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The Bishop and the Atheist
Priests for Life ^ | 3-6-03 | Fr. Frank Pavone

Posted on 04/06/2003 1:12:33 PM PDT by cpforlife.org

The Bishop and the Atheist
Fr. Frank Pavone's Bi-weekly Column
Priests for Life

Sun, 6 Apr 2003

Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento has something to say to pro-abortion politicians who claim to be Catholic. So does Doris Gordon, an atheist and the founder of "Libertarians for Life."

On January 22, 2003, Bishop Weigand preached the following words:

"As your bishop, I have to say clearly that anyone - politician or otherwise - who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk, and is not in good standing with the Church. Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving Holy Communion until he has a change of heart."

He made explicit that fact that his words have direct application to Gray Davis, the Governor of California, who is pro-abortion and says he is Catholic. The bishop's homily made national news. And many of the faithful are saying It's about time.

Yet to speak this way is the duty of a bishop. More surprising to many is that an atheist would say the same. My friend, Doris Gordon, founded "Libertarians for Life" (www.L4L.org) and recently wrote an article, "A Libertarian Atheist Answers ‘Pro-Choice Catholics.’" She issues this challenge:

"The Church holds that such children are human persons with rights, yet the "personally opposed" hold that it should be a woman's choice to destroy themIf there is a credible reason for such a position, what is it? Opposition to legal abortion cuts across the religious and political spectrum. I'm an atheist. I was born and raised Jewish. Catholicism had nothing to do with my coming to understand why abortion is a wrong, not a right, and why it should not be legal."

Both Bishop Weigand and Doris Gordon are calling for consistency. If one claims to be Catholic, he/she should accept the teachings of Catholicism. It's as simple as that. Holy Communion, moreover, reinforces the need for consistency. Communion means "union with." To receive Communion is not magic. It is, rather, the summit and source of all our efforts to think, desire, choose, and live in union with Jesus Christ. When one knows the definitive teaching of Jesus as expressed in the Church, and deliberately refuses to accept it, he/she rejects "communion" at that moment. It no longer makes sense to receive physically the One whom you have rejected by clinging to your own conflicting doctrine.

Moreover, both the bishop and the atheist are saying that abortion is wrong not because the Church says so, but because of what abortion is. The taking of a child's life is simply not a civilized act. Nor is stealing. The Church teaches against stealing, but we don't hear people complain that laws against stealing are an imposition of religious doctrine. They realize that stealing does not only violate religious doctrine; it violates basic human rights. So does abortion. That truth isn't so hard to understand. But if we forget, then fortunately, we have both bishops and atheists to help us.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: abortion; prolife
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Yet to speak this way is the duty of a bishop.


1 posted on 04/06/2003 1:12:34 PM PDT by cpforlife.org
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To: cpforlife.org
A big PRO-LIFE bump! Good article
2 posted on 04/06/2003 1:19:25 PM PDT by Pyro7480 (+ Vive Jesus! (Live Jesus!) +)
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To: MHGinTN; hocndoc; Coleus; Remedy; Victoria Delsoul; RLK; Canticle_of_Deborah; Mr. Silverback; ...
PING

Please let me know if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List
3 posted on 04/06/2003 1:19:36 PM PDT by cpforlife.org (“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6)
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To: cpforlife.org
Why don't the archbishops excommunicate these politicians, like Teddy and Gray, who are pro choice? I don't get it. What's the point of having "excommunication" if your not going to use it the worst cases, which these certainly are?
4 posted on 04/06/2003 1:24:13 PM PDT by Jack Black
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To: cpforlife.org
bump
5 posted on 04/06/2003 1:28:20 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: Jack Black
Why don't the archbishops excommunicate these politicians, like Teddy and Gray, who are pro choice? I don't get it. What's the point of having "excommunication" if your not going to use it the worst cases, which these certainly are?

You might also ask where the church was during the Holocaust in Europe.

6 posted on 04/06/2003 1:45:22 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
You might also ask where the church was during the Holocaust in Europe.

According to Rabbi Pinchas Lapide, former Israeli ambassador to Italy, the answer is that the Church was saving between 700,000 and 860,000 Jews from death at the hands of the Nazis. Archbishop Roncalli, who, as papal nuncio in Istanbul, saved thousands of Jews himself, said, when thanked for his work, "Don't thank me; thank the Pope. It was all done on his orders."

Incidentally, between 3 and 5 million Catholics died in the Holocaust. There were hundreds of priests (and other clergymen) imprisoned in Dachau alone.

7 posted on 04/06/2003 1:53:56 PM PDT by Campion
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To: Campion
Ah, the old canard about the Church being pro-Nazi has resurfaced. Clearly, some Big Lies are harder to put down than others.

