Posted on 05/24/2007 2:12:36 AM PDT by monomaniac
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Frances Kissling stepped down earlier this year as the head of what most Catholics consider a heretical organization. She resigned her position as the president of Catholics for a Free Choice, a leading abortion advocacy group, and now she's challenging the Catholic Church on excommunication.
The topic became the subject of international debate in recent weeks when Pope Benedict XVI spoke on it.
He told reporters on the way to rallies in Brazil that pro-abortion Catholics in Mexico City who had voted to legalize abortion there had excommunicated themselves by their actions.
Taking the pontiff head on, Kissling has written an article on the web site Salon challenging that notion and claiming that no one from the Catholic leadership has excommunicated her despite decades of promoting abortion worldwide.
"Catholic officials keep threatening to excommunicate pro-choice politicians and activists like me. I think they're bluffing, and canon law is on my side," Kissing says in the lead-in to the article.
"Right-wing Catholics have been pleading with the Vatican to excommunicate me along with Mario Cuomo, Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy and Ellie Smeal for about 20 years," Kissling explains.
"They frequently announce that I have excommunicated myself because of my pro-choice views, but as is true for 99.9 percent of pro-choice Catholics, no one who could actually excommunicate me has ever done so," she added.
Kissing writes that she hopes to be excommunicated so she can get a book contract and go on a speaking tour and make money from it.
Kissling started her abortion advocacy before the Supreme Court handed down Roe v. Wade and she directed one of the nation's first abortion businesses in New York City in 1970. She later went on to found and head the National Abortion Federation, a trade group for abortion centers.
But Kissling became the most well known for her time as the director of the "anti-Catholic" Catholic group and spearheaded a fight to get the Vatican kicked out of the United Nations.
Pinging a few interested parties. What she states is true.
She is already excommunicated, she just hasn’t been the subject of a formal declaration. Maybe what she means is that no priest has ever denied her Communion. I hope that’s not true; I hope that no priest has ever knowingly given Communion to this evil woman and no bishop has ever knowingly permitted his priests to give her Communion.
Kissing writes that she hopes to be excommunicated so she can get a book contract and go on a speaking tour and make money from it
That’s a stellar long term goal. Might want to think a bit further down the road.
If this woman read and understood scripture, she would know that she must and will judge herself if she can bring herself to look into the face of the Lord. She does know that it is wrong to murder the unborn. If she challenges God she has lost already. But on Earth she may find that her sins are not forgiven, but retained. Asking for a piece of paper is plain nonsense.
HE11 They gave Communion to the Predator Clinton! That made my blood boil!
That's because Frank has excommunicated her/him/itself latae sententiae. Once that occurs a ferendae sententiae excommunication is not necessary.
Can. 1398 A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.
2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"76 "by the very commission of the offense,"77 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.78 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy.
Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.
I am waiting for an activist judge to tell the Catholic Church that they can not excommunicate pro-choice (former) Catholics.
That was weird, particularly since he wasn’t (and isn’t) a Catholic. I remember reading about it, but I don’t remember what priest or bishop was involved.
Perhaps that’s what she’s saying; the Church states that she’s excommunicated yet they won’t formally declare it nor will they deny her communion. So then what is the value of excommunication?
She essentially is saying what I argued a week or so ago, that the Catholic Church, or any other church, hasn’t provided any leadership on the abortion issue.
What they are now doing is following the lead of their congregations on the abortion issue. Now that congregations have become vocal about abortion the church ‘leaders’ have suddenly found their voices and are rushing to the front of the line shouting loudly “what for me, I’m your leader!”
Many posters strongly disagreed with me, but I challenge those who do; Show me evidence of a church (not just Catholic) that denied communion, or excommunicated members, in the 70’s, 80’s, or even the 90’s for stands on abortion. You can’t, or at the most there were one or two isolated, strong churches.
Now that Pro-Life is all the vogue, suddenly we have ‘leaders’
So she wants to parley an excommunication into a book tour?That’s really spiritual of her.
So then what is the value of excommunication?
To protect the presidor of the Mass from being complicit in defiling sommunion.
The truth is that one Priest, Mohlomi Makobane, commited a grave sin in violation of Canon Law for giving Clinton Communion and he was disciplined for his mistake. Were it not for the outrage of the "they" you so casually mentioned in passing, Slick would have been given a pass.
sommunion = communion
Need coffee
It was in South Africa. They had a big picture showing the prez sticking his tongue out to receive the Host. Disgusting is the only word I can think of.
What was worse was all of the apologists in the Church making excuses for the abomination. There was a first round of Bishops stretching to make a case of as being no big deal. Then they had to face a very loud protest from the rank and file. I was ine who directly confronted my Parish Priest and the Bishop and challenged them to give me a lecture about “Cafeteria Catholics” when the Church can pick and choose what they want to enforce.
It was a pretty ugly scene all around. I took it as an example of the difference between the Church as it has evolved over 2,000 years and my faith and how the teachings of the Lord are still that and not what the Church Practices.
You should have heard my Pastor try to explain the fact that Teddy Kennedy has not been excommunicated but been granted an annulment. We went round and round on that one and he lost big time. My Church may be a joke, but my faith is not!
According to my interpretation of Excommunication , she can scream and shout and raise all the hell she wants. She will be dealt with when she dies , by the Big Man Himself.
Maybe she ought to give that a thought,while she runs around stirring the crap.
I’m glad you confronted him. Unless people speak up, the priests and bishops think they can get away with any kind of disobedience and misinterpretation they feel like. We have to keep them honest.
I suspect you could say the same about a Roman Catholic Church on Oral Contraception.
I suspect the Muslims in America would outnumber RC women of childbearing age who aren't "excommunicated."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.