"Guess that means me, too. Oh, fiddlestix!"
Posted on 05/09/2007 9:33:25 AM PDT by marshmallow
May. 9, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Catholic politicians who vote for legal abortion are subject to excommunication, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told reporters during a May 9 flight from Rome to Brazil.
Fielding questions from reporters during the trip, the Holy Father was asked whether he supported the Mexican bishops who have announced the excommunication of politicians who voted to approve legalization of abortion in Mexico City. The Pontiff replied that he did.
"They did nothing new, nothing arbitrary or surprising," the Pope said of the Mexican bishops. "They simply announced to the public what is stipulated by the law of the Church."
Later the Vatican press director, Father Federico Lombardi, enlarged on the Pope's remarks during his own conversation with reporters. Father Lombardi pointed out to reporters that the Code of Canon Law provides the penalty of excommunication for anyone directly involved in abortion. That penalty would apply to politicians who support the legalization of abortion, he said.
The Vatican spokesman added that the excommunication in these cases is applied latae sententiae-- that is, automatically-- and does not require any public announcement. In making the penalty public, then, the Mexican bishops were only underlining the provisions of canon law.
I'd say they're on very shaky ground. By using their platform to publicly espouse the virtues of "choice" and the desirability of having abortion available to those who want it, and doing it repeatedly, they're essentially educating the public to accept the point of view that there is nothing wrong with abortion. In doing so, they're helping to change the climate with regard to the how the killing of unborn children is viewed and contributing to the quieting of consciences of those involved in this crime.
In that sense, I'd say they have definitely contributed to the procurement of abortions by confused and distressed young women who might otherwise have thought twice before committing this act, were it not for the vociferous championing of what they were about to do by so called "leaders".
They have blood on their hands.
I wouldn't think they would be, because a lot of the time your only choice is between 2 or more politicians who are pro-abortion. In that case, you'd vote for the lesser of two (or more) evils. Chances are one of the candidates isn't as gung ho about abortion as the others, such as wanting to allow some kinds of abortion but not have it be a free-for-all.
Well, well well, I hope the Bishops are listening.
Never having been excommunicated myself and never having known anyone who was I'm a bit confused here.Particularly with a prominent person like Kerry or Pelosi one would think that the local Bishop/Archbishop would send some kind of official notification.
IMO,a good way of telling is for Kerry,Pelosi or some other prominent "Catholic" to attend a Mass celebrated by a Bishop and attempt to receive Communion.If said Bishop refuses to give Communion to that person then one can reasonably assume that the person is,at the *very* least, under *some* kind of sanction/discipline by the Church.Otherwise,one could assume otherwise.
Again,I know nothing about the "mechanics" of excommunication.
Many people have been wondering why these politicians have such a Democrat Catholic following. Patrick Kennedy, Kathleen Townsend, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and a host of others are for abortions. The Pope ought to shake the trees and get rid of some of these 2 faced bishops kissing up to these politicians.
The Vatican has already commented that it is better for a Catholic to vote in an election where there is no pro-life candidate than to simply abstain from voting altogether.
THANK YOU, JESUS!
Any politician, Dem OR Republican, who supports abortion supports murder.
I only hope that the Pope condemns anyone who votes for these baby murderers.
Obviously this will be good for the Republican party. More Demonrats are pro choice than Republicans. Furthermore, any Republicans who support “choice” (I call it murder), need to go!
Thanks for the clarification.
“Are” ex-comunicated, or “would be” ex-communicated?
That might be a bit of a surprise to MANY democrats in the US if he actually threw them out: Pelosi, Kennedy, Biden, Kerry, ..... and about 15 others ALL USE the Catholic (pro-unioin, pro-poor, pro-UN) vote to stay in power.
It doesn’t matter who throws them out. According to Catholic doctrine, they are automatically excommunicated if they are pro abortion. But, it would be nice if some bishops would announce formally!
I agree. Are they really excommunicated, if no one tells them?
Are they still allowed to go to mass, and take communion?
If the pope is going to make a statement like that, it should be enforced.
Of course they are if they are not recognized by the mass celebrant. He then risks his own automatic excommunication if he knowingly permits them to partake in Holy Communion.
I’ve heard this kind of rhetoric from the Catholic Church before, and nothing happened to the politicians. It will only be when they actually DO something about it that they will earn my respect.
Are subject to excommunication. At this point, it seems like just another empty threat.
Stop threatening, Benedict,
just do it!
This is just a chicken exit for the Catholic Church - make it public, and make sure all Catholic Churches abide by the excommunication.
It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.See "rare" and "practically non-existent" both leave room for those extreme exceptions where it must unfortunately be applied in situations in defense of society. John Paul the Great then went on to write:
If such great care must be taken to respect every life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors, the commandment "You shall not kill" has absolute value when it refers to the innocent person. And all the more so in the case of weak and defenceless human beings, who find their ultimate defence against the arrogance and caprice of others only in the absolute binding force of God's commandment.See, here he uses the term "absolute" when dealing with innocent lives. Why would he have made such a distinction then if there weren't exceptions where the death penalty must unfortunately be applied? If anyone wants to read the actual text of what the Pope wrote, it can be found on the Vatican's website here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html
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