JOHN KERRY, Kennedy, Harkin, Cuomo, Collins, Denounced for Heresy

SEN. JOHN KERRY “EXCOMMUNICATED,” ACCORDING TO VATICAN RESPONSE Kennedy, Harkin, Cuomo, Collins Denounced for Heresy

SANTA MONICA, CA – A Los Angeles based expert in Canon Law, the legal code used by the Roman Catholic Church, announced Friday on EWTN's the World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo that an important Vatican congregation has given an unprecedented boost to his case for heresy against presidential candidate John Kerry. Marc Balestrieri, JCL who has filed a formal case for Heresy against Kerry for his support of the right to abortion, revealed that he has received a written response prompted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, affirming that Catholic politicians who persist in supporting the right to abortion are “automatically excommunicated.”

Mr. Balestrieri, Director of De Fide, said the Response was written by the Reverend Fr. Basil Cole, O.P., an expert theologian based in Washington D.C., who was delegated by the Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Very Rev. Fr. Augustine di Noia, O.P., to formally respond. As a result, the Response has encouraged him to expand his complaint to include four more pro-abortion Catholic politicians, both Democrat and Republican.

“I went to Rome in person to submit two critical questions to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith,” said Balestrieri. “The first: Whether or not the Church’s teaching condemning any direct abortion is a dogma of Divine and Catholic Faith, with the denial or doubt of that dogma constituting heresy. The second: Whether or not the Church’s teaching condemning every right to abortion is a dogma of Divine and Catholic Faith, with the opposite error to that dogma heresy.”

In a four-page letter now posted at www.defide.com, Fr. Cole responded ‘Affirmative’ on both counts.

The Response is significant in that it represents the first time in modern history since Roe v. Wade in 1973 that such a clear reply is given to the Catholic faithful. Drafted under the auspices of the official Vatican Congregation with competency to decide doctrinal questions, it is entirely unambiguous and concludes:

“Consequently, if a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Can. 751 of the Code. Provided that the presumptions of knowledge of the law and penalty (Can. 15, § 2) and imputability (Can. 1321, § 3) are not rebutted in the external forum, one is automatically excommunicated according to Can. 1364, § 1.”

Mr. Balestrieri, a political independent, has repeatedly declared that his actions come to defend the Faith and Holy Eucharist from sacrilege and scandal, not as one focused on an electoral outcome. Catholics confess to the real presence—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of God Himself—in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. “As early as today, Sen. Kerry, and all pro-choice Catholic politicians, who publicly call themselves Catholic yet who blatantly violate Canon Law by continuing to profess Heresy and receive Holy Communion, must publicly reject their abortion advocacy for the sake of their own souls, and the others they have scandalized. They have been excommunicated.”

Balestrieri went to Rome in late August and met with a dozen experts, all of whom confirmed the threefold unprecedented nature and scope of his canonical action in Church history: that it is a formal complaint for reparation for harm due to heresy; that this is analogous to a Common Law class action; and that the complaint was initiated by a layman. (In the past such actions regarding heresy would have been handled by the "Holy Office" vertically downwards, and would never have reached this point.)

Lacking guidance from the Vatican, he sought an appointment and was received by an official of the Congregation in its halls in Rome. On September 9th, less than ten days later, the Rev. Basil Cole, O.P., contacted Balestrieri to inform him of his delegation to answer the two questions. Three days later, the written Response was issued.

The Response states that any Catholic who denies or doubts the two main conclusions, after knowing of their existence, commits Heresy. The Response holds that the dogmatic force of the two propositions is “manifest,” a term not lightly used by any theologian. This means that one is dealing here not with a matter of a theologian’s personal opinion, but with two core non-negotiable Articles of Faith. The Response, therefore, is “official” and binding in that it simply restates infallible teachings of the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium, already stated unequivocally by Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the CDF, and Tarcisio Bertone, then secretary of the CDF, in their own commentaries to the Professio Fidei of 1998. Hence the Response’s rapid and forceful content.

