Some Dallas-Fort Worth Catholics irked by bishops' letter on abortion

Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard; and who can hear it?

But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who he was that would betray him.

And he said: Therefore did I say to you that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father.

After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.

For those who have had an abortion, there is good news. A message from the Late Pope John Paul II

www.catholicplanet.com Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life):

"I would like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly."

"If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitely lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord."

"With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life."

-- Pope John Paul II

The above is an excerpt from the Encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) 1995, #99

Why is it always so surprising to some Catholics that the Catholic Church does not support abortion, nor sin, as a general rule.

Time to issue the nuns some new rulers Fur Shur.

Or, are we looking at CINOs and not real Catholics at all?

Frankly, I don't believe you can legitimately call yourself a Christian and support abortion

“several people walked out of Dallas’ Holy Trinity Catholic Church”

Hope the door didn’t hit them in the ......

“That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.”

I think she gets it! Eureka

“As a Catholic, we’re taught about being independent moral agents with free will,” she said. “That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.”

PAPA BENEDICT XVI: "We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke"

Actually if the Bishops were more more successful in preaching their abortion concerns directly to women, there would be no need to convince politicians to pass laws. Heard anything about shack-jobs lately or the pill?

In a perfect world, the bishops would tell the priests to read a letter which said that voting for Obama was a mortal sin and not to receive communion if they do it. Yes, the IRS would come down on them but BRING IT ON!

Frankly, I don't believe you can legitimately call yourself a Christian and support abortion

Amen.

Matthew 25:33-46

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry and fed thee: thirsty and gave thee drink? Or when did we see thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison and came to thee? And the king answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger and you took me not in: naked and you covered me not: sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to thee? Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen: I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

“Ms. LeBlanc also said she felt the letter “has gone too far towards bringing political endorsements in the church, which is obviously not legal.”

I don’t know the woman, but my instinct says that if the letter from the Bishop talked about some “social justice” matter, she would have thought the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching was more inline with Obama than McCain - and she would not have felt an ounce of protest over it either.

So, does she really believe the Bishop “has gone too far towards bringing political endorsements in the church, which is obviously not legal”, or is she lying in that that principle - “political endorsements in the church” - is NOT her problem, just the particular endorsement she felt the Bishop was making?

Catholics need to wake up to what the church teachers. The cafeteria is closed!

enter the Table of Contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church here

1:

CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2271 (618 bytes ) preview document matches
1 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion,
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2271.htm

97%

2:

CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2272 (580 bytes ) preview document matches
2 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2272.htm

96%

3:

CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2322 (290 bytes ) preview document matches
2 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS 27 § 3),
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2322.htm

96%

4:

CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2274 (554 bytes ) preview document matches
gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2274.htm

I do believe we are witnessing the fruits of Pope Benedict's meeting with them earlier this year (with American Bishops). Following Vespers, he addressed all the bishops.

"Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel. "
FULL TEXT

Cardinal Ratzinger (now the Pope) wrote in his letter to Cardinal McCarrick back in 2004:

“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

Here are some other Bishops with spines: (I understand that this is only a partial list and that 58 or so have spoken out.

Updated: American Bishops who have spoken against Pelosi

Here is the complete list of American bishops who have responded to Nancy Pelosi's comments so far:

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver was the first American bishop to respond
... Bishop James Conley, his auxiliary, joined him
Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington DC responded twice, first in a press release and second in a statement to The Hill. He has also appeared on Fox News, I am told.
Cardinal Justin Regali of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued this statement through the USCCB website...
... Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, joined him
Cardinal Edward Egan of New York publised a strongly worded statement of his own
Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo issued a letter correcting Pelosi's claims
Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and...
... Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs have chimed-in
Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, CNA reports has added his voice ...
... Bishop Oscar Cantu, his auxiliary bishop, has joined him
Bishop William Murphy of Rockville has published an extensive letter
Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa has a detailed response
Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas has joined the USCCB's efforts
Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin is on-board
Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston mentions the USCCB on his blog
Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando has written at length
Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul/Minneapolis challenges Pelosi's statement
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, President of the US Bishops, has weighed-in
Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, OR publishes in the Catholic Sentinel
Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse, WI responds in a word document
Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland, OH will comment in his September 5th column (PDF)
Bishop Ralph Nickless of Sioux City, IA has one of the very best responses I've read
Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco has invited Pelosi to a "conversation"
Bishop Glen Provost, LA: "Catholic Church clear on when human life begins"
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn: "Judging the Candidates"

{Last updated on September 10th.}

Notes:

Previous #23 has been removed. Bishop Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, NC is actually the bishop emeritus, and the new bishop, Michael Burbidge has not, to my knowledge, made a personal statement.
Previous #16 has also been removed, it was an erroneous duplication of current #13.
#26 was added September 10th, although he published his column September 6th

Fantastic! I must add the Bishop (or is he the ArchB) from Kansas City who spoke out and tried to reason with our Governor here in Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius. Told her not to present herself in Communion in his diocese. I am so proud of him. He really ticked off the libs in KC

Amen!

“That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.”

A+ for reading comprehension, honey.

Hip hip hurray!

Fake Christian’s need to be called out.

Ping

Oh my, I’m so sorry she’s irked, the bishop should just say it is okay to murder and see how she likes that. Come on, if it is okay to murder innocent children then it should certainly be okay to kill sinners! Right?

As a Catholic, we’re taught about being independent moral agents with free will,”

I don't think so, our free will is involved until we choose the Catholic Church and then we promise to live by the teachings of the Magisterium. Her only choice now is to use her free will and join another church.