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."

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

And thanks for the ping...

[JohnnyZ]

What about the Catholic bishops in LA "endorsing" Senator Landrieu (D)?

When was this? I thought there was a big thing when a bishop in '96 made a point of saying Catholics should NOT vote for Landrieu because she wasn't pro-life?

[Campion]

Daschle and I in that sense are in the same box. The Bishop thinks neither of us is Catholic, and both are "immoral."

No, you really aren't "in the same box". You aren't claiming to be a Catholic. Daschle is, and he's even trading on that identity in an attempt to win votes.

And he has not standing to "order" us to do anything.

He has every standing to order Catholics in his diocese to obey him in matters of faith and morals. Daschle claims to be a Catholic in his diocese; you don't. Hence Daschle ought to obey him, or retract his claim to be Catholic.

[Theodore R.]

An archbishop said that it was permissible for New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to endorse fellow Democrat Landrieu because Landrieu could "do so much" for New Orleans as a senator. Even though Nagin has prolife views, he set those views aside to vote for Landrieu in 2002. The archbishop wrote a letter to a Catholic woman objecting to what Nagin had done. He replied essentially that Catholics could set aside the prolife issue if a lawmaker could "do so much" for a locality. So, the bishop did not endorse Landrieu, but he winked at otherwise conservative prolife Catholics who wanted to vote for her so desperately. They could vote for Landrieu and still be in good standing with the archbishop. Why? Because Landrieu allegedly has been bringing home the bacon for liberal New Orleans

[\/\/ayne]

Any group of people who think theirs is the the only way leads to nothing.

So if your way of multiple ways or no way is the only way, where does that lead?

[Bigg Red]

You said: You talking about JohnnyZ or who?....

If you are asking about my comment in #249, I was responding to Protagoras, who was spouting quite a bit of low level anti-Catholic stuff.

[votelife]

Daschle's voters need to become aware of his judicial obstruction!

Freepers, rather than waiting to see what happens with Estrada and Owen, we need to take the lead. That means presuring Senators, special interest groups, media organizations, etc. This thread is meant to be an ongoing effort to get this man confirmed. For too many years liberals have had their way on the courts. Now, President Bush is in a position to move the courts to the right. The election of '02 showed that the country is with the President. I think it's time to let Daschle, Hillary, and Pelosi know this is Bush country. Are you with me! Let's FREEP these people.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/847037/posts

[watchin]

The only "but" I wanna hear is "I'm a Democrat, but I vote Republican"

[newslady]

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.

I couldn't have said it better. As a Catholic, I am elated that the church told tiny Tom where to go.

[Barnacle]

I slept well. Thanks for carrying on.

I tried to ping MrPeanut but he seems to have encountered some technical difficulties beyond his control.

[ninenot]

"Don't ask how I know that..."

To the casual observer, Des would seem to be keeping a small collection of porn

[davidwendell]

I have been praying that Christ send us some apostles in lieu of the left-wing, commie, pinko, fuzzy-headed, homosexual, church destroying bishops we have had in the past. AMEN!!!

One down, eleven to go (in the Senate at least)

[afraidfortherepublic]

Diane Feinstein's next!

It would truly be remarkable if the Catholic Bishop excommunicated Diane! She's Jewish.

[Knither]

However, there is the principle of "primacy of conscience" which basically says that "judging the sinfulness of any particular act is a matter ultimately between God and the individual person. This is the function of one’s conscience, which the Second Vatican Council described as the divine voice echoing in our depths, as a law written by God in human hearts. A person must always obey the certain judgment of his or her conscience."
A bishop can ask that a particular person stop doing something which gives scandal, as he has done in the case of Daschle, but many remarried Catholics who are somewhere in the process of getting an official annulment have decided that God knows the first marriage was not valid, and that it is better to fully participate in worship and communion than to wait for the slow process of the Church's marriage tribunal.

[PFKEY]

the Church must deny him the use of the word "Catholic."

I'm sure the church would deny me the use of the word "Catholic" as well.

I wouldn't take it as some kind of slight.

Do you think Tom will feel differently?

[Knither]

I know I'm getting to this thread very late, but I have speak up on this. The bishop is totally within his authority to demand that Daschle comport his speech to the CHURCH's views, not the bishop's private views. Daschle has free choice here: he can either act like a Catholic, including choosing life over killing the unborn, or he can leave the church. Being American is one thing, being Catholic is something else altogether.

[Knither]

The reason the Church never excommunicated Jews is that Jews were never Catholics. The word "excommunicate" means to place members out of communion with the Church -- in other words, kick them out. People who have never been Catholic don't need to be kicked out. They were never in.

[SSN558]

Yes, Dashole is a representative of Satan, but as of late his duties are largly cermonial.

[Knither]

You and Daschle are not in the same box. You didn't claim to be a Catholic in order to get Catholic votes. Daschle did. The bishop cannot legally order Daschle to stop using the claim to be Catholic -- not in any way that would hold up in the civil courts. But he can legally order Daschle not to call himself Catholic within the Catholic Church. If Daschle doesn't care about whether or not he is considered Catholic by the Church he claims to belong to, then the bishop's demand just calls attention to Daschle's claiming to be Catholic which is at odds with the Church. It is a heads up to Catholic voters who might be tempted to vote for him because he's Catholic.

[ninenot]

Well, you've cited the "inner forum" argument. Please be advised that this line of argument is looked upon with a great deal of skepticism in Rome. As you may imagine, the argument has been a bit abused over the years. The key, of course, is the "well-formed" conscience, that is, NOT the "will-formed" conscience.