Posted on 09/18/2016 11:50:48 AM PDT by Morgana
The Vatican issued a strong ruling about the sanctity of life this week when it said a man’s involvement in performing or helping someone procure an abortion is an obstacle to orientation as a Catholic priest.
According to the National Catholic Reporter, the Vatican published the ruling on Thursday after Pope Francis approved the interpretation of church law during a Pontifical Council in May.
The Catholic Church considers the sanctity of life “so absolute” that the new ruling even includes men who were not Catholic at the time of the abortion, according to the report.
The Catholic Church is a strong advocate for the right to life of unborn babies across the world. Pope Francis frequently speaks out against abortion and encourages Catholics to support pregnant and parenting moms and their babies.
“All of us are called to respect life and care for it,” he said during a trip to Poland in July. “On the other hand, it is the responsibility of the State, the Church and society to accompany and concretely help all those who find themselves in serious difficulty, so that a child will never be seen as a burden but as a gift, and those who are most vulnerable and poor will not be abandoned.”
The report has more details about the new ruling:
Canon 1041 of the Code of Canon Law defines as “irregular for receiving (holy) orders” a person who has “committed voluntary homicide or procured a completed abortion and all those who positively cooperated in either,” as well as “a person who has mutilated himself or another gravely and maliciously or who has attempted suicide.”
A question was submitted to the Vatican asking if the canon also applies to a non-Catholic and therefore would require a special dispensation if the man were later to become Catholic and seek ordination as a Catholic priest. The pontifical council answered, “Affirmative.”
Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, told reporters the sin involved can be forgiven if the person is contrite, “but a warning sign remains,” and a special intervention of the bishop is needed before the person can be ordained.
Pope Francis often has spoken about unborn babies since he was elected in 2013. Initially, some feared he would water down Catholic Church teachings on abortion and other issues, but he has been a strong advocate for life.
So....my church doesn’t believe in forgiveness or redemption. Nice.
Nice to know they haven’t forgotten the Church’s teachings.
Is there a similar restriction on men who are gay?
What if you repent and say the requisite number of Hail Marys?
I have to agree that this is odd. If someone has engaged in/supported an abortion, why wouldn’t repentance be enough?
But we support politicians who have and do, if they are Democrats
Attempted suicide. This disgusts me. How many soldiers with injuries have attempted suicide?
Who would make better priests than men who have seen evil at its worst and recovered from emotional and physical wounds.
Gave it a go myself after dealing with the unrelenting pain for 3 or so years. Survived obviously.
I’m a good man and if, God forbid, wife passed and I wanted to join the priesthood, i’d be considered damaged goods?
Might be time to shop for a new branch of Christianity.
Ordination to the priesthood or diaconate is a privilege, not a right. Ever. (This makes it different from, e.g., marriage.)
Someone who is seeking Holy Orders needs to be leading an exemplary Christian life. (That should be obvious, but if it isn't, I have to ask: didn't the molestation scandals teach us anything?) Someone who was directly involved in an abortion clearly wasn't leading an exemplary Christian life at that time. "Irregular for ordination" just means that those circumstances need to be investigated and considered. It's not an unconditional or permanent prohibition. If there is clearly no issue, the ordination may be permitted.
The same situation applies if a man leaves the church, becomes a Protestant minister, and then returns to the Catholic Church and seeks ordination to the priesthood. He's "irregular for ordination," meaning that that particular situation bears special consideration and investigation.
I disagree. But that’ why we live in America.
Dont bother with a retort. You’re wrong.
So I ask again: is there a similar restriction on men who have engaged in homosexual acts?
BTW, raping a child gets you assigned to a new church.
They hypocrisy and self righteousness is beyond incredible.
Acts 8:1-3 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
I'm with you. If Paul/Saul's persecutions of the early church were not enough to disqualify him, then neither is abortion. Sincere repentance is required, of course, but I read "your sins are forgiven" as meaning what it says.
Note: This does not in any way minimize the murder of innocent children or the insincerity of some who seek the priesthood for personal advantage rather than waiting for a true calling to do God's work. I'm simply saying that even abortion should not be an absolute disqualification.
Having actually read the article more carefully, rather than responding to the inaccurate headline, I'll modify my statement. I'm okay with requiring a special dispensation from the bishop for those who participated in abortion. I would hope that the bishop would bring added gravity and perspective to the decision and question carefully on repentance and on the prospective priest's views on abortion. We already have far too many priests who pretend it is okay to murder children, and we should do what can be done to screen against that heresy.
I find this ruling is astonishing. An abortion assister that later becomes Catholic is barred from the priesthood? Is this sin unforgivable - a new unforgivable sin other that the one Jesus spoke of?
The ancient discipline of the Church, still observed by the Orthodox (I don’t know about the Catholic Eastern Rites) bars anyone who has killed a human being for any reason from the priesthood.
Further research shows that this is already in Canon Law...so why is this being presented as a strong ruling issued this week?
Then I don’t know what church you belong to.
The Catholic Church has for a very long time seen murder as an impediment to Holy Orders. This is nothing new, and has NOTHING to do with forgiveness or redemption. It is merely good policy that a man associated with this heinous crime represents too much of a scandal to be worth risking the faithful.
There’s supposed to be, but it’s frequently ignored.
There’s supposed to be, but it’s frequently ignored.
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