Posted on 04/24/2004 10:58:04 PM PDT by Coleus
Kerry reaffirms rights
| Saturday, April 24, 2004 |
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry delivered an unabashed defense of abortion rights on Friday, just hours after a top Vatican cardinal said that priests must deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Several other Catholic politicians said they, too, had no intention of altering the way they practice their religion or their politics.
With hundreds of Catholic politicians in the United States supporting abortion rights, the trans-Atlantic counterpoint was only the latest sign that the issue promises to be a recurrent one on the U.S. campaign trail this year.
"I believe that in the year 2004, we deserve a president who understands that a stronger America is where women's rights are just that: Rights, not political weapons to be used by politicians of this nation," Kerry declared at a rally with leaders of pro-choice groups mobilizing in Washington for a big march set for Sunday. "We are going to have a change in leadership in this country to protect the right of choice."
Speaking earlier from Vatican City, Cardinal Francis Arinze stopped short of saying whether it was right for Kerry to receive Communion but said a Catholic politician who supports abortion rights "is not fit" to receive the Eucharist. U.S. bishops have discretion in deciding who should receive Communion, but the cardinal's comments could put more pressure on them to sanction Catholic politicians whose positions are at odds with church teachings.
Kerry said he personally opposes abortion but supports a woman's right to choose. He did not directly respond to Arinze's comments, but campaign spokesman David Wade said Kerry believes the separation of church and state "helped make religious affiliation a non-issue in American politics."
Paterson Bishop Frank Rodimer said that he would give Kerry communion. While Rodimer remains adamant that abortion must be publicly condemned, he does not see a benefit in denying communion to a Catholic politician. "I would not make that the occasion for teaching; it is not a teaching moment," Rodimer said.
Rodimer said the proper time to have a conversation with a Catholic candidate about abortion or other spiritual matters is before Mass, not during the distribution of communion.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt countered that Kerry's views on abortion were "outside the mainstream" and said the president "supports a culture of life."
Judie Brown, president of the anti-abortion American Life League, said it was perfectly appropriate for voters to consider a candidate's religion and the way he or she practices it in deciding how to vote. She said the group is keeping tabs on 500 Catholic politicians at the state and national level who support abortion rights.
"If you are elected to public office as a Catholic, then your fellow Catholics expect you to be Catholic," she said, calling it "hypocrisy" for Kerry to say he is personally opposed to abortion while supporting wider access to the procedure.
But Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, USA, said statements such as Arinze's "debase the political campaign" and would only isolate the church from its U.S. members, most of whom she said support abortion rights.
"Every time Catholic church leaders have attacked Catholic politicians for their view on abortion, the Catholic politicians have become more popular and the church has become more marginalized," she said. "It's a very foolish strategy relative to political influence."
She added: "Do they really want to tell Senators (Edward) Kennedy, (Barbara) Mikulski, (Patrick) Leahy and 70 other members of the U.S. Congress that they can't receive Communion? Because they can't just tell this to Senator Kerry."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat whose brother was the nation's first Catholic president, stressed that Arinze was speaking for himself, not the pope, and said he did not expect to be denied Communion despite supporting abortion rights.
"I'm a very strong believer in the separation of church and state, as President Kennedy spoke to, and I continue to follow my own beliefs and will continue to serve the people of Massachusetts," he said.
Among American Catholics, 56 percent of non-Hispanic Catholics and 59 percent of Hispanic Catholics oppose making it harder for a woman to get an abortion, according to the Pew Research Center. Support for additional restrictions increases among Catholics who attend church at least once a week, with 50 percent of non-Hispanic Catholics favoring further restrictions and 43 percent of Hispanic Catholics.
Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, was criticized by Republicans recently for keeping track of the votes of Catholic members of Congress and whether they are in keeping with church doctrine. He said the vote tallies grew out of meetings by a group of lawmakers exploring their own beliefs, "knowing many of us want to bring as much of our faith as we can to our action in Congress."
"We are trying to live the teachings of our church and we try to bring that to work," he said. At the same time, he added, Catholic congressional members struggle with adhering to their faith while representing people of many religions.
"I am not here to represent the Catholic church," he said.
Last week, Kerry met privately with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Washington archbishop heading a task force examining whether there should be church sanctions for Catholic politicians who vote and support positions at odds with church teachings.
Bishop Raymond Burke, the archbishop of St. Louis, has said he would refuse to give Kerry Communion.
This already happened two weeks ago, at Easter Mass.
O'Malley made a general statement that pro-abort politicians who are self-styled Catholics should refrain from Communion. What I meant in my comment is what would happen if O'Malley ordered (if he can order the Paulists in that sense) that Communion was to be withheld from Kerry. The Paulists would go right on giving it, I'm sure.
Surely the ultimate "Do You know who I am?"
LOL, wouldn't want him to be embarassed during a photo op now, would we?
You must be as old as I am
But if you were around five hundred years ago you might remember some flip-flopping. Remember the story about the indulgences? It wasn't the poor people buying them. It was people like Kerry and Kennedy. The church needs people like this. They've got a lot of real estate to take care of. The Cardinal's house just sold for 90+million dollars! Who bought it? Another Catholic institution. A lot of flip-flops.
You should have seen the FIRST draft. ;-D Really, doesn't this idiot bishop realize that he is "teaching" whether he wants to or not? What would a person considering joining the catholic faith think of this bishop? If I were a person "searching" I'd think: "well, for all this bishop says that the Eucharist is the true presence, and people ought to be in a state of grace before they receive it and ought not to be abortion supporters, he still says it's okay for Kerry to receive, so it must not REALLY be the body and blood of Christ. If something supposedly so important can be waived for political situtations, then it mustn't have much real meaning." Move along....maybe the Jehovah's Witnesses have the answer....
I've "had it" with candy-a$$ed bishops. [Can you say "candy-a$$ed" on freerepublic?]
Probably salivating over the prospect. I suspect they were disappointed not to have the chance -- this time around anyway.
NJ Catholic priest was so appalled by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ'' that he described the film as "religious barbarism.'' "I saw it as religious barbarism ... in my opinion, God did not send his son to die,''
NJ, Catholic, Pro-Abortion/Pro-homosexual Congressman invited to Palm Sunday Communion Breakfast
As a matter of fact, YES, you stupid media whore! And while we're on the subject, why don't you crawl back to whatever abortion fundraiser you came from and stop misrepresenting yourself as speaking for Catholic Americans! I am SICK TO DEATH of seeing this woman given press coverage as if she were some authority figure!
Yes, she did it herself, ipso facto, as a public and material Heretic.
Can. 1364 §1 An apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication, without prejudice to the provision of Can. 194 §1, n. 2; a cleric, moreover, may be punished with the penalties mentioned in Can. 1336 §1, nn. 1, 2 and 3.
Being Liberal means never having to say you're sorry. . .
Sad testimony for both Catholics.
These gutless bishops are killing me.
It just occurred to me the other day.
The psychological benefit of orthodoxy is the the comfort of life after death. The "downside" is a binding moral code.
The psychological benefit of atheism is the "freedom" from morality, particularly sexual morality. The downside is annihilation after death.
Cafeteria religion offers the best of both worlds: the comfor of life after death and a moral code of your own choosing. It's the perfect religion for the it's-all-about-me crowd.
Speaking of Bishop Rodimer, did you see this story about he covered up molestation in his parish?
http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news2-Akbishop.htm
I had heard rumors for many years about Father Tully's "befriending" of young boys, and it looks like it's finally caught up with him.
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