Posted on 12/07/2013 6:58:22 PM PST by ebb tide
Pro-life leaders urge caution, while Pope, Cardinal Dolan praise controversial Nelson Mandela
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, December 6, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The death of South African former President Nelson ‘Madiba’ Rolihlahla Mandela on Thursday has led to an outpouring of glowing praise for the man most known for ending apartheid – a system of racial segregation. However, pro-life leaders have warned that praise from Christian leaders is inappropriate given Mandela’s role in bringing abortion-on-demand and homosexual “marriage” to South Africa.
According to official statistics, nearly a million unborn children have been killed in South Africa since President Mandela signed legislation in 1996 permitting abortion on demand two years after taking office. Same-sex ‘marriage’ was legalized in 2006, with Mandela having supported it long before its passage.
Nelson Mandela with wife Winnie and Joe Slove, head of South Nelson Mandela with wife Winnie and Joe Slove, head of South Africa Communist Party and leading member of ANC. In the face of praise for Mandela coming even from Catholic leaders all over the world, Paul Tuns, the editor of the Canadian pro-life newspaper The Interim, wrote, “A little balance is necessary in our reaction to the man who fought one injustice, but helped institute another.”
Similarly England’s John Smeaton, President of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) commented on his blog saying, “It is absolutely vital that Catholic leaders do not allow themselves to become respecters of persons, swept away by personality cults. Catholic leaders have a duty to stand up to public figures with anti-life and anti-family records, however praiseworthy their record may be on other issues.”
Smeaton’s comments came in reaction to praise for Mandela from the Bishops conference of South Africa. However, since then, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Pope Francis have also issued statements of praise for Mandela.
Pope Francis’s official statement says, “Paying tribute to the steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation’s citizens and in forging a new South Africa built on the firm foundations of non-violence, reconciliation and truth, I pray that the late President’s example will inspire generations of South Africans to put justice and the common good at the forefront of their political aspirations.”
Cardinal Dolan’s statement calls Mandela a “hero to the world.” The Cardinal recalls the praise for Mandela from Pope John Paul II’s visit to South Africa in 1995.
That visit came before Mandela passed the law permitting abortion.
It was 1996 when Mandela signed into law one of the world’s most pro-abortion laws. Passage of the “Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Bill” was assured since Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) refused its members a free vote on the issue of providing state-funded abortion on demand.
The same year, Mandela’s new constitution made South Africa the first country to place “sexual orientation” alongside race and religion as a restricted grounds for discrimination – something that paved the way for homosexual ‘marriage’ a decade later.
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Smeaton quotes from a book of quotations from Mandela noting his statement on abortion: "Women have the right to decide what they want to do with their bodies." In addition to his promotion of abortion, homosexuality, contraception and close ties to Communism, Smeaton notes Mandela’s formation of ‘The Elders” as a cause for concern.
In 2007, Mandela announced ‘The Elders’ as a global council of retired world leaders who would give behind the scenes advice and direction to government officials and rulers around the world. The proposal was received by pro-life leaders as being of great concern since its membership formed a ‘who’s who of the pro-abortion and pro-population-control movements.”
While during his life, Mandela denied being part of the communist party despite his friendly interaction with communist world leaders, the African National Congress revealed today that Mandela was in fact a high-ranking member of the Communist Party.
“Madiba was also a member of the South African Communist Party, where he served in the Central Committee,” said the ANC release.
Given the adulation Mandella has received from the worldwide media, it is possible that many Christians had little or no knowledge of the controversial aspects of Mandela’s life.
While it may be difficult for Catholic officials to discern how to proceed with world leaders and politicians who are pro-abortion, in 2004, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops adopted a policy on the matter. “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions,” it said.
However, I will not give up the sacraments over the failure of the church.I agree! As Mother Teresa once said, and this is a paraphrase, the Church will always have its problems but the faith itself [the Eucharist!] is without flaw.
Of course, the terms “pro-life” and “pro-abortion” are not used in moral theology.
When it comes to most American bishops—certainly the prominent ones—the Democrat party comes first, the Catholic Church second. For over forty years, the standard, when it comes to teaching about abortion, or whether to give sacrilegious Communions to pro-abortion politicians, has been: “Is there any danger of helping a Republican if I say/do X?”
