SHAME!
"They're flip-flopping like they did with "The Passion."
"
Who's flip-flopping? This is the first OFFICIAL statement from the Vatican on this issue. The other letter was most definitely UNOFFICIAL and carried no weight whatever.
The person who wrote the letter to De Fide was speaking unofficially, not as a spokesperson for the RCC. De Fide took it as an official response, or misled people into believing that it was official.
They've been slapped down by the Vatican. It's one more example of why these "news" stories from miscellaneous sites are so dangerous. Yet, they get posted, as this one did, multiple times on FR, then distributed widely in emails.
Some of us warned yesterday, when everyone was all worked up over this "excommunication," that it wasn't any sort of official announcement from the RCC, and that it was unlikely to happen.
That doesn't make us Kerry supporters. It just makes us concerned with truthful statements. This was a hoax, essentially. Now we have the real story, direct from the Vatican. There is no excommunication. There will be no excommunication.
Back to real reasons not to vote for Kerry, OK?
What flip flop? Father Augustine DiNoia is merely restating that the letter to Marc Balestrieri was unofficial.