Posted on 11/16/2008 7:14:54 PM PST by T.L.Sink
A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishoners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." The Rev. Jay Newman said in a letter distributed to parishoners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greensville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Communion before doing penance for their vote. "Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name including his middle name of Hussein. "Voting for a po-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law." According to national polls, 54% of Catholics chose Obama.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesargus.com ...
>> Don’t get too excited about this priest.
My post was solely in regards to the picture of the dead babies in the trash bag. I should have stated so.
This priest will not yield. If anyone tries to make him take back his words, which articulate Catholic teaching, he is prepared.
The monsignor who was quoted by the press has no authority over him.
Thanks for the article. It did say, however, that Catholic dioceses have issued “various rulings” on the matter. I think the salient point is that the Church hierarchy in Rome (Pope, cardinals, etc.) has clearly and unequivocally stated that abortion is contrary to Church doctrine and teaching. Insofar as Obama has further sanctioned what amounts to infanticide, I fail to see on what basis Newman can be criticized.
I didn’t understand the priest’s statement to be “political” at all but clearly an expression of the Church’s position on abortion. In fact, a neat line can not always be drawn between the moral and the political. For example, the civil rights movement was motivated by a Christian understanding of ethics and morality (after all, Martin Luther King was a minister) but it by necessity had political implications. By the way, a monsignor can express the doctrine of the Church as well (sometimes better!) than a bishop.
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