Posted on 05/11/2008 5:05:36 PM PDT by NYer
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas has been dealing with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for a while now regarding her scandalous and unrepentant support, as a Catholic, of abortion. He has now taken further action. The Kansas City Star reports:
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should stop taking Communion until she repudiates her support for the “serious moral evil” of abortion, the Catholic archbishop for northeast Kansas says.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, also criticized the governor Friday for her recent veto of a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion providers.
The Archbishop, in his weekly column, wrote:
Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas. My concern has been, as a pastor, both for the spiritual well-being of the governor but also for those who have been misled (scandalized) by her very public support for legalized abortion.
It has been my hope that through this dialogue the governor would come to understand her obligation: 1) to take the difficult political step, but necessary moral step, of repudiating her past actions in support of legalized abortion; and 2) in the future would use her exceptional leadership abilities to develop public policies extending the maximum legal protection possible to the unborn children of Kansas.
Having made every effort to inform and to persuade Governor Sebelius and after consultation with Bishop Ron Gilmore (Dodge City), Bishop Paul Coakley (Salina) and Bishop Michael Jackels (Wichita), I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion.
Recently, it came to my attention that the governor had received holy Communion at one of our parishes. I have written to her again, asking her to respect my previous request and not require from me any additional pastoral actions.
Read the entire column. Dr. Ed Peters comments:
Canon 915 as a tourniquet to staunch the wound that Gov. Sebelius has inflicted on the Mystical Body of Christ. But Canon 915 is only designed to keep a bad situation from getting worse; what is ultimately necessary here is repentance by a prominent Catholic of her grave pro-abortion activities. In the meantime, if Canon 915 doesn't stop the bleeding, the archbishop's only alternative would be surgery under Book Six of the Code of Canon Law, "Sanctions in the Church."
And no one should want that.
Read his entire post.
**Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should stop taking Communion until she repudiates her support for the “serious moral evil” of abortion,**
I didn’t realize she was Catholic. What do you want to bet that she ran as a Catholic being one of the planks of her campaign platform??
Ping!
My guess is that since she has been a girl she has known priests, even bishops who encouraged her in her present beliefs. Give Teddy Kennedy this much credit: he did NOT take communion at Nationals stadium the day of the papal mass.
Wish I could have been a fly on the wall during his conversations with the bishops.
Politicians have big egos....They figure that they are above the unwashed even in matters of the soul.....Nancy Pelosi fits into the same catagory.....I remember when I was a kid some 60 years ago my mother threw my drunken old man out of the house and then divorced him....We were Irish Catholics, and after my mother got married again she was “living in sin” and couldnt receive Holy Communion yet she and my step faher went to Mass every Sunday and scrimped and saved so that I could go to Catholic school....
Thirty years later my real old man died and my mom and stepfather got married in the church and started receiving the sacraments again.....The Pelosi’s and others are above all that. They do what they want! They advocate fo, and help make sure that abortions can be carried out....I have NO respect for them!
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041817.html
Sadly it seems he did. He didn’t leave his seat, a priest brought it to him.
You are quite mistaken. Sister Mary Gertrude now requires that you place your nose on the chalkboard for a fortnight for not paying attention in class and failing to be diligent in completing your homework and studies.
Strong medicine. May it help bring about her healing.
Glanced at a few comments to the KC Star article. Full of hatred at the Archbishop and the Church using words like child molesters and pedophiles in most of the replies. A few have it accurately: He isn’t telling her how to run the state; he’s telling her to honor her religion’s teachings. I praise the Archbishop for having the courage to take action and not say one thing and ignore prominent Catholic politicians who do not follow the church teachings.
Well done, Archbishop Naumann.
I’m not Catholic, but this Archbishop is a champ.
A bishop with backbone! God bless and keep Archbishop Naumann!
All that’s missing is a signed restraining order to be enforced against her if she ever attempts to receive Communion on church property again, absent repudiation of her current position. Stunning to me that this woman has the gall to flout the archbishop’s authority, even after several personal meetings.
I praise the Archbishop for having the courage to take action and not say one thing and ignore prominent Catholic politicians who do not follow the church teachings.
&&
I, for one, will pray that the Church in America strengthens and that more bishops speak up.
The wretched Gov Sebelius had the nerve to run on an anti death penalty platform even though some of the most horrible murders have been committed in her state. Yet when she ran she said it was her Catholic faith that shaped her views. But of course this “moderate” Democrat remains 100% pro abortion. She will be near the top of Obama’s running mate list too. How vile.
I guess “anti death penalty” is how you campaign if you wish capture both Catholic and pagan votes.
It’s the opposite of fishing. In fishing, if they’re too small you throw ‘em back. In Democrat thought, if they’re small and innocent you can kill ‘em, but if they’re grown and guilty, you can’t.
I see that you post a lot of Catholic content so I would like to get a better understanding from you or one of the other Catholic posters on how the Archbishop /parishioner dynamic works. The above statement seems weak. I often see stories from Bishops asking this or that politician refrain from communion. Here it is clear that these two have had several exchanges regarding the matter and that she has disregarded him. So, why does he not just order her not to take communion in his jurisdiction? Since he runs the operation and the priests work for him, this would seem like a straight forward proposition and not unwarranted given the past exchanges between the two. I am sincerely curious. Thanks in advance.
Her father, John J. Gilligan, was a ‘Rat governor of Ohio in the early 1970s. He was pretty bad, too.
