Posted on 11/14/2008 5:11:41 AM PST by Kaslin
I want you to meet a priest from Greenville, South Carolina named Rev. Jay Scott Newman.
He is the pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Greenville.
And he has become my personal hero.
In a nutshell, Fr. Newman told his parishioners that if they voted for Barack Obama, they embraced “intrinsic evil” since Obama's opponent was a “plausible pro-life alternative.” And as a result, those Obama voters need to seek forgiveness from God before they receive Holy Communion again.
Does this guy have guts, or what?
Finally, a religious leader comes along and deals with the 800-pound elephant in the room: how do supposedly religious people reject the sanctity of life and support someone who voted against a “Born Alive Infant Protection” law which would protect babies accidentally born alive after a botched abortion?
Frankly, if that's not evil, I'm not sure what is.
And it takes a priest in Greenville, South Carolina to rise up against all the moral relativism we face in the world and speak the truth.
In a letter posted on the church website, Rev. Newman said that Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate should seek penance for their sin before receiving the Holy Sacrament of Communion, “lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.”
Of course, he's not just making this up. He cites the Bible as the basis for his message, quoting from I Corinthians that forbids partaking of the body of Christ “without recognizing the body of the Lord.”
I'm pleased to report that the response from his congregation has been overwhelmingly positive. According to the priest, church members have approved of his message by a margin of 9 to 1, which leaves me to wonder why those in the minority would see fit to question their pastor.
When discussing this gutsy priest on my radio show this week, a few liberals called in and complained about him “mixing politics with religion.”
It seems to me that life and death issues aren't very political in nature. At least they shouldn't be.
And the fact that the left has managed to turn the issue of abortion into “politics” is simply a deceitful way to try and make the taking of an unborn baby's life something as mundane and ordinary as taxes or fixing potholes.
The Catholic Church has certainly had its hands full in dealing with controversies and ugliness. There is no question that many wish the church would have better handled the terrible scandal of sexually abusive priests over the years.
As a result of that scandal, many Christian- and Catholic-bashers saw fit to condemn the entire Roman Catholic Church with hateful and vicious attacks, despite the fact that millions of loyal, faithful Catholic churchgoers were as appalled by the abusers as anyone else.
But one thing that can be said with clarity and consistency: the Catholic Church has been a beacon in leading the fight against the destruction of the unborn.
Say what you will, but few religious faiths and organizations have had the rock-solid conviction to fight for unborn babies like the Catholic Church has had.
And judging by the actions of this one priest in South Carolina, they're just getting started.
I pray that more priests, ministers, and rabbis follow suit.
How can a spiritual leader stand at the pulpit every week and ignore the slaughter of millions of innocents?
Why would a pastor be inclined to defend an individual, politician or otherwise, who could support partial-birth abortion or the destruction of the life of an unborn baby at any stage?
May a hero like Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina serve as a wake-up call to sleepy, lazy church leaders who don't want to address this issue, one of the most important issues of our lifetime.
If our church leaders don't fight for the unborn, who will?
Whoa there - bringing me and other Catholics into the abortion issue by telling us that if someone voted for Obozo then they cannot receive Communion is not political! Give me a break. Playing on this to trump what is law (granted I don’t support abortion but ummm last I checked it’s a law - unfortunate that it is). So punishing Catholics is the way to somehow make a stand? How about getting to a better solution - acknowledging that people have sex that are not married and working to address this rampaging issue. See f’ing before marriage last I checked led to a lot of pregnancies. So let’s have the Church put the horse before the cart on this one.
Fr. Newman's exact message was that those supporting 0bama and pro-choice "should refrain from receiving Holy Communion." He did not say they are banned or anything like that. He went on to say "Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."
That's what a priest is supposed to do ... look out for his parish's spiritual interests. In receiving communion in a state of sin, they are bringing even more judgment upon themselves. That's damaging to their eternal soul. Fr. Newman is just echoing RCC teaching here.
It's not a punishment ... it's a protection. See my previous post.
Finally, a Religious Leader with Guts
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Not apologizing at all.
Pope Benedict is watching, and this priest may be put on a list for Bishops.
Attendance at most Catholic Churches is increasing dramatically.
Our church is busting out its walls at three of the four Masses each weekend.
One need only substitute the words “unborn baby” with the word “Jew” and the non-Islamic world would unanimously call the priest courageous.
bump!
(the left is trying to mix politics over religion, the pastor is keeping his religious decisions inside the religion)
but 1/2 of catholics still don’t get it and voted for the obama(taxes)
People bring themselves into the abortion issue when they, as Catholics, vote for a candidate who believes in abortion. That action (vote) directly results in the death of children. The Catholic Church believes you are responsible for that action. The Catholic Church is not on trial, Catholics are. You can pick and choose what you believe, (free choice) but you have to answer to God for those choices.
This idea about politics needing to be separated out of our lives if we are Christians is a bunch of hooey!
Every facet of our lives is to conform to the example of Christ, nothing is to be left out.
Another false precept those on the left and “false” Christians perpetuate in order to keep Christians from participating in the political arena.
Over 100 Catholic bishops spoke to the people about voting for life as the most important issue and to consider their eternal salvation. Perhaps you missed all of their statements, they were all over FR.
Good call Red. I’m with you. I’d just as well draw the line in the sand and let the others follow their own course of beliefs. This issue, is a “burning” issue to ponder for the rest of their lives..
Not political at all. Being Catholic means believing in its tenets. Humanae Vitae is pretty clear. Calling oneself Catholic doesn't make one a Catholic (CINO).
Supporting a candidate who intentionally supports killing the unborn is anti-Catholic and as such the individual should not receive Communion. That's not a punishment if one doesn't believe what the Church teaches.
Too many conflicts.
Abortion is the greatest.
The Rat Catholic voters (sic) are responsible for Clinton, Obama, the dozens of ugly and atheistic things that the Rats have visited on our nation, and above all, they are responsible for the millions of innocent aborted humans.
Rat Catholics try to pretend that they have nothing to do with abortion, and nothing to do with all the corruption and evil the Rats have brought us, but they are sadly mistaken and will be taken to task for it.
Moreover, if Catholic Rats would stop voting for liberal Rat politicians, they would not get elected.
Their demographic puts liberal Rat POTUSES, Senators, Congressmen, Governors, etc., over the top EVERY ELECTION.
They are responsible, no way around it.
And every Catholic priest from the Pope on down should have been saying this to their parishes, unceasingly, since 1966 or whenever this country started going down the tubes morally.
But they didn't. They sided with the Rats instead of with God.
It is now dawning on them what they have done.
Rev. is correct as a formal title for a Catholic priest (in the newspapers, for example). He is addressed as Father and can be referred to that way in the press, but the usual formal title is the “Reverend [name],” followed by the initials of his religious order, if any.
I think so, too. The Obama campaign was very clever in appointing Biden, who posed as a legitimate Catholic spokesman and was NOT slapped down by the bishops right away. If he had been excommunicated, the results of the election might have been different.
And that 1/2 of Catholics won't know they've done wrong if nobody tells them!
“Over 100 Catholic bishops spoke to the people about voting for life as the most important issue and to consider their eternal salvation.”
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