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.
White Catholics have always voted democrat, recently, as the whites leave Catholicism, the remaining ones have started voting more republican, but it is too little too late, the Catholic vote will remain where it has always been, democrat.
Protestant blacks are counted in the Protestant vote, although many or most of them belong to black denominations, unlike Catholics who are all of a single denomination.
We aren’t importing black Protestants by the tens of millions.
Catholics voted Clinton, Clinton, Al Gore, Obama and Obama, it is how they traditionally vote.
Poland (Catholic) was the first Warsaw Pact nation to THROW OFF communism, inspired by Pope JPII and led by Lech Walesa.
The Soviet Union infiltrated the Vatican because it knew that Catholicism is the enemy of communism.
The Scandinavian nations (Protestant) are notoriously liberal and socialist. The other liberal (Protestant) nations in Europe that are strongly tending toward socialism are Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Secular humanism is at the root of this loss of freedom, NOT Catholicism (as you seem to be implying).
As a soldier in the Cold War and under Reagan, I knew about the Soviet Union, but I was more curious about the Americas and our Catholic border nation that you had described as Marxist and which is replacing the American voters.
“”Being 96% Catholic is very pure, almost as pure as America was when it was founded, I didn’t say that the government is run by the Vatican, or that the Catholic people of Mexico have done a good job with their nation, just that they were a purely Catholic nation, meaning the denominational church membership of it’s people.
How many Catholic populations have adopted or become communist, or Marxist” “I don’t know, I never looked into it, is there a lot of that in the most Catholic region of the world?””
Depends on your definition of "Catholic populations" (i.e. practicing Catholics versus poorly catechized members who do not adhere to the Church's teachings - IOW "Catholics in Name Only").
"While Latin-American Catholics are still more socially conservative than those in the United States and Europe, there’s still an important gap between popular religiosity and doctrinal adherence. Popular Catholicism across the region is a syncretic mix of precolonial beliefs, African-influenced religious practices, rural and popular folkways (such as shamanism and curanderismo), and personal and regional devotion to individual saints. To the persistent frustration of the Catholic hierarchy from colonial times to the present, Latin-American Catholics have had historically low rates of sacramental participation, especially among the poor. Relatively few nonelite couples, for instance, chose to participate in the sacrament of marriage. This practice goes back to the colonial period. Historically, Latin Americans have had markedly lower levels of Mass attendance than those in the United States".
http://commonwealmagazine.org/church-latin-america
It's disingenuous to attempt to implicate Catholicism as a causal factor of the growth of marxism/socialism by indicting some groups of baptized members who have either rejected or have failed to receive her teaching and thus fail to follow the "holy way".
Catholic population means a population of Catholics, especially a high portion of the Catholics in a population when talking about almost purely Catholic nations.
By the way, it would sure be better if you would just respond to own posts when posting to me rather than creating things that I haven’t said or claimed.
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