The often cited "Cuomo" defense, “I am personally opposed but I support the right to choose” has now been cut in half: A pro-choice Catholic politician who says that he is “personally opposed” to the ACT of abortion itself still commits Heresy by publicly supporting the civil RIGHT to choose abortion.

The fact that the Response was provided to a layman at the request of the Undersecretary, in writing, and in only eleven days is considered unique by numerous Bishops familiar with the matter. The extensive detail of the response, decisively clarifying the matter was unexpected. Normally, only a bishop may request such clarification of doctrine from the CDF and receive an official reply. Such responses usually take a much longer time to be received, and they are rarely made public.

Balestrieri also announced that the Denunciation for Heresy, a kind of lawsuit under the Catholic Church's Canon Law, filed against Senator Kerry is now pending before Kerry's bishop, Archbishop Sean O’Malley of Boston, according to the head of the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Boston whom Balestrieri met with in person at the offices of the Metropolitan Tribunal at the end of July. The judge told him explicitly twice that the case had not been rejected, and that it was “now in the hands of the Archbishop.” At the same time, Balestrieri was informed that the Tribunal simply did not have enough time to properly handle the sheer number (thousands upon thousands) of Denunciations and Complaints from ordinary Catholics that have poured in by certified mail. He also clarified that the Archbishop had not yet decided whether to instruct the Promoter of Justice, whose job is similar to that of a prosecutor, to formally charge Kerry with Heresy or any of the five other ecclesiastical violations Balestrieri had denounced him for.

Balestrieri is asking all individuals and groups seeking to join his canonical actions, as a result of the Tribunal’s hesitation in handling the cases, for all future denunciations and complaints to be sent to Archbishop Sean O’Malley directly, in accordance with instructions which he will be sending out over the next few days, as posted on the DeFide.com website and sent to the thousands of supporters by e-mail.

With account taken of the developments and advice received while in Rome, Balestrieri has now decided he is able to broaden the actions he has filed to include other notoriously pro-abortion Catholic politicians of both the Republican and Democrat parties. Apart from amending his Denunciation and Complaint against Sen. Kerry to include the Response, four additional Denunciations and Complaints have been filed against Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts; Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa; Mr. Mario Cuomo (D), former Governor of New York; and Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine. They have been filed today in the five Ecclesiastical Courts of the five separate Dioceses of Boston (MA), Fall River (MA), Des Moines (IA), New York (NY), and Portland (ME). Balestrieri said the four have been chosen based on their consistent, extensive, and public pro-abortion records.

Balestrieri has appealed for the thousands of joinders to be vigilant for procedural updates and specific canonical instructions which he is sending out this week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marc Balestrieri – (310) 917-2719 Total of (3) pages Website: www.defide.com E-Mail: news@defide.com

LOS ANGELES, CA – An international non-profit association, De Fide (“of the Faith”) announced Thursday that its Director, Marc Balestrieri, J.C.L. has filed a Dual class-action Denunciation and Criminal lawsuit at Canon Law for the crime of Heresy against presidential candidate Senator John F. Kerry. The action, normally under the highest procedural secrecy, was filed before the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdiocese of Boston headed by Archbishop Sean O’Malley on 14 June 2004.

Five other criminal counts are alleged in the Denunciation and Criminal Complaint: Diabolical Scandal Leading to Heresy; Formal and Immediate Cooperation in Heresy; Sacrilegious Abjection of the Holy Eucharist; Diabolical Scandal Leading to Murder; and Grave Harm to Public Morals and Contempt for the Faith and Ecclesiastical Authority.

The charges alleged are extremely grave, account taken of the fact that the Code of Canon Law provides for automatic latae sententiae Excommunication in the case of two of the six crimes alleged: Heresy under Can. 1364-1 CIC, and Abjection of the Sacred Species (Holy Communion) under Can. 1367.

