Posted on 01/22/2007 8:02:24 AM PST by NYer
In the political hot seat of Washington, D.C., Archbishop Donald Wuerl has stuck to the stand he took as bishop of Pittsburgh, refusing to withhold communion from Catholic legislators who support legal abortion.
A response he made recently to questions about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have infuriated the far-right edge of the Catholic blogosphere, and drawn ire from some of the most conservative Catholic leaders of the anti-abortion movement.
Today, his approach to that cause will be on display as he hosts a youth rally in the capital's Verizon Center, in conjunction with the annual March for Life.
A week ago in San Diego he took questions from a conservative Catholic journalist about Ms. Pelosi.
"Do you intend to discipline her at all for being persistent and obstinate about her support for abortion and same-sex marriage?" asked Allyson Smith of the Web site California Catholic Daily.
"I will not be using the faculty in the manner you have described," he replied, referring to his authority.
"Will you make a statement to your priests and deacons to warn them not to allow her to receive if she presents herself for Communion?" Ms. Smith continued.
The archbishop responded: "You're talking about a whole different style of pastoral ministry. No."
LifeSiteNews.com ran outraged responses from Catholic leaders on the conservative wing of the anti-abortion movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
You beat me to it.
The bishop has the option of taking to the pulpit and saying plainly that because the abortion law in the United States is so extreme that it is totally incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
Amy Welborn is not on the "far-right edge" of anything. Her blog is as mainstream as they come, and she had a lot to say about this outrage. Sometimes it seems the hierarchy is on the side of the "Catholics" who go to church only for photo-ops.
I'm sorry, FRiend, because I agree with you almost all the time. However, God will sift the wheat from the chaff. And, for those who have much, much will be expected. The Archbishop surely knows those lines of Scripture. The Lord will deal with him; all we can do is pray for him each and every day that he is guided by the Holy Spirit and that he is talking to these individuals in a pastoral way behind the scenes.
On the other hand....
CHARLOTTE OBSERVOR
Bishops take on stem cells
Priests in N.C.'s dioceses asked to educate parishes on Catholic stance against research
TIM FUNK
The Roman Catholic bishops of Charlotte and Raleigh are gearing up to try to defeat any move in the N.C. legislative session to appropriate money for embryonic stem cell research.
Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte and Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh sent letters to parishes across the state directing priests to educate their flocks on Catholic teachings against such research.
Then later, N.C. Catholics may be asked to write and call their state lawmakers to urge them to do all they can to defeat any bill that would fund stem cell research in which embryos are used, Jugis told the Observer.
"These embryos are our brothers and sisters -- this is new human life that's begun, even though it's just in the embryonic stage," Jugis said. "We were once in the embryonic stage."
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research -- including many Catholics -- say it has the potential to cure such chronic diseases as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. They also say that the embryos used -- from fertility clinics -- will likely be discarded anyway.
Jugis said some couples do return to fertility clinics to reclaim the embryos or have them put up for adoption.
As for those suffering from chronic diseases, Jugis said the Catholic church can support research on adult stem cells, which come from organs and tissues.
"I'd say, `Let's work together to find a morally acceptable means to address cures,' " Jugis said.
Since President Bush's 2006 veto of legislation that would have expanded federal funding of such research, some governors and legislators have pushed for state funding.
In North Carolina, a state House committee has been studying the issue since 2005. And Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford, has said he'll push a bill sometime after March that would create research guidelines and set aside public money as research grants. He introduced a bill in 2005 that would have appropriated $10 million, but it faced opposition from social conservatives and never came up for a vote.
"When you cut through all the dialogue," Jones recently told the (Greensboro) News & Record, "what do you want to do -- destroy the embryos that are going to be thrown away anyway or use them for research purposes?"
But N.C. legislative leaders have so far not mentioned stem cell research as a top priority for the session that begins this week.
Still, Jugis and Burbidge are forging ahead just in case, asking N.C. Catholics to read three documents that are being inserted in church bulletins this month.
One of the documents explains Catholic teaching on sanctity of life issues. Another -- "A Call to Action" -- has the bishops inviting parishioners to "help defeat this legislation that would destroy innocent human life."
Asked how he can ask government to restrict funding for non-Catholics, too, on the basis of Catholic theology -- that life begins at conception -- Jugis said that "science ... shows that at that embryonic stage, there is already a new human being."
Jugis ruled in 2004 that Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights could not receive Communion in the Charlotte diocese. He said he has not decided whether he would penalize Catholic legislators who vote for embryonic stem cell research.
This is not the first time Jugis has weighed in on controversial issues. He's a steadfast opponent of abortion, has called for a moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina, and has asked members of the state's congressional delegation to pass comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform.
Feel free to disagree.......sometimes I read some of my old posts and think....."did I write that !!#*" ??
Above-average Bishops around here :-).
With all due respect to Bp. Wuerl, I would not like to have to answer for this attitude at my particular judgement. He is the one who has charge of the flock, not those who write begging him to exercise his authority. The buck stops on his desk, not anywhere else.
If he doesn't want to act like a bishop, he should have refused the post.
"In Thursday's State of the State message, Ritter, a lifelong Catholic and former missionary, pledged to restore funding for family planning and pregnancy prevention[birth control]. He also said during the campaign that he wouldn't seek to overturn abortion laws and voiced support for same- sex unions. All are policies that run against church teachings."
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy threads on Pro-Life or Catholic threads.
************
Quite right.
"A response he made recently to questions about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have infuriated the far-right edge of the Catholic blogosphere, and drawn ire from some of the most conservative Catholic leaders of the anti-abortion movement."
LOL!! I'm on the FAR-RIGHT EDGE of something!!!
Yep. Shepherds need that stick for whacking hard headed sheep from time to time to get them back into the flock.
He is an avid Pro-Abort, and supports government funded embryonic stem cell research.
My Archbishop, Jose Gomez was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast (last year, IIRC). He writes pro-life columns, and has mentioned the duty of Catholic Politicians to follow Church teaching.
It's very frustrating with the plethora of Catholic Politicians in this Archdiocese who support cannibalizing the unborn, that the Archbishop just turns a blind eye to these Pol's trotting out the Church, and scandalizing the faithful.
St. John Vianney, Pray for us.
Indeed.
Papabile around there!
8-o]
And everybody says Archbishop Chaput is "conservative".
Jeanette DeMelo, the archdiocese's communications director said, "Chaput wouldn't have stopped the Mass in any case: "He is aware of what people are saying, and the governor's sometimes very ambiguous position on abortion, but at the same time he has not judged that the situation required his action."
In my mind, yes. Which is why he owes an explanation as to his reasons for failing in his duties.
And Archbishop Chaput has publicly denounced the governor's position and explained how it is not compatible with the Catholic Faith.
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