But on to other matters. When the libertarian community concedes the moral imperative to protect the unborn child against aggression, including maternal aggression, it will become consistent with its own ethic. As Andrew Melechinsky liked to say, the most beautiful thing about libertarianism is how pro-life it is... in every other way. Doris Gordon has grasped that. May her influence increase!

There may be limits on our ability to enforce laws against abortion, which must be respected. We'll have to fight about the legal definition of protected human life for a while. But the result should be a regime in which at least those unborn who are presumedly capable of surviving outside the womb may not legally be killed by anyone. We can take it from there.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

8 posted on 04/06/2003 2:19:39 PM PDT by fporretto (Curmudgeon Emeritus, Palace of Reason)
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
The notion that the bishops and Pope were passive during the Holocaust in Europe is a vicious anti-Catholic smear. It should not be used as an analogy when talking about the Catholic bishops of the U.S. and their response to abortion.

The record of the bishops of the U.S. during the abortion holocaust of the last 33 years is much WORSE than the record of the Catholic Church in Europe sixty years ago.

9 posted on 04/06/2003 3:08:07 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: Arthur McGowan; Campion
Looks like I hit a raw nerve with the two of you.
10 posted on 04/06/2003 6:20:42 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
Yes. You hit "a raw nerve." It bothers me when ignorant, bigoted, hateful people repeat the lie that Pius XII did little or nothing about the killing of Jews. Call that a raw nerve if you like. Do you go around asking Jews if they eat Matzohs made from the blood of Gentile babies at Passover, and then attribute their reaction to "a raw nerve"?
11 posted on 04/06/2003 6:41:12 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: Campion
Ping.

Yes. You hit "a raw nerve." It bothers me when ignorant, bigoted, hateful people repeat the lie that Pius XII did little or nothing about the killing of Jews. Call that a raw nerve if you like. Do you go around asking Jews if they eat Matzohs made from the blood of Gentile babies at Passover, and then attribute their reaction to "a raw nerve"?

12 posted on 04/06/2003 6:43:26 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
BTW: Are you the guy who repeatedly posts accusations that ALL Catholic priests are homosexual rapists, and then, when someone complains, you smirk, "I guess I hit a raw nerve." Or is that some other bigot?
13 posted on 04/06/2003 6:47:15 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: cpforlife.org
"...the "personally opposed" hold that it should be a woman's choice to destroy them (the unborn). If there is a credible reason for such a position, what is it?"

Most likely, having had one (or participated).

14 posted on 04/06/2003 6:51:45 PM PDT by oprahstheantichrist
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To: All

15 posted on 04/06/2003 7:44:48 PM PDT by cpforlife.org (“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6)
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To: cpforlife.org
"As your bishop, I have to say clearly that anyone - politician or otherwise - who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk, and is not in good standing with the Church. Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving Holy Communion until he has a change of heart."

Excellent comments. Thanks so much for posting this.

16 posted on 04/06/2003 7:59:06 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
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To: Arthur McGowan
BTW: Are you the guy who repeatedly posts accusations that ALL Catholic priests are homosexual rapists, and then, when someone complains, you smirk, "I guess I hit a raw nerve." Or is that some other bigot?

No, that's not me. You must be thinking of another bigot with the last name of Cracker.

17 posted on 04/06/2003 9:18:25 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
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To: Arthur McGowan
Yes. You hit "a raw nerve." It bothers me when ignorant, bigoted, hateful people repeat the lie that Pius XII did little or nothing about the killing of Jews. Call that a raw nerve if you like. Do you go around asking Jews if they eat Matzohs made from the blood of Gentile babies at Passover, and then attribute their reaction to "a raw nerve"?

No, I would never say that to a Jew. I have too much respect for the suffering the Jewish people have gone through. How about you?

18 posted on 04/06/2003 9:20:14 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
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To: Campion; O.C. - Old Cracker
According to Rabbi Pinchas Lapide, former Israeli ambassador to Italy, the answer is that the Church was saving between 700,000 and 860,000 Jews from death at the hands of the Nazis. Archbishop Roncalli, who, as papal nuncio in Istanbul, saved thousands of Jews himself, said, when thanked for his work, "Don't thank me; thank the Pope. It was all done on his orders."

Still waiting for your reply, Cracker.

19 posted on 04/07/2003 7:00:48 AM PDT by MrLeRoy ("That government is best which governs least.")
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To: MrLeRoy
Still waiting for your reply, Cracker.

After the Pope's 'Liturgy of Forgiveness', Holocaust survivor and Israel's Ashkenazi chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said that he "welcomed the pope’s words", but said "the church should apologize for the actions of Pope Pius XII during World War II, which many Jews feel were inadequate."

Catholic hands may have been lifted in an effort to help, but many older Jews evidently do not feel it was enough to expunge the guilt. And that's Old Cracker to you, Leroy.

20 posted on 04/07/2003 8:52:13 AM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
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