Posted on 03/25/2009 10:10:37 AM PDT by NYer
President Obama's nominee to head the agency that guides federal abortion policy is the latest Roman Catholic politician to find herself torn between her political beliefs and her faith.
Already admonished against receiving Communion because of stands she has taken on abortion as governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius now faces even closer scrutiny from the church since she was nominated to serve as secretary of health and human services earlier this month.
What began as a local matter between Mrs. Sebelius and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the archbishop of Kansas City, Kan., has taken on larger dimensions with the prospect that Mrs. Sebelius could reside in Washington.
Earlier this month, Archbishop Raymond F. Burke - formerly the archbishop of St. Louis but now prefect for the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court - declared that Mrs. Sebelius should not approach the altar for Communion in the United States.
"After pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin," he told CatholicAction.org, a conservative Web site.
Archbishop Naumann, meanwhile, has been in contact with Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of the Washington Diocese to inform him of the Kansas City prelate's discussions with Mrs. Sebelius.
A spokesman for Archbishop Wuerl said church officials in Washington would act in accordance with the admonition from Kansas City. A church official in Washington said the admonition does not prohibit priests from serving Mrs. Sebelius if she does present herself, but declined to speculate on what would happen in that event.
Baptist theologian and Mercer University professor David P. Gushee said the situation between Mrs. Sebelius and the Catholic bishops "is a very uncomfortable situation for those of us who are concerned about the role of faith in the public square.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I was reading the Didache a few day ago, the “Teaching of the Apostles” It is interesting to see that they specifically spoke out against abortion the murder of a child. When I read it, it had the word abortion in it as a deadly sin. This was written around the year 80 A.D. most believe.
Later it says that without confession/penance, you must not be allowed communion. Otherwise it profanes it.
This was the teaching of the Apostles.
Correct me if I’m wrong, if one is excommunicated ... one shouldn’t be able to receive the sacraments right?
I’m not a Catholic, so please be patient with me :)
Sebelius the baby killer *PING*!
I love how the media tell us that these pro-abort Catholics are torn between their political beliefs and their faith. Nonsense. If they were serious about their faith, they’d defer to it. If they don’t defer to it, then they don’t have any faith.
These people are not Catholics. They use the Church as they use the poor, the uneducated, the homeless. They use the Church and these others for political purposes.
She and other like her, Kennedy, Biden, are so enamored of their own self importance that they feel they are smarter than those running the Church and can obey what they like and ignore what they dont. They make up their own rules.
Hmmm....
We need Archbishop Burke back in town, don’t we?
WTF?
The whole article made sense - until they quoted a Baptist theologian.
Don't worry, she is.
Archbishop Burke is the man.
You may recall that he PROACTIVELY told John Kerry not to expect to receive communion if he attended Mass in St. Louis during a stop in the 2004 Presidential campaign.
We miss him, here in St. Louis, very much.
Gushee said he is “very uncomfortable situation for those of us who are concerned about the role of faith in the public square.”
My response: Being Christian requires discomfort - hence the beattitudes. Suffering brings us closer to Christ and is a necessary element to knowing Him and obtaining eternal life. The obstacles standing along the rich man’s way to heaven all stem from the lack of discomfort a rich man enjoys - which is often a great spiritual burden.
Gushee’s hedonistic comfort-at-all-costs attitude belies his fauxney posing as a Catholic.
No, the real question is, "Why is she the only one in trouble?"
Why not a myriad of others in both political parties?
And why is B. Hussein invited to lecture to Notre Dame graduating class?
They allowed much evil in many areas.
Rather than grow their ‘talents’ they lost 10 fold.
I don’t understand why they had to drag out some ‘theologian’ (a Baptist to boot!) who disagreed with the Catholic Church.
How many more Baptists could they find in SUPPORT of the Catholic Church on this issue? Probably a thousand times as many!
This woman is clearly supporting evil. She doesn’t even attempt to put any brakes on it. None what so ever. She supports the vilest of the vile. She’s not just a run-of-the-mill “I am a Democrat and so must be pro-choice” politician. She actively supports and courts evil.
She’s not Catholic, and she’s no Christian to go against the Lord in this manner. She’s not just mistaken like some of those who are pro-choice, she’s actively working for evil.
People who do not understand how The Catholic Church is organized and that it has traditions back to Christ and His admonitions to his Disciples, really don’t have a horse in this race and should just be quiet or else study up using The Catechism of the Catholic Church and writings of The Early Church Fathers to learn how we work.
It distresses me that reporters go to Protestants for sound bytes about The Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI even has a channel on YouTube. The Catholic Church has a hierarchy and set-in-stone (actually set in the wood of the Cross) rules, regulations and customs overseen by The Magisterium. Most of these rules and customs go back to the Apostolic era and the person who makes sure Catholics remain focused is ultimately, The Pope.
See http://www.newadvent.org for more information than you could read in a lifetime about The Catholic Church. Search didache for the earliest creed of The Church.
woops - Gushee’s fauxney posing is as a Baptist
That seems to be slowly changing and we might as well just get used to the idea that persecution is going to come. The Sebeliuses, Granholms, Kennedys, Bidens, Pelosis and other CINOs of this world are eventually going to tire of persistent ecclesiastical rebukes and will turn their sights onto their own Church, aided and abetted by shirtlifters, abortionists and libertines everywhere. The sooner the better. The Church needs to be purified and strengthened by the fire of persecution and the only question is when.
What I understand is that the “powers that be” allow these “people” to claim that they are Catholic (as long as they keep donating)...they don’t come out and openly and LOUDLY declare them excommunicated.
If your own bishop and the prefect for the Apostolic Signatura tell you not to come to communion - you are being told you are ex-communicated.
You have to understand the Sacramental Life and Holy Eucharist to understand what these men saying these things are saying to the parishioner.
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