Posted on 02/20/2009 10:59:11 AM PST by topher
Pope Benedict strongly rebukes Pelosi over abortion
Vatican City, Feb 18, 2009 / 10:18 am (CNA).- House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s photo-op with Pope Benedict XVI turned sour when the Pontiff used the 15-minute meeting to reaffirm the teachings of the Catholic Church on the right to life and the duty to protect the unborn.
No photo of Nancy Pelosi and the Pope will be forthcoming, since the meeting was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room in the Vatican just after the Pope's weekly public audience.
Immediately after the meeting, the Holy See’s press office released a statement saying, "following the general audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage."
"His Holiness 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 which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in co-operation 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."
A significant number of Catholic and pro-life organizations expressed concern over how Pelosi would use the meeting with Pope Benedict to further her position that it is possible to be Catholic and pro-abortion.
Last August, Pelosi was rebuked by several U.S. bishops for attempting to theologically justify her position during an interview with "Meet the Press."
On Tuesday, Jon O’Brien, president of "Catholics for Choice," a small, well-funded organization that provides theological arguments to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, told The Hill that today’s visit between the Speaker and Pope Benedict would be an opportunity to highlight that one can be pro-choice and Catholic, and that there are much bigger issues out there to discuss, such as the fate of the poor in the global economic downturn.
"That would be a real conversation about choice, instead of this micro-obsession with abortion," O’Brien said.
Nevertheless, according to the Holy See's statement, the Pope spent the whole 15 minute conversation talking with Pelosi about the right to life and the need to defend the unborn.
A spokesman for Pelosi, who is now headed to Southern Italy as part of her Italian tour, said she would issue a statement later in the day regarding her meeting with the Pope.
[Note: the article has the following photo with it.]
man to have been a fly on the wall for that one.
Will she now be denied communion?
I imagine Pope Benedict could have used Saint Padre Pio for that audience...
I think all of the flies were on Nancy’s carcass as she got her a$$ handed to her by the Pope!
I don't know what other Dioceses have such an edict in effect.
The title of that letter was Worthy to Receive.
Basically, USCCB needs to have a National-wide policy in effect that all bishops agree to. There is a petition to the Bishops about this.
Nationwide Petition Launched To Withhold Communion From Pelosi, Biden and Others
I’m glad his His Holiness gave this biaggi an earful she certainly deserved.
Now, I hope he goes all the way and excommunicates her freaking behind from the Church altogether.
An example must be sent to all these phony Catholic politicians who try to have it both ways: Being both a practicing Democrat and a practicing Catholic is a contradiction in terms.
While God in his wisdom loves us all and itsaddens him as we do thiings that are sinfull he also in that wisdom allows each one of us a free choice. As such it is our choice as he will not force anyone to do his will.
When we stand before the throne there will be no excuses, no man made laws to protect us only the choices we made of our own free will.
I doubt this will have any results since American Catholics get abortions and use contraceptives at the same rate as non-Catholic Americans. They simply assume that their consciences override what the pope says, and Pelosi agrees with them, so she must be right. You can explain the nuances of a properly formed conscience until you are blue in the face, and you will just get the “wow, how boring is that!” look.
No, she’s not being excommunicated or even denied communion.
It’s just lip service.
HH wasn’t really speaking to Nazi Pelousy ... he was speaking to the whole world. A meeting with The Wicked Witch of San Fransicko was just an opportunity ... a vehicle ... a “teachable moment”.
Worthy to Receive the Lamb: Catholics in Political Life and the Reception of Holy Communion
It should be noted that one of the bishops, Baker, is now the Bishop of Birmingham, where EWTN is located. Maybe EWTN should get the Bishop on the TV show to discuss this topic, along with retired Archbishop Donoghue... And Bishop Jugis...
Instead, the Holy Father used it to try to persuade Nancy that killing babies was wrong...
There's not really much else to do.
I hope she makes a very public trip to Denver. Abp Chaput has thrown down the gauntlet.
Yes ... his action was a rebuke of the abortionist SotH ... but his audience for that rebuke was more than just herself.
You need to clearly differentiate between real Catholics, those in Communion with the Church, and those who call merely themselves Catholic.
Pope: “Nancy, if you have to kill it, it is life, No?”
Nancy: “No, its not human life. Life begins at Birth.”
Pope: “But it is living inside a human, with all the DNA required to be human. And you condone killing it? “
Nancy: “No. I simply condone removeing a leach from its host organism. Its not human.”
Pope: “Go to hell Beotch”
From what I've heard and read regarding what the Pope said to Pelosi, the official position regarding choice is and has always been: the only choice is life.
Not at all. He certainly “informed her conscience,” and put to flight her fantasy that the life issues are marked “Unknown-Undecided-TBD” in Catholic moral theology. What she does with this is now up to her. Her Particular Judgment, at death, most definitely will not be entertaining grounds of “ignorance,” you can be sure.
It is not the pope’s primary responsibility to issue excommunications of individual people. That is normally the responsibility of the miscreant’s local bishop - in this case, Archbishop Niederauer of San Francisco. If he fails to act and creates a severe public scandal, then and only then will the pope even consider intervening and excommunicating the person himself. Local bishops have authority granted by Christ, and the popes do not undermine that authority by showing them up without grave evidence that such a step is necessary. In this particular case, Archbishop Niederauer has apparently made good on having that private meeting with Pelosi that was prompted by her foot-in-mouth comments about Catholic theology some months back. Under this circumstance, if he doesn’t soon “do something” about her, the pope just might intervene. But not be fre he gives Niederauer ample opportunity to take care of his own house’s affairs.
I find it interesting how the comments of non-Catholics often come across on this board in this Pelosi business. Usually, the pope is seen as too autocratic, and that’s “bad.” Yet, in this instance, they all shout that he step on her own bishop’s toes and “do something.” I hope that, at least in this instance, it should become clear that the pope is not quite as autocratic as anti-Catholic fantasies allege, and that a chain-of-command is usually adhered to.
It is clear that the pope was fully informed about Pelosi in advance. This was doubtless the fruit, at least in part, of the Vatican contacting Niederauer directly about her situation. Benedict knows what’s going on. If this becomes a complete circus, and the Archbishop cannot or will not act on it, he very possibly would step-in. In any case, it is clear that, in this and other such matters, Rome is becoming much more inclined to put pressure on the competent local Church authorities to do the right thing. Things are changing. John Paul was not at all inclined to be a disciplinarian. Benedict seems to be less inclined to exhibit infinite patience in potentially scandalous situations like this one. Bishops will not be able to hem and haw for much longer. The Pelosis, Kennnedys, Kerrys, Bidens and others of their ilk will very soon have no cover in connecting their version of Catholicism with an alleged conscience opt-out clause on these life issues.
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