Catholic Church asks Tom Daschle to stop calling himself a Catholic

Weekly Standard (via Matt Drudge) ^ | April 17, 2003 | SB00

[SB00]

TOM DASCHLE may no longer call himself a Catholic. The Senate minority leader and the highest ranking Democrat in Washington has been sent a letter by his home diocese of Sioux Falls, sources in South Dakota have told The Weekly Standard, directing him to remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.

This isn't exactly excommunication--which is unnecessary, in any case, since Daschle made himself ineligible for communion almost 20 years ago with his divorce and remarriage to a Washington lobbyist. The directive from Sioux Falls' Bishop Robert Carlson is rather something less than excommunication--and, at the same time, something more: a declaration that Tom Daschle's religious identification constitutes, in technical Catholic vocabulary, a grave public scandal. He was brought up as a Catholic, and he may still be in some sort of genuine mental and spiritual relation to the Church. Who besides his confessor could say? But Daschle's consistent political opposition to Catholic teachings on moral issues--abortion, in particular--has made him such a problem for ordinary churchgoers that the Church must deny him the use of the word "Catholic."

[SoothingDave]

As I said, if the bishop had merely said he does not consider Daschle Catholic, and that his claim that he is, is false, that would be OK with me. What is not OK is demanding that Daschle retract the claim. That is beyond his pay grade.

Perhaps you don't understand. The Senator is not the arbiter of who is and is not a Catholic in good standing in Sioux Falls.

The local bishop is. It is exactly his "pay grade" to make this determination.

And, if the Senator is serious about his faith, then he should listen to his bishop.

In matters of civil gov't, the Senator outranks the bishop. In matters of faith, the bishop outranks the senator.,

SD

[votelife]

"I support the troops, but I will criticize the commander-in-chief during a time of war?"

this hypocrasy is so ludicrous, I mean the Commander IS the top troop!

[plain talk]

Christ forgave us for our sins but did not "remove" all sins. We all live in a state of sin while on this earth. For purposes of salvation, He forgave the sin as if it were removed but for purposes of judgment the sin hasn't been removed and we will all be held to account.

[AdA$tra]

Roman Catholicism is a denomination of a religion. Christianity is the religion.

Not quite. There are two only kinds of Christians: Catholics and ex-Catholics. Catholicism isn't a denomination. It is Christ's church from which all Protetestant relegions were created.

[JohnnyZ]

As I said, if the bishop had merely said he does not consider Daschle Catholic, and that his claim that he is, is false, that would be OK with me. What is not OK is demanding that Daschle retract the claim. That is beyond his pay grade.

Ah, his pay grade. Who, then, can tell Daschle to stop calling himself Catholic if not his bishop????

Apparently you think that Tom Daschle and the Catholic Church have an equal claim on saying what is Catholic and what isn't!!!

This is really a bizarre argument, worthy of Church-bashers like Gary Wills and NARAL.

[floriduh voter]

WOW! The ultimate cut. They are accusing TD of hypocrisy.

[Polycarp]

He forgave the sin as if it were removed but for purposes of judgment the sin hasn't been removed

Sounds remarkably schizophrenic for someone calling Himself God.

No thanks, I'll stick with the correct, Catholic understanding of True Forgiveness of sins.

[plain talk]

I would not, in general, say we are all in a state of sin. We are born that way, but we have the sacraments to alter this

Thanks for the clarification. LOL!

[SoDak]

Bishop Carlson isn't the head of their respective diocese. He is, however, head of the diocese that Daschle belongs to, and therefore has the power and authority to do exactly what he did. It's not a constitutional right to belong to the diocese, any more than it's a right to be openly gay and belong to the boy scout organization.

[William Wallace]

The directive from Sioux Falls' Bishop Robert Carlson is rather something less than excommunication...

Just curious, did the Democratic Bishops in South Dakota vote as a bloc against excommunication or did they fillibuster to prevent this from coming to a vote?

In a related story, John Kerry announced today that he would only nominate persons excommunicated by a church or synagogue to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court.

[eastsider]

Er what are the consequences?

"[A] declaration that Tom Daschle's religious identification constitutes, in technical Catholic vocabulary, a grave public scandal."

What is not OK is demanding that Daschle retract the claim. That is beyond his pay grade.

It is exactly his bishop's pay grade to say what is Catholic and what is not. In fact, it would be a deriliction of his episcopal duty if he were not to address the "grave public scandal" caused by Daschle's implying that one can be Catholic and support a pro-abortion agenda.

[floriduh voter]

Check out #3. Viva la france.

[AdA$tra]

Yeah, somebody please ping the rest of the Catholic hater crowd.

Bottom line: The Bishop is 100% right and more bishops need to follow suit. Now!

[SoDak]

I expect some local opinion to be posted to one or more of the local media sources, and I will post it when applicable.

[JohnnyZ]

In a related story, John Kerry announced today that he would only nominate persons excommunicated by a church or synagogue to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court.

The Senator noted that his standard was not, however, a litmus test, although he acknowledge some may call it that.

[onyx]

Every comment of yours is a bull's eye!

[Grampa Dave]

If we could document that Da$$hole is basically French in his genealogy, that might defeat him in 2004.

[RAT Patrol]

This story keeps making me think of our new governor for some reason. (hehehe)

[Protagoras]

Catholicism isn't a denomination.

Nonsense. Whatever you have to say about the roots of other denominations makes no difference to the truth that Christianity is a religion, and all who follow it are Christians. Those who organize themselves into different groups to practice it are organised into what are called denominations. Notwithstanding people of some denominations who think God has a pecking order for belivers.

Jesus wasn't a Christian, he was a Jew. He sure wasn't Catholic or a Presbyterian or a Baptist.

[Notwithstanding]

1. Please correct the headline. Correct one is "Tom Daschle's Duty to Be Morally Coherent"

2. This is huge news and should be under "breaking". This will severely hurt him and it also shows a trend that is growing (Catholic Church outing its CINO politicians).