Posted on 03/21/2013 7:44:10 PM PDT by Morgana
ROME, March 21, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - There had been a little off track betting going on among pro-life Catholics ( a tautology for sure) as to whether or not Vice Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi would receive Holy Communion at the Mass of Installation for Pope Francis in Rome. on Tuesday. The yeas far out polled they nays, and the yeas proved to be right. It was really a no-brainer!
Biden and Pelosi and other pro-abortion politicians have been thumbing their noses at church teaching for many years now. Even though it has been repeated ad infinitum that their behavior is contrary to Catholic teaching regarding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, they have continually presented themselves at the altar rail. They have never been denied the sacrament.
Some bishops have personally advised them not to receive Communion, since their public stand aids and abets a heinous crime. These warnings are, however, deemed pastoral and have no teeth. There is no unanimity among the bishops as to their imposition and whether or not an offending politician can be denied the sacrament if he or she presents themselves for Communion.
The timidity of the bishops stems from the lack of agreement as to how a bishop should apply Canon 915 is to be interpreted and used. The canon states, "Those who are excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion." This becomes problematic for two reasons: first, because many bishops are loathe to accuse politicians of grave sin; and second, because excommunication is a formal juridical act that effectively cuts off the offender from the sacramental life of the Church. It also means the denial of a Catholic funeral.
Since there is no direct mandate from the Vatican, most bishops don’t want to take the risk of not being supported in their decision.
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No doubt there would also be a strong public outcry protesting freedom of conscience and the obligation of politicians to represent their constituents. Of course, there will also be references to the Mario Cuomo mantra, “I am personally opposed to abortion but …” given at Notre Dame, in 1984, in which he cleverly tried to separate religious belief and public morality. This speech was condemned by Cardinal John O’Connor, since it violated traditional Catholic teaching on the importance of public officials to form their consciences in light of the Church’s moral teachings and the obligation to enact legislation in accord with it. Cuomo, however, was never counseled not to receive Communion. Ever since, more and more Catholics have decided that they can make their own decisions as to what is right and wrong morally.
Politicians such as Biden and Pelosi have been stubborn and contumacious in their pro-abortion policies and in presenting themselves for reception of the Eucharist. They know that the American bishops, for the most part, prefer a “pastoral approach,” which means basically let’s talk to them and help them to see the error of their ways. It has not worked, and there is no indication that it will. The topic of this essay is proof enough! They also know that Catholic priests are instructed not to cause a scene on the Communion line and that the person be permitted to receive. Thus, they opt to take advantage of these charitable loopholes.
There is a solution and perhaps some hope for stronger enforcement of Church policy on offending pols. The Vatican should clearly state that politicians who promote a culture of death, abortion, and euthanasia, are subject to excommunication by their bishop. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI made an unofficial statement on a trip to Mexico, in 2007, stating that excommunication for pro choice legislators was not arbitrary and is part of canon law. This would strengthen Canon 915 and some bishops’ backbones.
It is well known that Pope Francis forbade pro- choice politicians from receiving Holy Communion in his diocese, in Argentina. Perhaps the new Pope can move this project along?
By the bishops refusing to take strong action, such as excommunication, politicians will continue their “in your face” attitude toward the church and her leaders. Such a failure will also continue to allow Catholics and people of good will to be scandalized. Even worse, it gives the impression that others may follow the behavior of wayward politicians with impunity.
Biden and Pelosi only did at the Vatican what they have been allowed to do at home. As the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonheoffer stated so well, dear bishops; Not to act is to act!
Fr. Orsi is the chaplain at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida.
Or at least the Tiber.
1984, and many years before that, the decades keep rolling on, presidential campaigns come and go, and nothing changes.
Catholics have supported Clinton, Clinton, Al Gore, Obama, and Obama, since 1984, today Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi represent Catholics and America in swearing in the new Pope, and they receive communion at the Vatican itself.
The rule is: There are no rules.
It stinks.
The Anti-Catholics keep pushing the same nonsense on almost every Catholic thread.