The alleged Heresy is the “Right-to-Murder” doctrine directly contained in the “pro-choice” position supporting abortion rights. The Catholic Church considers all direct and voluntary abortions as simply another form of murder, condemned by the Fifth Commandment. It is the professional opinion of DE FIDE, based on 2,000 years of constant Christian teaching, most recently encapsulated in Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Evangelium Vitae of 1995, that the doctrine promoting the right to directly procured abortion is a heresy in every canonical and theological sense of the term.

The suit comes less than two weeks after the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops formally warned Catholic politicians who support abortion rights to refrain from receiving Holy Communion. The Bishops’ statement, however, stopped short of ordering Catholic bishops and priests to deny Communion, leaving the decision to withhold the Sacrament a matter of personal choice for each Bishop and his diocese.

The case is unprecedented in the history of the American Roman Catholic Church in three ways:

First, it is a lawsuit for Heresy, a public Ecclesiastical crime under Cc. 751 and 1364 of the Code of Canon Law. Moreover, never have the five other crimes alleged in the Complaint, especially Sacrilegious Abjection of the Sacred Species carrying the penalty of Excommunication reserved to the Holy Father, ever been adjudicated before.

Second, it is a Class-Action Criminal lawsuit. Never has a complaint been filed specifically alleging an aggrieved class, either acting in principal position, or as third-party joinders. The notoriety of Defendant’s actions easily support such a class. Canons 128, 1596, and 1729 of the Code permit an unlimited number of third-party aggrieved joinders to attach themselves to the complaint.

Third, it is a Dual-Denunciation for Heresy and Criminal Complaint for Heresy, not just a denunciation, which has never been done before, to the knowledge of experts, anywhere in the world, in living memory, in a vertical movement proceeding from the laity. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith is usually the entity which investigates and tries suspected heretics. As stated by the Rev. Arthur Espelage of the Canon Law Society of America, this case is “truly unique…a nuclear missile.” Cfr. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040630-111108-2541r.htm

Mr. Balestrieri decided to publicize the suit after having waited to see the statements and results of the Bishops assembled in conference in Englewood, Colorado. A graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, the oldest of Jesuit universities founded in 1551, he is fluent in five languages. He has practiced Canon Law both part-time and full-time for ten years. He currently is serving as a Defender of the Bond, Associate Judge, and Advocate for his home Tribunal.

Although some practitioners of Canon Law have stated that the Archbishop in the instant case has no obligation to prosecute the Defendant as a result of a mere denunciation being filed, after reviewing the Complaint, the same practitioners agree with DE FIDE that as this Denunciation has been filed simultaneously with a Bill of Complaint for the Repairing of Harm, the Archdiocese of Boston, or the Vatican, does have an obligation in justice and at Canon Law to decide the case. The Judge, once having received the libellus litis with a “semblance of the truth” of the facts alleged in the case, must proceed either by 1) judicial trial, or 2) extra-judicial decree.

The Plaintiff decided to risk his career and reputation for the sake of doing what he thought was an obligation and duty in conscience to defend the Faith and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist from attack and sacrilege, no matter what the cost. This decision was directly based upon three considerations:

First, the binding teaching of the Instruction of the Vatican on the Holy Eucharist, Redemptionis Sacramentum, promulgated this year: Article 183. Let everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be defended from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected. This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and every one, and all are bound to carry it out, etc.

Second, the grave lack of disciplinary measures mandated by Canon Law not being enforced by various Bishops vis-à-vis openly defiant Catholic politicians, in the instant case, Defendant John F. Kerry.

Third, in the most grave matters of a Life-Threatening Heresy promoting the “Right-to-Choose” Abortive Murder, and continuous Sacrilegious and Contemptuous reception of Holy Communion, the faithful are compelled to take action if their Pastors won’t.

Please find attached a PDF version of the Complaint, which may also be downloaded at www.defide.com

Welcome to De Fide

DE FIDE aims to stop the monumental scandal which has been ongoing for the past thirty-one years of baptized Catholic politicians claiming to be Christian while professing the life-threatening Right-to-Murder heresy.

