"... and would love to receive it from a woman priest some day soon,"
Hit the road CINO.
Posted on 06/24/2004 12:37:11 PM PDT by madprof98
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lexington Bishop Ronald Gainer wants politicians who support abortion rights to voluntarily refrain from taking Communion in his diocese. But two politicians whose views on abortion are contrary to church teaching say they plan to continue taking the sacrament.
Gainer is the only Kentucky bishop so far to publicly question whether Catholic politicians who back abortion rights should receive Communion.
His admonition didn't change Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac's mind.
"I plan to continue taking Communion and would love to receive it from a woman priest some day soon," she said in a written statement.
State Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, also said the bishop's statement wouldn't keep him from taking the Eucharist. Scorsone said anti-abortion advocates don't have a monopoly on the faith.
"I certainly believe there are a lot of good American Catholics who believe in choice," he said. "I certainly believe in a woman's right to choose."
Bishops in a handful of U.S. dioceses recently asked Catholic leaders who support abortion rights to abstain from taking the sacraments. Gainer also wants them to voluntarily refrain from taking communion, said Lexington diocesan spokesman Tom Shaughnessy.
"A professing Catholic who has taken public stands against what the church teaches should disqualify himself or herself from receiving the Eucharist because they cannot receive in good faith," Shaughnessy told the Lexington Herald-Leader, quoting the bishop.
"Were there to be such a person under his pastoral care, (Gainer) would ask to meet them privately as a pastor and attempt to challenge them to change their public position before he would take any public action."
Elsewhere in the state, Owensboro Bishop John McRaith said in an interview that he hasn't told politicians that they should refrain from taking Communion if they support abortion rights.
"I think that's something that they really have to answer themselves," he said. "They know what the church law is, so they have to answer for that. They know what is expected of them."
In a statement released Wednesday, Louisville Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly said he would work to educate and "persuade all politicians about issues related to the sanctity of human life," but that he hoped "never to have to deny anyone Communion based upon a political viewpoint."
"I believe that it is the responsibility of persons receiving the body and blood of Christ to examine their consciences and come to a conclusion about their worthiness to receive Holy Communion," he said.
In the Lexington diocese, Gainer has been an outspoken critic of legalized abortion, even traveling by bus to Washington, D.C., to protest with fellow anti-abortion activists.
In a January column in the diocesan newsletter, Crossroads, he called on Catholics to promote "the Gospel of Life."
"I take this opportunity to warn Catholic politicians within this diocese who in their public careers choose to depart from church teaching regarding the inviolability of all human life," he wrote.
"They need to consider the consequences of their position for their own spiritual well-being, as well as the scandal they cause by leading others in serious moral danger."
Anti-abortion groups praised Gainer's opposition to abortion, and said he is right to discourage Catholic politicians who support abortion rights from taking Communion.
"This is long overdue," said Kentucky Right to Life executive director Margie Montgomery. "We've been saying for years that those who hold public office who are Catholic are a disgrace to the faith they profess to believe by having a pro-abortion stance and participating in the Holy Eucharist."
But Democratic state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian of Louisville, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, wonders why politicians are being singled out.
"I guess my question to the bishops is: 'Are the pedophile priests who are in prison receiving Communion?' I'd like to know," she said.
Marzian said it's "dangerous" for religious leaders to tell politicians how to vote, and it's wrong for them to withhold the sacraments to punish people.
"I go to Communion when I want to go, and no bishop, no pope, they're not going to keep me from my religion," she said.
It's disturbing to watch these Democrat monsters spit in the face of Christ, but it's even more disturbing to watch as the bishops of the Catholic Church invite this behavior.
So you're blaming the bishops for doing their job? Would you rather they just went along with abortion? Please clarify.
Since she obviously hates the Church, why doesn't she quit and found her own religion?
What if they had a religion and nobody came?
Yes. But, I think that God has a more severe penalty against these pro-death politicians than simply the denial of communion.
I used to wonder the same thing, but then I realized that one of the characteristics of leftists is that they think they know better than other people how others should live their lives. Hence, a leftist isn't content to simply go do their own thing while others do their's, but they want to get everyone else to conform to THEIR way of thinking and of viewing the world, because THEIR way is best.
Because the point is not to have a religion they are comfortable with, but to tear down Christianity. They need Christianity to cease to exist.
"... and would love to receive it from a woman priest some day soon,"
Hit the road CINO.
The Bishop needs to rise to the occasion. This is more than a 'bit wobbly' - so to speak.
You, my friend, have no idea what your religion is.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:26-30
So you're blaming the bishops for doing their job?
I think he's blaming the bishops who restrict themselves to the carrot when the stick is clearly what's needed.
That would make more sense.
Are they publicly supporting a "right" to pedophilia? Silly twit.
This is what you hope for as a Catholic. You are not given the Sacrament of Communion until age 7(usually) because the Catholic Church considers that the age of reason. In other words, you have a conscience and you know right from wrong and understand the consequences of the Ten Commandments and the violations of same. Obviously, these people do not have a conscience. Thou shall not commit murder is considered a pretty big Commandment to follow! LOL
This Protestant Christian is asking God to vindicate the courage of those Catholic bishops who are taking a stand. Paul said that the penalties for treating the Eucharist with contempt are pretty heavy -- "For this cause many are sick among you, and some have died." I think those pro-death folks are spitting in God's face. Now that their faithful bishops have given them fair warning, I expect obviously supernatural consequences to ensue.
They're not doing their job. They're talking out of both sides of their mouths, pretending (yet fooling nobody as they do) that the abortion-loving Dems haven't gotten the message about their favorite medical procedure, so perhaps with just a bit of instruction they'll realize they've been cheering on mass murder. It's dismaying at best and really, I think, scandalously dishonest.
You can't go to Confession and confess a sin knowing that you are going to go out and commit the same sin. I was taught that you have to be truly repentant for your sins and do everything in your power not to commit the sin again. These pseudo-Catholic politicians know this so actually their sin is worse -- they know exactly how they are going to vote again and again even while asking for forgiveness. As a Catholic you don't get to define your own definition of what a sin is (and, you all know who I'm referring to).
His admonition didn't change Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac's mind. "I plan to continue taking Communion and would love to receive it from a woman priest some day soon," she said in a written statement."Non serviam!"
Heretics all, whoever you may be,
In Tarbes or Nimes, or over the sea,
You never shall have good words from me.
Caritas non conturbat me.
-Hillaire Belloc
May they all burn in hell.
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