It’s misleading propaganda and you know it. The Catholics who attend Church regularly voted overwhelmingly for Romney.
That statistic includes the “Catholics” who were baptized 20+ years ago, and have only seen the inside of a Church on Christmas and Easter. Additionally, it includes the influx of Hispanic Catholics, who worship big government more than they worship Jesus.
“today Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi represent Catholics and America in swearing in the new Pope”
The hypocritical bastards sure as hell don’t represent me and my fellow REAL CATHOLICS I attend Mass with.
Actually, a person takes personal responsibility when he/she takes communion in an unworthy manner and will ultimately face the consequences.
1 Corinthians 11:29-31
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
“...and will ultimately face the consequences.”
May they face the consequences sooner than later...may the consequences be a whole lot worse than ‘excommunication’.
bfl
The nonsense is to deny the Catholic vote, by proclaiming that the majority of Catholics are not Catholic, they are, and they vote democrat.
The Catholic vote was devoted to the democrat party long before Hispanics ever showed up, but I agree that more Catholic immigration is the gift that the left has been praying for and receiving, it cost republicans California for instance, forever, with more to come.
I agree, but we can’t pretend that they don’t represent the majority of Catholics and that the democrats have always represented the majority of Catholics, and that we need to fix that or we are doomed.
The Postal Service created a stamp with a picture of Nancy Pelosi.
The stamp was not sticking to envelopes. This enraged Pelosi, who demanded a full investigation.
After a month of testing, a special commission presented the following findings:
1) The stamp is in perfect order.
2) There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.
3) People are spitting on the wrong side. :)
So you are a Catholic, if you were at one point in your life, Baptized as a Catholic, and then you proceed to disregard all of its teachings and never attend Mass?
That is how the Catholic church counts it, in this case of voting though you have to also consider yourself a member of the Catholic denomination, if you don’t, then although the church calls you Catholic, you wouldn’t be counted as one as a voter.
For Protestants the category can mean never baptized, and you don’t have to belong to any church or have ever belonged to any church at all, you just need to say that you are a Christian.
God Bless this Catholic law priest.
Ignore those comments look discouraging, remember those are just OPINIONS only.
No, it's nonsense for the same sort of folks who claim infanticide by contraceptive is Christ-like to pretend they even know what a Christian is.
Since such folks obviously worship their own, "Most High and Holy Self" rather than Jesus Christ, they're actually hilarious when they pretend they are an authority on who is or is not Catholic.
They're easy to identify because of the huge beams sticking out of their eyes. Beams, for example, like their insisting infant baptism is meaningless, then in their propaganda claiming anyone who was ever baptized as Catholic while an infant is permanently, without fail, a Catholic forever, no matter what they do or what the individuals themselves say to the contrary.
And that's only one of the huge contradictions the Self Alone Self Worshipers constantly repeat. They're the Triceratops of hypocritical contradictions personified, with never fewer than three beams sticking out of their eyes.
It takes someone under a very strong delusion to make that sort of contradiction and think others will agree with it.
it wasn't some protestant who invented the "once a Catholic always a Catholic" phrase.
What's so jarringly weird about your full statement, is that you condemn those who insist as you put it, that "infant baptism is meaningless" when it's very much that infant baptism that makes so-called cradle Catholics, into being Roman Catholics in the first place.
That some outside the RCC point towards RC attitudes towards how they have in past centuries regarded membership in their own church, isn't a "beam in the eye" sort of thing, or some baseless fault of outsiders, at all.
Then again there are those high holy converts to the RCC who love nothing more than to shout how others are so condemned, for not being a convert like they are, even if they have to turn things around quite backwards to get'er' done.
I get your point. However, it's quite obvious that those who willfully ignore the Church's CLEAR TEACHING (whether they be labeled "Catholic" or "CINO" or something else) and support those who boo God at their convention and promote infanticide and sexual perversion are NOT Catholic by any measure. They have excommunicated themselves (latae sententiae). Unfortunately, this group may well include some nuns, priests, and even bishops. Spiritual blindness is the problem. The only way to "fix that" is through prayer.
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