The crisis is outrageous - it is completely unacceptable - it must be stopped. Otherwise, we, and our children, and our children's children stand more to lose than simply our lives: We risk losing our salvation.

Now if we can get these "Girlie Men" Pastors of Protestant Churches to get some backbone and do the same thing, declaring Kerry & Edwards heretics, blasphemers, and Lawrence O'Donnell an anti-chrisitian and anti-God bigot. So far their absolute silence is deafening, and then we wonder why God doesn't answer our prayers. God doesn't answer "girlie men" prayers because they have no faith that what they're asking for will be granted. It's a "I hope, I hope, I hope" prayer.

Apparently, a very intelligent and determined layman has gotten done what no cleric has yet gotten done. He received a statement from the Official Teaching Church that says that to teach that being prochoice is OK for a Catholic is in fact to commit heresy. And in teaching such or promoting such an idea (that prochoice is all right) one is automatically excommunicated because he is promoting heresy. Im short, from all appearances, John Kerry, and many other Catholics are heretics in fact.

The Response goes even further in specifying that any baptized Catholic who publicly states, “I’m personally opposed, but I support a woman’s right to choose,” is in fact presumed by Canon Law to be guilty of heresy, with the burden of proving that he is not shifted to the violating politician. A Catholic who publicly professes the right to choose heresy is automatically excommunicated, not by any declaration of the Church per se, but by the acts committed by the individual, and thus being in a state of mortal sin is ineligible to receive any of the Sacraments of the Church, including reception of the Eucharist, marriage, absolution from sin, and even Christian burial until the error is recanted and excommunication is lifted.

This is about as clear as one can make it without being too trite for this important matter IMHO.

This statement coming from the Vatican has given the litigant hope for continuing to press his case that John kerry be specifically named as heretical. Thus, as he is presumed to be an intelligent Catholic who understands his faith, but now manifestly rejects it, HE WILL BE CONDEMNED TO HELL IF HE PERSISTS IN THIS STATE.

In an earlier thread I was dismissing this report. But on closer reading, and recalling that there are more dogmas than those spoken "ex-cathedra", this may be a very legitimate and LANDMARK development on the issue.

If it is series, it is HUGH!

I'm just glad to see the Vatican finally getting reacquainted with their collective backbone and publicly stating that "Catholic" public figures are in deep doo-doo if they publicly speak out for something that is sinful in the eyes of G-d and Church teachings.

Now, if our American bishops can find their spines...

I'm not sure which "protestant" churches you are referencing, but the ones that are growing are those that teach the fundamental truths of the Bible. Those that have chosen a different course, tend to find their numbers decrease. These churches that refuse to adapt to popular culture's sense of morality are also the ones spearheading the grassroots support for the President in the Christian community.

They aren't labeling K&E by name, that is unnecessary.

They are instead preaching our need to be active in our communities and government, and to lead a moral life according to God's teachings. The values we should advance are be noted, all this without having to name the candidate worthy of our support. We can deduce that on our own, without having one of the candidates' character shredded.

Evangelicals and Fundamentalists are finding their voice, and have been the last few years. TPOTC was an inkling of the growing movement with the Christian community as a whole.

The Senator is, infact, in need of prayer since I conclude from his words and actions he has never known the Lord intimately.

To the news of ex-communication, I am not Catholic. I do believe by not applying consequence, the Catholic Church has become weakened and its members harmed in the process. I do cautiously embrace news that the Church is desirous of taking itself seriously again, but I hope this should hold true for all catholics. I am not in favor of signaling one out, without consequence to all. There are many catholics on all aisles of the political spectrum I would suspect deserve ranking on this list.

Marc Balestrieri, JCL who has filed a formal case for Heresy against Kerry for his support of the right to abortion, revealed that he has received a written response prompted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...

Otherwise known as the Holy Office of the Univeral Roman INQUISITION.

In some cases, the church leaders are afraid of losing their tax exempt status. They shouldn't be though...because so many other charities would also go down they wouldn't want that. In other cases, it's because of the infiltration of the "progressive" church members. And they function in that "new morality."

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