Posted on 05/07/2004 8:09:59 PM PDT by Coleus
Abortion Foes Target Cardinal McCarrick
Abortion Foes Target Cardinal McCarrick |
| Friday May 07, 2004 3:16pm
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American Life League Targets 'Pro-abortion' Cardinal McCarrick American Life League, an outspoken opponent of abortion, has started an advertising campaign targeting Cardinal Theodore McCarrick over his reluctance to deny Communion to Roman Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. The print ads note a statement by McCarrick to The Associated Press: "I have not gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable in denying the Eucharist." The league's ads say in reply, "You can't be both Catholic and pro-abortion!" McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., is chairman of a panel of the American hierarchy that is considering whether bishops should settle on uniform church sanctions against U.S. Catholic politicians who champion abortion rights. It's not clear whether any action would be taken before Election Day. Several U.S. bishops have said officeholders with such views should not receive Communion. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis said he personally would refuse the sacrament to Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry, who supports abortion rights. The league, based in Stafford, Va., says in its ad that McCarrick spoke "despite the counsel of both Christ and the Holy Father." It quotes Pope John Paul II from 2003 saying bishops should deny Communion to Catholics who demonstrate "outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm." Formal Vatican pronouncements last year specified Catholic politicians' duty to uphold church teaching as they set policy on matters such as abortion and preventing the legalization of same-sex unions. The League's ad ran Thursday in the Washington Times and is scheduled to run in the next editions of The Wanderer, a Catholic weekly, Human Events magazine and a second time in the Washington Times. The league's media director, Joseph Giganti, said a series of six to eight ads would run in coming months, not necessarily criticizing McCarrick by name but "calling on bishops to use the authority they've been invested with" to bar Communion. McCarrick is at meetings in Rome, and his spokeswoman said he would issue no comment on the ad campaign. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
The REAL Story on John Kerry: A Special Investigation – Click Here
This full page ad appears in today's Washington Times
ROME -- Roman Catholic politicians who advocate policies contrary to church teaching on abortion and other issues may risk sanctions that fall short of denial of Holy Communion, the head of a U.S. bishops task force examining the problem said yesterday.
"I have not gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable in denying the Eucharist," Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in an interview yesterday.
The issue has come to the forefront with the emergence of Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, as Democratic presidential candidate.
Asked what sanctions the task force might recommend for politicians who stray from Catholic teachings, McCarrick said Catholic universities could deny honorary degrees, dioceses may withhold honors and Catholic institutions may not invite them to speak.
A top Vatican cardinal said Friday that priests may deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, but stopped short of saying whether it was right for Kerry to receive Communion.
The U.S. bishops announced in November that the task force was considering whether to recommend sanctions in guidelines on how prelates should respond to Catholic lawmakers who do not uphold church values in their work.
McCarrick said the task force has sounded out all U.S. bishops, is questioning bishops' conferences in other countries and is getting "guidance" from the Vatican.
"They (the Vatican) are saying, 'Look at the documents, the documents are very clear.' The documents tell us what a Catholic in public life should be," McCarrick said during the interview at the North American College, the American seminary in Rome.
"The Church has been very clear on these issues. The Church has said what one should expect from anyone in politics, especially one who is Catholic."
McCarrick is in Rome for a periodic visit all bishops make every five years.
The Washington archbishop, who met privately with Kerry on April 15, said he was not speaking specifically about Kerry. "It is not a question of Sen. Kerry, but of American Catholic politicians."
He said there probably would be "some sanctions. Whether the sanction of denying the Eucharist, that's a very important question."
There are differences in the U.S. church. Bishop Raymond Burke, the archbishop of St. Louis, has said he would refuse to give Kerry communion because of his support for abortion rights.
Kerry received Communion on Saturday at Boston's Paulist Center. The archdiocese of Boston "does not hold to the practice of publicly refusing Communion to anyone," said archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Christopher Coyne.
Special announcement from American Life League
Friday, May 7, 2004
American Life League president Judie Brown will be interviewed on CNBC's Capital Report tonight at 7 pm (EDT). The topic will be American Life League's current ad campaign. The most recent ad, viewable online, questions a statement from Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., who said, "I have not gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable in denying the Eucharist" to pro-abortion Catholics.
In addition, CBS News has interviewed Mrs. Brown concerning stem cell research and 4-D ultrasound. One of the interview segments is tentatively scheduled to air Sunday, May 9, on the CBS Evening News. Please check schedules for the time on your local CBS station.
Rock for Life is a project of American Life League.
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American Life League's Crusade for the Defense of our Catholic Church launched the first in a new multi-ad campaign that will engage members of the Catholic Church's hierarchy who have said they will not take steps to ensure that pro-abortion Catholic politicians are barred from receiving Holy Communion. The first ad comes in response to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's recent disclosure that despite clear indications from the Vatican that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be denied Communion, he had " not gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable in denying the Eucharist."
"For over 30 years pro-abortion Catholic politicians have not been held to account for voting and promoting the abhorrent act of destroying children in the womb, " said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "Pope John Paul II has made clear that 'in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm,' Catholics should not receive Holy Communion. Why, then, has Cardinal McCarrick declined to follow the pontiff's teaching in this critical matter? As a member of the Church hierarchy, the cardinal has the duty and obligation to protect the Eucharist from sacrilege. It is not a question of the cardinal feeling 'comfortable.' It is a question of doing what is right.
"When a pro-abortion public figure presents himself for Holy Communion, everyone in the Church knows that he is an advocate of a crime against God that should prohibit him from receiving the body and blood of Christ. There is no judgment involved; there is instead a public record that is not hidden, and in fact is often flaunted in the face of the Church, " said Brown.
"Cardinal McCarrick's comments have created confusion. They have also opened the door for other members of the hierarchy to feel at ease by voicing similar views. It does not take rocket science to figure out that a public figure who is supporting abortion is not in agreement with Church teaching and therefore should not receive Holy Eucharist."
Also:
Release issued: 6 May 04
Bravo! Very well said.
When asked to donate to the Catholic pro-life campaign, I voiced my support, but stopped short of actually giving them any money.
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