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48 House Catholics send warning to Bishops
MSNBC ^ | May 20, 2004 | Alan Cooperman

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 ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Connecticut; US: District of Columbia; US: Massachusetts; US: Ohio; US: Pennsylvania; US: Rhode Island; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: catholiclist; catholicpoliticians; kerry; politicalextortion
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1 posted on 05/20/2004 6:19:25 AM PDT by NYer
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To: NYer

Politics is not superior to religion. The sooner the political hacks learn that the better.


2 posted on 05/20/2004 6:20:48 AM PDT by Bikers4Bush (Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for conservatives!)
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To: NYer
Looks like a threat to me. The Dems say to the Catholic Church "back off or we'll villify you in the press and take away your funding."

I say "how is that any different than what you attempt to do everyday...right now.?"

3 posted on 05/20/2004 6:21:16 AM PDT by Solson (Social wisdom comes from the knowledge of dead ages. - Russell Kirk)
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To: *Catholic_list; american colleen; sinkspur; Lady In Blue; Salvation; Polycarp IV; narses; ...
The battle lines are drawn!

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list


4 posted on 05/20/2004 6:21:49 AM PDT by NYer (Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light! (2Cor 11:14))
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To: NYer

A church has to stand on the Bible. Let's see if this one goes ahead with this or bend to financial blackmail by politicians. Even money here.


5 posted on 05/20/2004 6:22:05 AM PDT by vandykelastone (Nuts to Governor Goober: let's get serious now!)
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To: NYer
all Democrats

That says it all. Members of your friendly local Domestic Death Cult.

6 posted on 05/20/2004 6:24:05 AM PDT by katana
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To: NYer

Whoa, what happened to separation of church and state. Politicians threatening religious leaders. Now maybe the leftie Catholics will get it. Christians are #1 on the extermination list.


7 posted on 05/20/2004 6:24:51 AM PDT by marty60
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: NYer

Not surprising. Dems demanding no consequences for their actions.


9 posted on 05/20/2004 6:26:00 AM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (John Kerry: What we have here is a failure to excommunicate.)
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To: NYer

boy! talk about chutzpah! wave a red flag in front of a bull why doncha?
Actually they WANT to be excommunicated - that way they can claim to be victimized by the abusive church for standing up for their values. clever, huh?
except they forgot what it is all about - God.


10 posted on 05/20/2004 6:27:19 AM PDT by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it with something for you))
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To: NYer
When a politician stands up and announces his religion then he is expected to adhere to the main tenets of that religion.

Politicians exploit their religious afilliation and now want the privilege of that exploitation without any consequences......how typical.

11 posted on 05/20/2004 6:27:36 AM PDT by OldFriend (LOSERS quit when they are tired/WINNERS quit when they have won)
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To: sartorius

DEMWITS ARE GOING TO GET THERE BUTTS WHIPED AGAIN.


12 posted on 05/20/2004 6:29:03 AM PDT by jocko12
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To: NYer
"while I agree with [the bishops] on the pro-life issue, I don't agree with them on denying Communion to those who in good conscience have come to a different position".

Any honorable person whose views were in fundamental disagreement with a tenet of any church would look for a different place to worship. "Honorable Democrat" being an oxymoron, there doesn't seem to be much chance of that happening. Also, this statement coming from a supposedly pro-life Republican demonstrates why that part of the congressional herd also needs culling.

13 posted on 05/20/2004 6:31:08 AM PDT by katana
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To: NYer
""For many years Catholics were denied public office by voters who feared that they would take direction from the Pope," they wrote. "

Well, to these vile people, holding public office trumps having a life, in more ways than one.

14 posted on 05/20/2004 6:32:29 AM PDT by Enterprise
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To: NYer

Looks like the Roman Catholics need a "here I stand" moment.


15 posted on 05/20/2004 6:33:39 AM PDT by aardvark1 (You can't have everything...where would you put it? --Steven Wright)
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: NYer
The letter questioned how the bishops could limit the denial of Communion to abortion, noting that Pope John Paul II and many U.S. bishops have condemned the death penalty and the war in Iraq.

Real Catholics, unlike these Rat CINOs, know the difference between doctrine and opinion.

18 posted on 05/20/2004 6:37:07 AM PDT by Know your rights (The modern enlightened liberal doesn't care what you believe as long as you don't really believe it.)
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To: NYer

"The letter's signers, all Democrats, include at least three House members with strong antiabortion voting records."

Surprise, surprise. These mendacious hypocrits want to belong to an organization, reap the positive political benefits of the same and then ignore the rules.

As Catholics, they should know the Catholic Church is not now, nor ever was, a Democracy. The Pope and the College of Cardinals make the rules, not a pack of prostituting politicians whose only moral compass is the way the political wind happens to be blowing in their respective districts.

Any Catholic Priest or Bishop who performs a marriage for a divorced Catholic Politician, or who gives communion to a Catholic politician who supports abortion, is violating his office and jeopardizing his soul - according to Catholic dogma, regardless of how leftist prelates like Bishop Rodimer the liberal of New Jersey may care to present it.

Perhaps these people should be honest with themelves and become say, Episcopalians, or Unitarians. I think they would find the political views of a substantial number of members of those churches more in keeping with the total absence of moral clarity on their own parts.


19 posted on 05/20/2004 6:37:46 AM PDT by ZULU
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To: NYer

So now the supreme court has more power than God?


20 posted on 05/20/2004 6:37:46 AM PDT by Sunshine Sister
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