AH, yes, “pro-life” and “pro-abortion” are not in moral theology but I would argue that continuing to allow “pro-abortion” politicians to receive communion helps promote abortion...which *is* against Church teaching.
So, I ask again, what is the standing of those “Catholic” clergy/heirarchy who continue to allow pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians to receive communion?
I didn’t say that being “pro-abortion” isn’t sinful. I said that the term isn’t used in moral theology. Or in magisterial documents. The terms they use are more precise.
Of course promoting abortion is sinful. So is voting for or supporting laws that purport to make abortion “legal.”
It is the duty of the state to proscribe and punish abortion.
Only about fifteen bishops in the U.S. have made clear that pro-abortion people are engaged in public sin, and must not receive Communion.
The most high-profile bishops in the country have made clear that pro-abortion people SHOULD receive Communion, and that any priest under them will suffer if he refuses such people Communion.
THOSE are the bishops who are obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin—and who themselves are forbidden to receive Communion. Every Mass they celebrate, every Communion they receive is a mortal sin.
Dolan, Wuerl, O’Malley, Chaput, George, and every other Cardinal in the country—all of them have explicitly denied that Canon 915 applies to them or their priests. Each and every Mass/Communion of these bishops is sacrilegious and a mortal sin.
All the bishops named above have publicly rejected the conclusions of Cardinal Raymond Burke. NOT ONE of them has ever REPLIED to Cardinal Burke’s arguments. (They can’t. He is right; they are wrong.)
Thank you for the courageous statement of Father Peter Carata.I also wonder what Cardinal Dolan will do when the new Mayor deBlasio puts into effect his publically announced plan to expand abortion clinics and close Pro-life crises pregnancy centers right under Cardinal Dolan’s nose in New York City,the nations abortion capital.
You’re welcome! I just happened upon Father’s blog a few months ago. Great articles. As to Cardinal Dolan, he surely seems lost. Seeing him yucking it up with Obama at the Al Smith Dinner was pretty telling. I hope many are praying for him.
In the meantime Barry Sinclair Ali-Baba and his RINO sidekick little George W. Bush will be sitting side by side at the old communist’s funeral. Stay tuned to Faux News, along with their fellow liberal channels CNN and MSNBC giving full coverage of the old bomber’s funeral.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/george-w-bush-mandela-was-force-for-freedom-and-equality
In response to Nelson Mandela’s death on Thursday former President George W. Bush said the former South African president was one of the “great forces for freedom and equality of our time.”
The statement came shortly after news broke that Mandela had died. Here’s the statement:
“Laura and I join the people of South Africa and the world in celebrating the life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. President Mandela was one of the great forces for freedom and equality of our time. He bore his burdens with dignity and grace, and our world is better off because of his example. This good man will be missed, but his contributions will live on forever. Laura and I send our heartfelt sympathy to President Mandela’s family and to the citizens of the nation he loved.”
Are you a Catholic?
Why do you ask?
All politicians want to suck up to the black people who felt this terrorist was a great hero.
There is saying “ The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones”
I Mandela’s case it is just the opposite. Because black people vote and Mandela was an enemy to whites.
I will certainly be glad when he is in the ground and we don’t have these fake sentiments to listen to any more.
I ask whether or not you’re a Catholic because if you’re not why does it bother you? Many protestants ridicule the Eucharist. If you are a Catholic, I share your concerns. Public officials who claim to be Catholic while openly mocking the Church’s position of moral issues should be denied communion, but it’s left up to to bishops and most of these bishops are politicians and do what they feel like doing. I pray all the time that the Pope will tell all bishops to deny communion to these heretics, and hopefully one day he will. But in the end God knows who presents themselves unworthy to receive Him and and He will be the final judge. In the words of Paul........
“...Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” ~ 1 Corinthians 11:23-30
Oh, I am definitely Catholic. I thought there was something I wrote that made you think otherwise. I totally get why you would wonder why I would care about this if I wasn’t.
I missed the funeral today, not by accident. Did the Pope’s envoy have anything to say? Did he give a silent blessing from his heart?
Don’t mind him. Anybody who disagrees with him is an “anti-Catholic”.
Sorry, I missed it too—not by accident.
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