Posted on 08/19/2008 4:06:22 PM PDT by wagglebee
ROME, August 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The head of the highest court in the Vatican has given an interview with a Roman magazine in which he notes that when dealing with pro-abortion Catholic politicians, "the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny It (Communion) to him."
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Raymond Burke, formerly the Archbishop of St. Louis, as the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, which is the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church besides the Pope himself. In an interview published in the current edition of the Italian magazine Radici Cristiane, Archbishop Burke addresses the issue which has caused great controversy among the hierarchy in the West.
In the interview, parts of which were translated by Catholic News Agency, the Archbishop noted first that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be publicly corrected and told not to receive: and, if they persist, they should be denied. He spoke of dealing with "public officials" who contravene Divine and Eternal law such as "if they support abortion, which entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives."
"A person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life," the archbishop said. "If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege," he added.
The Archbishop explained that the Church does this "not with the intention of interfering in public life but rather in the spiritual state of the politician or public official who, if Catholic, should follow the divine law in the public sphere as well," reported Catholic News Agency.
"We must avoid giving people the impression that one can be in a state of mortal sin and receive the Eucharist," the archbishop continued. "Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was a serious sin, is really not that serious - if the Church allows him or her to receive Communion."
"If we have a public figure who is openly and deliberately upholding abortion rights and receiving the Eucharist, what will the average person think? He or she could come to believe that it up to a certain point it is okay to do away with an innocent life in the mother's womb," he warned.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Abortion-Politician-Communion Scandal Shows Real Lack of Pastoral Concern
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052102.html
Can Catholics Who Vote for Obama Still Receive Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061208.html
Very well said!
Good!
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paging Doug Kmiec. promoting such politicians makes one as culpable, IMO.
And we all know how that's turned out for pro-abortion Catholic politicians...
You can’t do that - I’m suing the Church.
(/sarcasm)
I'm not necessarily criticizing as my very own church is pretty much in the same boat.
“Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was a serious sin, is really not that serious - if the Church allows him or her to receive Communion.”
Here’s a Bishop who understands how to teach! I hope this way of thinking spreads to the rest of the mitred crowd.
Freegards
I think a big difference here is that Cardinal Burke is an America and he is far more likely to pressure bishops to enforce it.
Is that a light bulb I see going on????
The question is how does this sort of thing get enforced!?! If you know of a priest who does this, should a layman contact his superiors, or contact the Vatican directly? If it is a bishop who commits the offense, who do you report it to? How is the Vatican to act, if they don't know of the sin?
The article from CNA quoted by LifeSite:
Rome, Aug 19, 2008 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The prefect of the Apostolic Signature, Archbishop Raymond Burke, said this week that Catholics, especially politicians who publically defend abortion, should not receive Communion, and that ministers of Communion should be responsibly charitable in denying it to them if they ask for it, “until they have reformed their lives.”
In an interview with the magazine, Radici Christiane, Archbishop Burke pointed out that there is often a lack of reverence at Mass when receiving Communion. “Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily is a sacrilege,” he warned. “If it is done deliberately in mortal sin it is a sacrilege.”
To illustrate his point, he referred to “public officials who, with knowledge and consent, uphold actions that are against the Divine and Eternal moral law. For example, if they support abortion, which entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives. A person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life,” the archbishop said.
“If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege,” he added.
“We must avoid giving people the impression that one can be in a state of mortal sin and receive the Eucharist,” the archbishop continued. “Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was a serious sin, is really not that serious - if the Church allows him or her to receive Communion.”
“If we have a public figure who is openly and deliberately upholding abortion rights and receiving the Eucharist, what will the average person think? He or she could come to believe that it up to a certain point it is okay to do away with an innocent life in the mother’s womb,” he warned.
Archbishop Burke also noted that when a bishop or a Church leader prevents an abortion supporter from receiving Communion, “it is not with the intention of interfering in public life but rather in the spiritual state of the politician or public official who, if Catholic, should follow the divine law in the public sphere as well.”