Refers to former Ohio governor John J. Gilligan, father of Sebelius.
Add to that the fact that some priests, especially those with "lenient" bishops, have no objection to giving them communion. And some churches are actually run by orders (e.g., Jesuits, Paulists), over whom the bishop has less practical authority. Theoretically, no priest is allowed to perform priestly duties without the permission of the bishop of the diocese. But if the priest is a member of an order and not a diocesan priest, the bishop has fewer means of enforcing a ruling, say by pulling a recalcitrant priest out of parish work and sticking him in some kind of chancery position or moving him to an undesirable parish.
And if push comes to shove and bishop acts, there's bound to be a media circus over it -- and whose side do you think the bulk of the press will be on?
It's going to take time to straighten this out, and probably moving more slowly than a lot of us would like is, in the long run, the most effective way to do it.
Nice try there Father Joe, and God Bless you for your efforts, but the Governor thinks that public policy is better served by allowing the unlimited slaughtering of unborn babies.
Maybe if Pope Benedict were to authorize you to state clearly in public that your pro-abortion Governor will be excommunicated and expelled from the Catholic Church, maybe that would get her attention eh?
Hey, it’s a thought.
The Archbishop needs to follow up with a directive for ex-communication for the Governor.
On Judgment Day, the Governor will not able to box with God on her support of killing babies.
I am glad that the Archbishop is doing the job he has been entrusted to do. More Catholic and Protestant and Evangelical leaders need to do the same.
“Give Teddy Kennedy this much credit: he did NOT take communion at Nationals stadium the day of the papal mass.” ???????????????
I read that Teddy Kennedy did not rise to receive communion but that some bozo priest actually brought communion to Teddy.
As for Governor Sibelious, she is a well-known CINO, and a scandal to her faith. Hilariously, tonight on Fox news, a panel was discussing possible VP candidates, and Kathleen Sibelious was suggested because she is/was Catholic. Those Democrats just really do not get it, do they? Sibelious would be like a red flag to serious Catholics and would be rejected as an insult to us. Only today on this very forum there was an article posted that said her bishop requested she not receive commuion anymore.
Whoops! Holy, smoly. I think I’m getting old too fast. Sorry for the silly reference to an article that I was actually posting to. If this keeps up, I’ll soon be at the mental level of the Democrats, and think Obama is the Messiah. If that ever happens, I’ll turn in my conservative credentials.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all.
God bless the bishop for doing his duty.
Sebelius has excomminicated herself.
The bishop has been publicly explaining things to the public, while he has been privately explaining things to her.
She has arrogantly flaunted her refusal to accept his discreet guidance.
Now, he has raised the stakes, and openly corrected her, for all to see.
He issued a public condemnation of her willful arrogance, and when he issues a public ban on her receiving communion, she will not be able to hide behind,
“I didn’t know. The bishop is so mean....”
Cardinals and Bishops need to be pointing out all Catholic politicians. I look at the abortion supporters as CINO (Catholic in name only). All of the abortion supporters should be banned from receiving Communion and should be excommunicated.
Life is not something that can conveniently be used to get votes. It is a gift from God.
Great points. More Cardinals and Bishops need to be standing up for life. Supporters of abortion should be barred from Communion and excommunicated.
Life is precious. Those that support and encourage the taking of life will be remembered on Judgment Day.
I think it is rather offensive people went around taking pictures and spying on people at a Papal Mass. They should worry about their own sins rather than Teddy Kennedy’s. A Papal Mass is no place for people to pass judgement on others.
If the Catholic Church wants to discipline politicians, let the Catholic Church do so. I encourage that Catholic Church to request that it’s parishoners to oppose arbortion.
But to engage in this kind of behavior during Mass....
I shouldn’t pry, but why didn’t your momma try for an annulment?
We’ve never met Archbishop Naumann, but know Bishop Coakley and Bishop Jackels, both fine men and it doesn’t surprise me at all they they concurred with the Archbishop. What surprises me is how I have also come to know just how blessed we are here in Kansas. It really breaks my heart to hear from my fellow Catholics here on FR just how bad some of these Bishops elsewhere are, where they are. What you all good people have to put up with shouldn’t have to happening at all.
God strengthen the Archbishop to continue to do his duty and others to follow his example. When prominent politicians start being excommunicated, Joe and Joanne Six Pack will sit up and take notice that no one is ‘above God’s law’.
The bishops intended the address following Vespers, to be private. Alas, the Vatican decided otherwise and the media were invited in for full coverage. Here is his address:
And you are absolutely right - we are now seeing the fruit born from his visit.
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story about your parents. And you are right about politicians living above the law - I’m from NY ;-)
Three cheers for a bishop with some backbone!!
Thank God!
Like many poorly-catechized Catholics, she probably thinks of the Church as a democracy. She probably imagines herself as a victim of authoritarianism.
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Well said.
Yeah, this is absolutely great! The best part is that a “public repudiation” of her support of baby butchery was at least mentioned. This shows the Archbishop is serious not only about her salvation, but his role as a public instructor of Church teaching.
Freegards
65 years ago when all this happened,uneducated, lower class,first generation Irish Catholics, really didn’t know about annulments and would never think of airing out their personal problems before a board of inquirey.....At least that how it was in my family....Looking back now, people like my mother were saints as far as I’m concerned.
Agreed.
Thanks.
ALLELUIA!!!!!
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