Posted on 04/18/2008 7:43:03 AM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the papal Mass at Nationals Park this morning with 46,000 in attendance, pro-abortion Senators John Kerry and Chris Dodd presented themselves for and received Holy Communion. Of note, pro-abortion Senator Ted Kennedy purposefully did not receive Communion. Photos taken by Tom McFadden Director of Admissions at Christendom College and provided first to LifeSiteNews.com, show Kerry and Dodd receiving while Kennedy remains seated as his row leaves to receive Communion.
American Life League (ALL) President Judie Brown told LifeSiteNews.com that no pro-abortion politicians received Holy Communion directly from Pope Benedict during the Mass. ALL had taken out a full page ad warning Catholic pro-abortion politicians not to sacrilegiously receive the Eucharist.
While the highest authorities in the Vatican and indeed the Pope himself have insisted that pro-abortion Catholic politicians be denied Holy Communion, several prominent US bishops with the leading of now-retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick have refused to follow such direction from Rome.
It seems from his actions today, Senator Kennedy is, at least in public, refraining from Communion and thus refusing to create what the Church calls public "scandal".
Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, speaking at a Catholic family conference in Ohio last November confirmed that pro-abortion politicians must be denied communion. He referenced a 2004 letter on the subject sent by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who said that such politicians "must" be refused Communion (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08040408.html).
Since becoming Pope, Benedict XVI has also addressed the subject. In March 2007 the Pope warned Catholic pro-abortion politicians against receiving Communion. In the document on Holy Communion, called "Sacramentum Caritatis" or the Sacrament of Love, Benedict XVI gave Catholic politicians a biblical warning against receiving Communion unworthily.
In a section on "Eucharistic consistency", the Pope said that politicians must adhere to "non negotiable" values "such as respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms." He added, "Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature."
"There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist," he said referencing the Biblical passage 1 Corinthians 11:27-29. That passage reads: "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord." (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07031303.html ; )
Thank you Tom McFadden!
Actually, I think this may be OK. Kerry changed his position to pro-life when he got in line, then changed it back as he was seated.
Finally I can say Kennedy did something right. I wish the others were denied.... as they should have been
I think if I were a priest or deacon assigned to distributing Communion at the Mass I would have a pocket full of Necco wafers, and say “And this is a special one, just for you!”
(I would also have some holy water to rinse my fingers off afterwrds, since I would still be distributing Communion.)
I’m not sure Kenneddy was up to the long walk.
Ted was just too lazy to walk all that way just to get the tiny wafer of unleavened bread. If it was a chalice filled with wine, however, he’d be first in line (and then ask for a refill).
From the original post:
"There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist," he said referencing the Biblical passage 1 Corinthians 11:27-29. That passage reads: "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord."
Kerry is hiding what he does with the Host. creepy.
I just gained a smidgen of respect for Fat Drunk Ted.
Thanks.
I really missed that......
As far as Kennedy is concerned, HE should be giving THE POPE communion.
The mechanics may be similar but the theology is quite different. That picture of Kerry is an absolute abomination. Kennedy at least has the decency to refrain from heaping one sin upon another.
> Finally I can say Kennedy did something right. I wish the others were denied.... as they should have been
Informed self-interest, probably. He didn’t want to burst into flame, or be smitten by lightening bolts. Darkness doth abhor the Light.
Pope Benedict XVI has always taken God's words totally literally. In the areas of abortion, birth control, and the problem of priests abusing children he will stand steadfast in the word of God and no mortal will make him accept less than what God spoke in the Ten Commandments and through Jesus.
If Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry, and other Catholics-in-name-only don't realize that God is speaking directly to them through Pope Benedict when he does not permit communion be administered to those advocates of abortion and birth control, then they have made a conscious decision to ignore God and listen to the devil and the people through whom the devil speaks and has influenced. They might want to cloud their decisions to acquiesce to public pressure based on the rationales of men, but it is just their desire to hold political office and remain “popular” that has become more important than what they know to be what God wants.
Pope Benedict XVI, through his steadfast commitment to uphold God’s rules and by his action to exclude pro-abortion supporters is quite strongly reminding them they will never gain “popularity” with God for turning away from the laws and standards He set. Benedict is acknowledging the obvious: that they are openly succumbing to the temptations of self-gratification for their own mortal agendas and careers. And every time they attend a Mass and receive Communion they are flagrantly repeating the sin that not only scars their souls, and are also making an arrogant statement that they do not consider God’s rules important, nor the lives of the aborted children lovingly created by God.
These politicians and abortion supporters will pay in a way that will be far worse than loosing an election here on earth. Whatever success they have in this life, and no matter how they have tried to justify their decisions and actions, God will not forget the millions of lives they have allowed to be destroyed just so they could satisfy their own egos and personal desires for worldly acclaim.
They might always have supporters on earth and we might not witness their demise, or see the punishment they will face, but we can hold onto the knowledge that in the end God has the final judgment. On the day these people stand before Him, (no matter how many times they have kissed the Pope’s ring, or spoken to a Pope, or attended a Mass) God will not be influenced by any political action group, or lobbyist, or popular movement promulgated by those who have found it easier and advantageous to their own goals to destroy a life and succumb to the devil’s desires. When we do not respect the gift of life that God blessed us with, there is no loophole to slide through into Heaven.
Maybe he heard there was no alcohol in the wine?
Big difference in the Communion between Catholics and Protestants. Not “nuanced”
Do some research.
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