Bishop: No Communion for Abortion Backers

AP ^ | 1/8/04 | AP

[Jaded]

Bishop: No Communion for Abortion Backers

LA CROSSE, Wis. - State and federal lawmakers who support abortion rights can no longer receive Holy Communion in the Diocese of La Crosse, Bishop Raymond Burke ordered in a decree made public Thursday.

Priests of parishes where such lawmakers attend Mass must withhold communion from them until the lawmakers publicly renounce their support of abortion rights, Burke said in the decree, posted on the diocese's Web site.

Burke also has written letters to three Roman Catholic lawmakers, telling them they risked their faith if they continued to vote for measures he termed "anti-life," including abortion and euthanasia.

Burke was named archbishop of St. Louis in December and will be installed there later this month. Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II has yet to name Burke's replacement.

State Sen. Julie Lassa, a Democrat, received a letter from Burke and has said she would not let religion decide how she serves her constituents.

Judie Brown, president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Life League, praised Burke and called his move a "historic first step forward in dealing with the problem of pro-abortion Catholic political figures."

The Diocese of La Crosse is home to more than 200,000 Catholics in 169 parishes in west-central Wisconsin, according to its Web site. ___

On the Net:

Catholic Diocese of La Crosse: http://www.dioceseoflacrosse.com

[Jaded]

Ping!

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[american colleen]

Wow! Thanks for posting this. I believe this is the hardest hit yet on the pro-abortion lawmakers. The bar is raised a bit higher.

[Gerish]

God Bless Bishop Burke for having the courage to do what us lay people have been waiting some Bishop to do for decades!

[Tax-chick]

Whoop! Go get 'em!

[franky]

I saw Bishop Burke on The world Toight on EWTN. It should run for the next few weeks. Check your TV lisitings.

Bishop Burke is a power house.

[dsc]

Yeeeeeee-haw! Ride'em, Bishop. Dig those spurs in.

[pseudo-ignatius]

Bishop Burke ping. The news just gets better and better.

[pseudo-justin]

Excellent.

Bishop Burke has also made the Ignatius Press catechetical series mandatory in all LaCrosse schools.

[NYer]

Thans for the ping! Heard this on EWTN last night. From the LaCrosse web site:

The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, announced Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003, that Bishop Raymond Leo Burke, Bishop of La Crosse, has been named as the new Archbishop of St. Louis. He will be installed as Archbishop on January 26, 2004.

Bishop Burke has issued a notification for Catholic Politicians (pdf file is linked on the right side of their web site)

DIOCESE OF LACROSSE

[nickcarraway]

BUMP

[.45MAN]

it's a start..

[old and tired]

This is long overdue. I've been praying for a hierarchy with a spine since the 70's.

But, am I the only one who sees a negative backlash coming from this action? Don't misunderstand - I am thrilled a bishop finally took a stand besides just mouthing some pro-life words.

But due in part to its own inaction on important moral issues, the Church has lost so much of its moral teaching authority in recent years. I guess I see a lot of nastiness being hurled at it by the pro-abortion politicians. I hope any backlash that comes will be of short duration.

Certainly our Church will be made stronger by this action.

[bobjam]

It's great that the bishop is taking this action against abortion advocates, but how long will it be before the libs demand that the same action be taken against Catholic governors who sign death warrants? Could Bishop Galleone (St. Augustine) be pressured to withold Communion from Jeb Bush?

[Aquinasfan]

Priests of parishes where such lawmakers attend Mass must withhold communion from them until the lawmakers publicly renounce their support of abortion rights, Burke said in the decree

Thank God!

Some will argue that this is Church interference with political matters. Generally, public policy isn't within the competence of the Church, or more accurately, within the infallible teaching authority of the Church.

But abortion as a political issue isn't comparable to other matters of public policy, like Social Security, welfare, environmental regulation and the like. These issues fall within the realm of prudential judgement, and should generally be left to statesmen to decide. Abortion is intrinsically evil, and is never morally permissible (except in the rare case where a mother's life may be endangered).

[Aquinasfan]

Bishop Burke has also made the Ignatius Press catechetical series mandatory in all LaCrosse schools.

Just when you think things couldn't get better. On the other hand, it's sad to think that he's the exception rather than the rule.

[Aquinasfan]

Could Bishop Galleone (St. Augustine) be pressured to withold Communion from Jeb Bush?

