaMinnow]

Well, lookee here!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Talk to Teddys' Bishop. The swimmer has already excommunicated himself latae sententiae.

[RAT Patrol]

Are you Catholic, yb? (Where have you been, anyway?)

[A2J]

About time the Catholic Church

Especially seeing how long they drug their collective feet in dealing with pedophile priests.

[xsmommy]

good deal! i didn't even know he considered himself to be a token catholic.

[Revolting cat!]

Diane Feinstein's next!

[RAT Patrol]

I'm not 'deeply saddened' for the little spittlebug. LOL!