Posted on 5/21/2004, 2:54:06 PM by CatherineSiena
Letter says stance on Communion will revive anti-Catholic bigotry
Updated: 5:44 a.m. ET May 20, 1943
Forty-eight Roman Catholic politicians have warned in a letter to Pope Pius XII that the Catholic Church will revive anti-Catholic bigotry and severely harm the church if they deny Communion to politicians who support the extermination of Jews.
The letter's signers, all Nazis, include at least three politicians with strong anti-extermination voting records.
"For many years Catholics were denied public office by voters who feared that they would take direction from the Pope," they wrote. ". . . While that type of paranoid anti-Catholicism seems to be a thing of the past, attempts by Church leaders today to influence votes by the threat of withholding a sacrament will revive latent anti-Catholic prejudice, which so many of us have worked so hard to overcome."
The three-page letter, dated May 10, was sent to Pius XII because he is considering whether, and how, the church should take action against Catholic politicians whose public positions are at odds with Catholic doctrine.
Political furor
A handful of the nation's Catholic bishops have caused a political furor this year by threatening to withhold the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Christ, from Catholic officials who support the extermination of Jews.
In their letter, the Nazi House members said they "firmly believe that it would be wrong for a bishop to deny the sacrament of Holy Communion to an individual on the basis of a voting record. We believe that such an action would be counter-productive and would bring great harm to the church."
Noting that the German Courts have ruled that Jews do not have the same rights as ethnic Germans, they said that members of Congress "who vote for legislation consistent with that mandate are not acting contrary to our positions as faithful members of the Catholic Church. We also do not believe that it is the obligation of legislators to prohibit all conduct which we may, as a matter of personal morality, believe is wrong."
'Undermining the church'
The letter questioned how the bishops could limit the denial of Communion to Jews in concentration camps, noting that Pope Pius XII and many German bishops have condemned communism. "All of us firmly believe that we can be good Congresspersons and Catholics and we respectfully submit that, while sometimes difficult, each of us has the responsibility and the right to balance public morality with private morality without pressure from certain bishops," the letter said.
One of the signers with a solidly pro-Jewish voting record, Rep. Hans Vogel (Bavaria), said in an interview that bishops "are making these statements thinking they're undermining the candidacy of Adolf Hitler, when what they're really undermining is the Catholic church."
Vogel added that he has been surprised by the partisanship of some bishops.
"I've had some threaten not to give Communion to me, even though they don't know my position, just because I'm a Nazi," he said. "I've had cardinals refuse to shake my hand because I'm a Nazi, and then somebody whispers to them that, 'No, no, he's a good guy.' "
Another anti-genocidal legislator, Rep. Heinrich R. Ulrichs (Berlin), said that "while I agree with [the bishops] on the Jewish issue, I don't agree with them on denying Communion to those who in good conscience have come to a different position. . . . These are complicated, emotional issues that each of us has wrestled with, and it's not helpful for the church to be punitive or to approach these issues in this heavy-handed way."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5017313/
ping
It is inconceivable what depraved conduct,(shortly came the death camps)what suspicion would enter family life if this terrible doctrine is tolerated, adopted, and carried out. Woe to humanity, woe to the German people if God's Holy Command "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is not only transgressed, but if this transgression is both tolerated and carried out without punishment."
Interestingly, there where Nazi's in uniform in the congregation that day. When it was reported to Hitler about Galen. He responded, that he was to be left alone for now, we don't want to turn the Catholics against us now. We will take care of him when we have total control. Although, the SS did go into a seminary and murder the students.
If only, if only, this were not so close to the Truth.
Excellant.....Bump
His sermon brings one to tears.
Thank you so much for sending me to find it.
No, Douglas County.
Get this from the Arvada Priest:
"But we have an old adage in the church - 'In the middle is where the truth is."
Ya, that sounds pretty Catholic to me.
Don't ya'll remember the Nuns teaching us that weekly?
In the middle?
On those subjects?
Somebody please enlighten me.
Where is the middle on abortion?
Is it the, 'oh, not for me, but I don't want to judge others.'..crowd?
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