Possibly. I think the most recent edition of the Catechism says that the death penalty should be avoided when it is practically possible to incarcerate prisoners for life without risking public safety. Think "supermax" prison. It would be hard for Bush to argue that that's impossible.

[ninenot]

Here's the story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Don't serve supporters of abortion rights, euthanasia, Burke says
By TOM HEINEN
theinen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 8, 2004
In what one national group called an unprecedented action, La Crosse Bishop Raymond L. Burke has issued a document that says Catholic legislators who support abortion rights or euthanasia should not present themselves to receive Communion and should be refused if they do so.

Burke's Notice

Here is an excerpt from Bishop Raymond Burke's notification to Catholic legislators:
A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion or euthanasia, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of the most serious scandal to others. There, universal Church law provides that such persons 'are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.'




Burke's four-paragraph "Notification" was published in the weekly diocesan newspaper Thursday and was posted on the diocesan Web site, along with a 10-page pastoral letter titled "On the Dignity of Human Life and Civic Responsibility."

Citing Vatican doctrine, canon law and teachings by the U.S. bishops, Burke says in the notice that it is his duty as bishop "to explain, persuade, correct and admonish those in leadership positions who contradict the Gospel of life through their action and policies."

The notice says: "Catholic legislators who are members of the faithful of the Diocese of La Crosse and who continue to support procured abortion or euthanasia may not present themselves to receive Holy Communion. They are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, should they present themselves, until such time as they publicly renounce their support of these most unjust practices."

Judie Brown, president of the American Life League in Stafford, Va., said of Burke's broad ban, "This is the first time this has ever happened in the history of the pro-life movement, and I am so grateful to Bishop Burke."

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., a former Wauwatosa pastor, excommunicated Catholics in his diocese in 1996 for belonging to groups that support abortion rights and the right to die, but he did not target legislators, Brown said.

Brown's group launched a "Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church" last year, in which it began naming Catholic politicians who support abortion rights and calling for bishops to crack down on them.

Gov. Jim Doyle is among 14 Wisconsin officials on the group's list. Doyle has said that he was obligated to listen to all the state's residents, and that a group in Virginia should not have much say about what is done in Wisconsin.

Burke's pastoral letter says Catholic politicians cannot defend voting for an unjust law, whether it supports abortion rights or an action such as racial discrimination, "on the grounds that they are following their constituency or the will of the 'majority.' "

Pope John Paul II named Burke archbishop-elect of St. Louis on Dec. 2. An installation is scheduled for Jan. 26.

Burke sparked a national church-state debate two days after his appointment, when it became known that he had sent private letters last year to three unidentified Catholic officials from Wisconsin: a member of Congress and two state legislators. The letters warned them that they risked their spiritual well-being if they continued to support "anti-life" legislation involving issues such as abortion rights.

One of the legislators was state Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point).

U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), whose name is on the American Life League's list, said last month that he welcomed clergy to influence him on issues that affect people of all religions. He did not say whether Burke had written to him.

When it became known that he had sent the private letters, Burke said in reply to a question that Catholic politicians in the diocese who refused to mend their ways would be told not to present themselves to receive Communion.

What he did not indicate was that he had signed the pastoral letter and the notification Nov. 23, before his new papal appointment limited his role in La Crosse to that of diocesan administrator.

The Catholic Times diocesan newspaper reported Thursday that "Bishop Burke affirmed that both the letter and the notification carry the full weight of his authority as bishop of the diocese."

How Burke's notification, which was issued on diocesan letterhead, will play out was unclear Thursday night. Neither Burke nor his spokeswoman could be reached for comment.

Father Robert Cook, pastor of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Viroqua, said the notification in the newspaper was the first he had heard of the bishop's directing priests to refuse Communion.

Father Richard Gilles, a canon lawyer and Burke's chief of staff, said: "That is a direct statement to the priests. They have an obligation to not give them (politicians) Holy Communion. But I think any pastor who has any sensitivity or common sense would sit down in private with these people and dialogue and talk to them and ask them not to come to Holy Communion."

Gilles said Burke's document was not as strong as a decree because it essentially reminded legislators and priests of the teachings of the church without making new law. But Burke goes a step further and removes doubt by specifically applying church law and teachings to Catholic politicians, and by saying that those who continue to support abortion rights after such warnings should be denied Communion, Gilles said.

Gilles said that Burke had previously communicated with the pastors of the three legislators who received letters from Burke last year.

On the Web: www.dioceseoflacrosse.com

[Desdemona]

All this was on the news last night. I'll check the paper when I get to work.