Posted on 05/20/2004 6:19:23 AM PDT by NYer
Edited on 05/20/2004 8:46:00 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Forty-eight Roman Catholic members of Congress have warned in a letter to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington that U.S. bishops will revive anti-Catholic bigotry and severely harm the church if they deny Communion to politicians who support abortion rights.The letter's signers, all Democrats, include at least three House members with strong antiabortion voting records.
"For many years Catholics were denied public office by voters who feared that they would take direction from the Pope," they wrote. ". . . While that type of paranoid anti-Catholicism seems to be a thing of the past, attempts by Church leaders today to influence votes by the threat of withholding a sacrament will revive latent anti-Catholic prejudice, which so many of us have worked so hard to overcome."
The three-page letter, dated May 10, was sent to McCarrick because he heads a task force of U.S. bishops that is considering whether, and how, the church should take action against Catholic politicians whose public positions are at odds with Catholic doctrine.
McCarrick's spokesman, Susan Gibbs, said he would not comment on the letter. She said the seven-member task force is "listening to many different voices" and will grant the 48 House members' request for a meeting. "They will be heard. It just hasn't been arranged yet," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
"I don't agree with them on denying Communion to those who in good conscience have come to a different position. . . . "
I suppose as long as it is in 'good conscience,' they can come to any position they want and that will be okay. Maybe they think they need to off granny since she's too hardto take care of and she's senile now and no money to put her in a nursing facility. I could come up with some other scenarios too. Apparently, the old conscience is the ultimate authority for these people. I wonder what they do with the consciences of those people like Manson, Gacy, and so on.
All Democrats who signed this crap.
CINOs.
Lightening strike warning!
This is simple. Assume The Catholic Church is the PGA Tour. It has rules. If you want to be in the PGA you follow the rules. If you think you can bend or avoid a rule you will be penalized for doing so. If you evade the penalty you will be disqualified. If you continue to to this you will be banned. Don't like that? Start your own golf league.
Translation:
Don't mess with abortionists or we will come after the Church. We will even go as far as spreading anti-Catholic bigotry to our special interest groups. It will be all out war.
(A) Being dam* hypocrites - whining about separationg of church as state, and that they can be good Catholics and vote for abortion which is a terrible sin and evil, and
(B) Try to order representatives of the Church around as though they had some authority over them.
(C) Shades of what led to the trials at Nuremberg:
Noting that the Supreme Court has ruled that women have a constitutional right to choose an abortion, they said that members of Congress "who vote for legislation consistent with that mandate are not acting contrary to our positions as faithful members of the Catholic Church. We also do not believe that it is the obligation of legislators to prohibit all conduct which we may, as a matter of personal morality, believe is wrong."
"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"
SUre would like to see the list of signatories, which AP seems to have left out of its article.
You seem to mean well. You have your faith. We have ours. Adequately catechized Catholics are not about to abandon the true Faith of all of our fathers, as embodied by the Roman Catholic Church, founded and guaranteed by Jesus Christ Himself for YOPIOS. Luther chose not to continue in the Faith. He has nothing to say to those from whom he fled.
Let us join on those things upon which we agree and agree to leave one another alone on the few matters that separate us.
Good fences still make good neighbors.
"I've had some threaten not to give Communion to me, even though they don't know my position, just because I'm a Democrat," he said. "I've had cardinals refuse to shake my hand because I'm a Democrat, and then somebody whispers to them that, 'No, no, he's a good guy.' "
This is the mess the bishops are making. They assume that every Catholic Democrat is pro-choice.
Is a Democrat pro-life politician sinning by belonging to a party that clearly supports abortion?
I couldn't agree more. BUT, the lines are being drawn (by GOD?) and all will be known to HIM.
Leftists are entering the "foot-stamping" stage with the church.
You really do want a sympathy vote for the Democrats, don't you?
Exactly. A line in the sand. And many of them are posers anyway, CINO's who politicize Catholicism when they use it as a means to better themselves in some way, usually votes or money, all the while falsely claiming that's what the Church is doing to them.
Rosa DeLauro represents the district I lived in when I resided in Connecticut. Trust me. Don't be fooled by the vowel at the end of her name. If Rosa were honest, she would admit her atheism, among other things. She is a former executive director of the notorious Emily's List and as vile a person as you will ever hope not to meet.
The picture that comes to mind is a big creek flowing down, with a good sized rock in the middle. The water naturally has to get divided to one side or the other.
Of course, water isn't conscious and doesn't decide which way to go, it's just forced by the pressure of the stream.
But the gross immorality and evil which is becoming more and more glaring and sharp is causing people to have to make a choice whether they're for it or against it.
People who think they can just not make a choice and still be on the side of God and going to find themselves in the dark, since it's the default mode. One has to consciously make a choice to be in the light of truth and God to be on that side.
Not choosing is choosing, since the atmosphere of the world is dark.
What's ironic to me is that these same CINO Democrats have always supported abortion and that the Bishops are just now waking up to the fact.
Yes.
I can't say what I feel like saying, but this is war. Actually, the war has been on since 1973. It's time to acknowledge that fact and engage the enemy.
I'm wondering if I need to make my opinion heard at my local PA rep's offices!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.