“Therefore, it is simply ridiculous and wrong to try to silence a pastor, accusing him of interfering in politics so that he cannot do good to the soul of a member of his flock,” he stated.
It is “simply wrong” to think that the faith must be reduced to the private sphere and eliminated from public life, Archbishop Burke said, encouraging Catholics “to bear witness to our faith not only in private in our homes but also in our public lives with others in order to bear strong witness to Christ.”
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13562
What I want is a way to assist in helping this discipline trickling down. Perhaps groups of Catholic laymen living near pro-abortion Catholic politicians could monitor these politicians at Mass, to see if they are given communion, then report the scandal to the bishop and/or the Vatican. After all, it is the duty of each individual Catholic to help stop such a public scandal.
Of course, you have heard many of us bemoan Archbishop Wuerl of DC. The best thing to say about him is that he is not Cardinal McCarrick.
Archbishop Burke is intimately familiar with the
rchbishop of St. Louis. As it stands, he was in the minority (unfortunately) among the bishops of the US.
What makes this really critical is that as the Prefect of the Apostolic Signature he has important duties that give him, after a fashion, the authority to deal with bishops who are not doing their jobs. His job is defined in the Apostolic Constitution, Pastor Bonus, Articles 121-125:
Art. 121 — The Apostolic Signatura functions as the supreme tribunal and also ensures that justice in the Church is correctly administered.
Art. 122 — This Tribunal adjudicates:
1. complaints of nullity and petitions for total reinstatement against sentences of the Roman Rota;
2. in cases concerning the status of persons, recourses when the Roman Rota has denied a new examination of the case;
3. exceptions of suspicion and other proceedings against judges of the Roman Rota arising from the exercise of their functions;
4. conflicts of competence between tribunals which are not subject to the same appellate tribunal.
Art. 123 — § 1. The Signatura adjudicates recourses lodged within the peremptory limit of thirty canonical days against singular administrative acts whether issued by the dicasteries of the Roman Curia or approved by them, whenever it is contended that the impugned act violated some law either in the decision-making process or in the procedure used.
§ 2. In these cases, in addition to the judgement regarding illegality of the act, it can also adjudicate, at the request of the plaintiff, the reparation of damages incurred through the unlawful act.
§ 3. The Signatura also adjudicates other administrative controversies referred to it by the Roman Pontiff or by dicasteries of the Roman Curia, as well as conflicts of competence between these dicasteries.
Art. 124 — The Signatura also has the responsibility:
1. to exercise vigilance over the correct administration of justice, and, if need be, to censure advocates and procurators;
2. to deal with petitions presented to the Apostolic See for obtaining the commission of a case to the Roman Rota or some other favour relative to the administration of justice;
3. to extend the competence of lower tribunals;
4. to grant its approval to tribunals for appeals reserved to the Holy See, and to promote and approve the erection of interdiocesan tribunals.
Art. 125 — The Apostolic Signatura is governed by its own law.
Please pay particular attention to Art. 124 § 2. Burke, who has made his feelings well known, has the competence to refer petitions for trial by the Rota. Now I'm not a canon lawyer, but it seems that if there is a bishop somewhere who is not doing his job of enforcing ecclesial law, a group of faithful might be able to get a sharp canon lawyer to put together a petition to the Apostolic See asking them to review the bishop's conduct. And Burke is the one to approve the peitition and refer the case or to disapprove the case.
Now, if my reading of Pastor Bonus is correct, it seems that the US bishops may pay him considerable heed. At worst, there might be exactly one case referred to the Rota for adjudication. And then the remainder of them would likely quickly figure it out.
(For those complaining about Burke's departure from the US, you should keep the above in mind!!)
As Stalin said, "How many divisions does the Pope have?". It will not be enforced. There is too much money involved.
When it comes to the internal control of the Church, the Pope has all the divisions. As far as your comment about money is concerned, it is beneath contempt.
**”We must avoid giving people the impression that one can be in a state of mortal sin and receive the Eucharist,” the archbishop continued. “Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was a serious sin, is really not that serious - if the Church allows him or her to receive Communion.”**
Sometimes, I don’t think the politicians realize that we are watching!
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