Pope Urges Catholic US Legislators to Defend Life

Zenit.org ^ | Feb. 18, 2009 | Zenit.org

[Salvation]

Pope Urges Catholic US Legislators to Defend Life

Receives Speaker of the House Pelosi in Audience

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 18, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging legislators to uphold the sanctity of human life according to Church teaching, he affirmed in an meeting with U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Pope received Nancy Pelosi and her entourage briefly today after the general audience, reported a Vatican communiqué.

He "took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death," the Vatican reported afterward.

The Pontiff added that these teachings "enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

In a statement today from Pelosi's office, she said that in the meeting she lauded "the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel."

Abortion controversy

The meeting comes after Pelosi's erroneous remarks on a television interview last August. When asked to comment on when human life begins, she responded that as a Catholic, she had studied the issue "for a long time" and that "the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition."

The next day, Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, said her answer "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion."

They, and other bishops, issued public statements clarifying the Church's position. They cited the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."

Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, which is Pelosi's home diocese, invited her for a private meeting in September.

Catholic congressmen

Meanwhile, two other Catholic congressmen, John Boehner and Thaddeus McCotter, wrote a letter Tuesday to Cardinal Rigali. They thanked him for his Feb. 5 letter to all members of Congress in which he urged legislators to uphold existing pro-life laws and refrain from forcing taxpayers to fund abortions.

The legislators' letter, released to the public, read "We stand with you in the defense of all human life and look forward to working with you."

It continued: "We are committed to working with our pro-life colleagues on both sides of the aisle to proactively defeat efforts to enact the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) or any similar measure. We are similarly committed to working to retain, and not weaken, laws that prohibit using federal funds for the purpose of promoting or funding promotion of abortion. […]

"We will, as Pope Benedict XVI exhorted during his apostolic visit to the United States last year, 'proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and promote a culture of life.'"

[Salvation]

No photo-op for Nancy either. LOL!

[Salvation]

some more detail about Republican legislators here.

[Salvation]

 

Always remember!

 

 

[Salvation]

**Meanwhile, two other Catholic congressmen, John Boehner and Thaddeus McCotter, wrote a letter Tuesday to Cardinal Rigali. They thanked him for his Feb. 5 letter to all members of Congress in which he urged legislators to uphold existing pro-life laws and refrain from forcing taxpayers to fund abortions.**

Are some Representatives gaining courage here?

[big'ol_freeper]

I pray so.

[Salvation]

From another thread:

He told Pelosi, politely but unmistakably, that her relentlessly pro-abortion politics put her in serious difficulties as a Catholic, which was his obligation as a pastor. He also underscored — for Pelosi, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Barbara Mikulski, Rose DeLauro, Kathleen Sebelius, and everyone else — that the Church’s opposition to the taking of innocent human life, at any stage of the human journey, is not some weird Catholic hocus-pocus; it’s a first principle of justice than can be known by reason. It is a “requirement of the natural moral law” — that is, the moral truths we can know by thinking about what is right and what is wrong — to defend the inviolability of innocent human life.

[chiefqc]

In their arrogance they stand there thumbing their noses at the Pope while the blood of the most innocent drips from their hands.

[Salvation]

The Pope won this battle. Nancy just thinks she is the boss, but the Pope knows that God is the boss and will be the final judge.

Pelosi has excommunicated herself by supporting abortion.

[tioga]

I could not have envisioned a stronger message to nancy pelosi.......our beloved Pope Benedict XVI has corrected them all. Praise God for our Pope, who fears not speaking the truth. May the local pastors and bishops have such courage.

[Salvation]

**our beloved Pope Benedict XVI has corrected them all. Praise God for our Pope, who fears not speaking the truth. May the local pastors and bishops have such courage.**

Amen to that prayer!

[TAdams8591]

Agreed.

When she persists in pushing pro-abortion legislation, I hope her ex-communication becomes public.

Biden should be next.

[jongaltsr]

That is not true!
.............at least according to Nancy Pelocie!

[mimaw]

I’m thrilled he told her these things and did not give her the photo op she obviously went there for.

[Arthur McGowan]

Excommunication is just one particular penalty the Church CAN use to bring some people to their senses. The fact that someone is NOT excommunicated does NOT mean that he/she is a good Catholic. Hitler was never excommunicated. Some people who wish to smear the Church pretend that this constitutes an ENDORSEMENT of Hitler. What it really means is that the Church recognized the Hitler was hopeless.

The Denial of Communion is not a penalty, and it is an OBLIGATION on the part of all ministers of Communion. It is specified in Canon 915.

Note, it is NOT a “penalty,” i.e., not a punishment which the Church MAY use. It is, rather, a grave obligation.

This means that all those bishops who claim that denying Communion is a “penalty,” or a “sanction,” are LIARS. Those who say “that’s not my style” are also LIARS. When something is OBLIGATORY, it’s not a matter of style.

Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington has told three major lies, in public, about this obligation.

1) That it’s a penalty or a sanction;
2) That it’s a matter of his “style”;
3) That it’s the responsibility of the “home” bishop of a politician.

All falsehoods. The obligation to deny Communion to these people is the responsibility of the minister of Communion. That means any bishop, priest, deacon, or Extraordinary Minister of Communion. It has nothing to do with the person’s place of residence.

Every bishop who is refusing to obey Canon 915 is obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin. I.e., in slightly less precise, but more common parlance: They are daily committing mortal sin, by refusing to obey Canon 915, and BY RECEIVING COMMUNION THEMSELVES!

[TAdams8591]

"All falsehoods. The obligation to deny Communion to these people is the responsibility of the minister of Communion."

Thank you for posting all the information. I would think it denying communion would be obligatory since people who have grave sins on their souls are NOT worthy to receive communion. Since the promotion of abortion falls under the category of "grave sin," it follows that politicians like Pelosi, Biden and others, are not permitted to receive it and doing so would be another commission of a grave sin.

However, I would like to see people like Pelosi excommunicated so that they can no longer use their "membership" in the Catholic church as a way to obtain the Catholic vote and to make it perfectly clear to all, both Catholic and non-catholic, that their position on abortion and the promotion of it, is at complete odds with their faith, and is a grave sin in the eyes of God.