Revised to comply with stringent Caucus thread rules and reposted“This is troubling.”
Beyond very troubling.
If the Pope didn’t know what sort of people these two are, why not?
Is Canon Law now invalid, no longer enforced, or only applicable to “little people”, not the political elites?
People don’t think things through. Any “Diplomatic” problem should have been welcomed as an opportunity to point out that it's King Barry and the two clowns he sent who have egg on their faces since they all should have known the clowns would be denied communion. Canon Law clearly says they've excommunicated themselves when they publicly advocated abortion and voted for abortion in direct contradiction to Church Teaching. No only that, they’ve both made very public statements to the effect that they decide for themselves what to believe with Church Teaching being only one element that they consider, not their guiding light as it should be if they are Catholic.
In addition, their public statements put them solidly in the camp with Hans Kung and Karl Rahner as opponents of the Catholic Church, not faithful or any other kind of Catholics no matter what they want to claim to the contrary. The result is, . . . nothing. No matter what sort of screw-up may have happened, there’s no way around the fact that those who have standing in politics, the very same persons the Pope has referred to in the past as needing to be denied Communion, presented themselves and their behavior was ignored.
The case can and will be made that those who have sufficient political clout don’t have to worry about anything the Pope or the Church say. Furthermore, here’s “proof” for people to point to and argue that this Pope is already a hollow shell who doesn’t mean what he says and who can therefore safely be ignored. After all, he just allowed the very people he said should be denied communion, to take communion. Pretty hollow, indeed. No matter what is said to the contrary, there has already been a solid case made that Catholics don’t have anything to worry about when they defy the Church because political power, specifically US political power, nullifies and superceeds Church Teaching and Canon Law.
So, who cares what the HHS mandate says and whether or not it survies a USSC test? Catholics will know they're still free to support politicians who advocate abortion and contraceptives. Which is the battle King Barry and the democrat fascists really care about, the battle over holding onto Catholic votes. The HHS mandate is nice if you can get it, but it’s peanuts compared to losing millions of votes when people think they may actually be called to account over violations of Canon Law.
Especially older, wealthier, Catholic voters who might be starting to worry more about the afterlife than their sex life. Sure, there may be some reason for this other than the Church deliberately putting political standing ahead of Canon Law. So what? As of now, it’s an uphill battle to fight the propaganda that even when politicians deliberately insult the Pope, the Church, and Canon Law, all in one move by even presenting themselves in the first place, the Church will meekly help them make the insult stick.
Either the Truth is important or it’s not.
Either the Church is teaching the Truth, or it’s not.
Either Canon Law applies to Catholics or it doesn’t.
If the Church is teaching the Truth, why does the Truth take a back seat to what may have been portrayed as a diplomatic incident, something that actually doesn’t make any sense at all since this was a Church function they were attending, not a State visit to the Vatican State?
This WILL lead to the Church being mauled by a pack of dogs and probably very soon.
IMHO, it will lead to much worse than any potential “diplomatic incident” and be much more difficult to deal with.
More important than any of that, though, is just how many within Church hierarchy have so little Faith that they worry over potential diplomatic consequences more than over the consequences of ignoring Canon Law and Scripture? That’s the real question, not what sort of scum take advantage of that lack of Faith, but just who the faithless party is that makes this sort of decision if not the Pope. This Pope has made the very public and widely quoted statement that politicians exactly like Pelosi and Biden should be denied communion. I actually believe he would stand by that but I also believe someone made very sure the Pope didn’t recognize these two for what that are.
There are those in the Vatican who are well aware of what sort of scum King Barry sent and they are already working hard to make sure the Pope looks bad over his stand on politicians being refused communion. Just how much help someone has within the hierarchy if they’re working to make the Pope look bad is an exercise left to the reader.
People who understand US politics very, very, well were at work in this and the Vatican not only blew it, they aided and abetted the perps.
JMHO
Les Femmes
The Scandal Continues: Biden and Pelosi Committed Sacrilege at Papal Mass
Well, the White House has confirmed it: Pelosi and Biden went to Communion sacrilegiously at the papal installation Mass.
(Huffington Post article.) What I found especially hypocritical, however, was Cardinal Wuerl's statement:
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, part of the conclave that elected Francis, has said he would offer Pelosi communion despite her views on abortion because he didn't believe communion should be used as a weapon. "We never -– the Church just didn't use Communion this way. It wasn't a part of the way we do things, and it wasn't a way we convinced Catholic politicians to appropriate the faith and live it and apply it; the challenge has always been to convince people," Wuerl said in a 2010 interview. His position would logically extend to Biden. The vice president's bishop, Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Del., has also said he would not deny communion to Biden.
Denying Communion to a public heretic (a person who denies at least one doctrine of the Church)
is not using the Eucharist as "a weapon." It is exercising Church law articulated in Canon Law 915. It shows concern for the soul of the person who is heaping up mortal sin on mortal sin which does several things to the unfortunate soul, i.e., makes it harder to repent, increases the moral debt of the soul so to speak, creates grave scandal when the heretic is a public figure which merits a "millstone," etc. Biden and Pelosi parade their "Catholic" credentials while they give the finger to Catholic doctrine.
Cardinal Wuerl shows little concern for his Washington, D.C. political flock when he announces he will never refuse to let them crucify Christ by unworthy reception His body and blood. Did Christ die for pro-abortion Catholic politicians? Of course. Does He want them to pile up one mortal sin of sacrilege after another? Hardly!
Frankly, I am sorely grieved at the lack of pastoral care bishops like Wuerl have toward these outrageous public sinners. He appears to care more for human respect and his own place in the halls of power than for their eternal salvation. He is like a father who buys his drug-addicted son the next fix instead of loving him enough to say no, because he doesn't want to alienate his son.
When I see Cardinal Wuerl's cowardice (What else can it be?) I think of his foils, bishops like Rene Gracida (bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi) who is a model of pastoral concern and courage when it comes to warning "obstinate public sinners" to refrain from Communion. (See
a case study describing how Bishop Gracida put a Catholic politician under interdict.) Why should Biden and Pelosi and others of their ilk repent? Why should they even believe that Christ is present in the Eucharist? There certainly doesn't appear to be much evidence that their bishops believe it. If they did, would they, like Judas, turn Christ over to them to be crucified again? That's exactly what they do when they give Jesus to heretics.
Cardinal Wuerl and other bishops of his ilk illustrate clearly why the Church in the U.S. is in such a mess. They care less about scandalizing the hoi polloi in the pews than hobnobbing with the rich and powerful. Is it any wonder saints lamented that
the floor of hell is littered with bishops' skulls and mitres? Sad!
Mary Ann Kreitzer
