Posted on 04/26/2004 4:30:38 PM PDT by Polycarp IV
ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome
Code: ZE04042623
Date: 2004-04-26
U.S. Bishops' Task Force to Discuss Pro-Abortion Politicians
In Wake of Cardinal Arinze's Comments
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 26, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A task force set up the U.S. bishops' conference will discuss the reception of sacraments by Catholics whose political advocacy directly contradicts Church teaching.
Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the episcopal conference, announced the task force in the wake of a Vatican press conference last week in which Cardinal Francis Arinze said that politicians who support abortion must not go to Communion. He also said that priests must deny such politicians the sacrament.
Cardinal Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, was presenting a new Vatican instruction, "Redemptionis Sacramentum" (The Sacrament of Redemption), aimed at ensuring the proper celebration and reception of the Eucharist.
Bishop Gregory noted that the prefect's comments extended to U.S. politicians and said: "Cardinal Arinze stated it is the responsibility of the bishops of the United States to deal pastorally with such situations as they exist here."
"Each diocesan bishop has the right and duty to address such issues of serious pastoral concern as he judges best in his local church, in accord with pastoral and canonical norms," Bishop Gregory said.
"To assist us in our common discernment, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has established a task force to discuss issues with regard to the participation of Catholics in political life, including reception of the sacraments, in the cases of those whose political advocacy is in direct contradiction to Church teaching," he said.
"The establishment of this task force is a clear sign of the seriousness with which we take these issues and continue to consider how best to interpret and apply the norms of the Church in their regard," said the bishop of Belleville, Illinois.
He added: "It has always been our hope and expectation as bishops that men and women in political life, whatever their religious convictions, would be guided by and live out the truth of the faith given them by God with integrity."
Bishop-speak for..."We aint doin nuttin".
The Bishops in this country and around the world have lost their spine. In the process, they have forsaken the truth for worldly matters.
Deacon Francis
PS: I wrote to my own boss and told him I would be sending my Catholic Charities donation to the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign because they are doing a better job of fighting the abomination of abortion in the country than the USCCB is.
It would be very helpful if you would cut and paste a quote or two from whatever post you're reading so that I would have something for reference.
Your assertion Hmm, I guess Canon Law, Catholic Doctrine, Papal action, objective mortality ect are contrary to the common good then is, of course, in reference to something you think I said.
I would have to answer no to your assertion, but I don't have the context to help understand why you're making the assertion.
Refusing to act due to fear of being judged as having acted politically is a singularly political act.
IMO, they refuse to act because they are riven with fear of "offending" the political class/government from whom they derive so much of their money.
Offending God, the Vicar of Christ, Christian Doctrine, Canon Law, Objective morality, Truth, Common Sense etc appears to be a "safer" course of inaction.
Ergo, "Task Force"
I know. I never said otherwise.
Masons came up because Howling is obsessed with Masons, and introduces them into a discussion about Skull and Bones, as if there was some equivalency.
It's like comparing a fraternity to the Communist Party.
Immigration policy with Mexico.
Campaign Finance Reform.
I don't oppose the Pope on doctrine.
(A): According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward and punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiative and burial rites" (vol. 6, p 137). Freemasonry in the United States is more or less a social gathering, however, there is a still a threat because it promotes a faith other than the orthodox Christianity. Most Masons are Christians and they display a Bible on their altar, however, all religious denominations (including non-Christian) are invited to join and may bring their own sacred scriptures.
(Q): What is the Catholic Church's official position on Freemasonry? Are Catholics free to become Freemasons?
(A): In 1983, Canon 1374 clarified the misunderstandings that were presented with Vatican II. The Canon states that a person who joins an association that plots against the church is to be punished with an interdict (excommunication).
Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith issued a new declaration following this announcement of the new Code. The new Canon 1374 has the same essential import as the old Canon 2335, and the fact that the "Masonic sect" is no longer explicitly named is irrelevant;
The Church's negative judgment on Masonry remains unchanged, because the Masonic principles are irreconcilable with the Church's teaching ("earum principia semper iconciliabilia habita sunt cum Ecclesiae doctrina" )
Catholics who join the Masons are in the state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion and, No local ecclesiastical authority has competence to derogate from these judgments of the Sacred Congregation. ("Quaesitum est," AAS 76 (1984) 300. (From No. 553, pp. 482-87)
CLARIFICATION CONCERNING STATUS OF CATHOLICS BECOMING FREEMASONS Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
On 19, July 1974 this Congregation wrote to some of the Episcopal Conferences a private letter concerning the interpretation of canon 2335 of the Code of Canon Law which forbids Catholics, under the penalty of excommunication, to enroll in Masonic or other similar associations.
Since the said letter has become public and has given rise to erroneous and tendentious interpretations, this Congregation, without prejudice to the eventual norms of the new Code, issues the following confirmation and clarification:
the present canonical discipline remains in full force and has not been modified in any way; consequently, neither the excommunication nor the other penalties envisaged have been abrogated; what was said in the aforesaid letter as regards the interpretation to be given to the canon in question should be understood--as the Congregation intended-merely as a reminder of the general principles of interpretation of penal laws for the solution of the cases of individual persons which may be submitted to the judgment of ordinaries. It was not, however, the intention of the Congregation to permit Episcopal Conferences to issue public pronouncements by way of a judgment of a general character on the nature of Masonic associations, which would imply a derogation from the aforesaid norms.
(Rome, from the Office of the S. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 17 February 1981
Deacon, why don't you know this?
I don't know what your point is.
I suspect the bishops will do nothing if left alone.
Do you oppose the death penalty, narses?
What about the Iraq War? If the Pope had had his way, Hussein would still be stuffing his own people into shredders.
It's not disobedience if it's "allowable", is it?
Other than that, I guess he is ok...
Can. 273 Clerics have a special obligation to show reverence and obedience to the Supreme Pontiff and to their own Ordinary.
. Can. 275 §1 Since all clerics are working for the same purpose, namely the building up of the body of Christ, they are to be united with one another in the bond of brotherhood and prayer. They are to seek to cooperate with one another, in accordance with the provisions of particular law.
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