Posted on 07/03/2004 6:45:41 AM PDT by RockDoc
In a letter to US bishops, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger threw his full support behind the few bishops who have said they will deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who support legal abortion, according to an Italian press report. The US bishops voted overwhelmingly to take a less rigorous stance.
The Italian weekly L'Espresso has reported that Cardinal Ratzinger, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the American bishops should speak privately with prominent Catholics who defy Church teachings on key issues involving the sanctity of life, alert them to the gravity of their offenses, and warn them that they should not receive Communion. The Vatican's chief doctrinal official wrote: "When ìthese precautionary measures have not had their effect...and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, ìhe minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it."
L'Espresso has published the full text of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter, which had not previously been available to the public. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, who heads a committee of US bishops studying possible responses to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, told reporters that the Ratzinger letter left the issue in the hands of the American hierarchy.
At their Denver meeting, the US bishops adopted a policy statement re-affirming the Church's condemnation of legal abortion, but stopping short of any call for withholding the Eucharist from prominent abortion supporters. The bishops reportedly turned down a milder form of the resolution, backed by Cardinal McCarrick, which would have said that it was imprudent to deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians. In conversations with the press, Cardinal McCarrick had hinted that the Ratzinger letter gave support to that position.
Sandro Magister, the veteran Vatican reporter who is the author of the Espresso report, writes that Cardinal Ratzinger was clear in his letter, which was sent to Cardinal Ratzinger and to Bishop Wilton Gregory, the president of the US bishops' conference. But as Magister put it, in the headline of his article, the text of the Ratzinger letter shows: "What he wanted, but didn't get."
Thanks Deacon, your direct embrace of Modernism is always a refreshing change from the spinning and warbling of most here. Your tagline says it all - "(There's no problem on the inside of a kid that the outside of a dog can't cure.)". When an ordained cleric of the Holy Roman Catholic Church recommends a Dog instead of God, well, there you have it folks, direct from the Deacon to you.
"I have no idea of whether any of our EEMs are divorced or not."
Great. Since we know you don't ask for a profession of faith the way your buddy in Oregon does, how do you know if they are themselves are faithful Catholics? Do you at least know if they've been to confession recently?
Thank you. It is an important, as well as an excellent point!
"We need EEMs to facilitate the reception of the Eucharist in a timely manner."
Define "timely" please.
No. I assume that those who have presented themselves for EEM are good, practicing Catholics.
That happens at every one of our Sunday Masses.
Where did I recommend a dog instead of God?
Be very specific, please.
I'll wait to see what difference it makes to the American bishops.
Your tag line deacon, your tagline. You choose to recommend a DOG for all the ailments of our youth. Not Our Lord, but a DOG. Every problem a kid has, get a dog. Yeah deacon, that's what YOU say, with every post.
"No. I assume that those who have presented themselves for EEM are good, practicing Catholics."
What an assumption. Let me give you a clue Deacon, I know personally women who are divorced multiple times, and with the knowledge and tacit permission of the priest, remarried by a protestant (while waiting for the inevitable, but slow annulment) who are EEM's. Of course it's SATURDAY evening services for them, so as not to interfere with Sunday fun.
"If the Mass is extended more than fifteen minutes due to the number of those presenting themselves to receive the Eucharist, that is "untimely."
That happens at every one of our Sunday Masses."
Really? With all of your priests and Deacons helping? Or not?
"The US bishops are in open schism."
Does this mean that we should not attend their Masses?
"Dear B, the issue is time. It takes time to distribute. Thus we are told to stand, take the Host from Joe Six-Pack (or more often Jane Six-Pack, his ex wife) and move along. It is the Southwest Airlines model of Holy Communion. Move along now, hurry up, next!"
If the issue were merely time, we would go back to Communion rails. Much faster.
Thanks for your support!
As an EEM, I would have no way of knowing whether or not John Kerry went to confession before appearing in the church, cameras rolling. That is one major drawback to entrusting the distribution of communion to an EEM. In a sense, they are as compromised as the priest. They march to his barking orders! (Excuse me for saying so, but just one more justification for restricting distribution of communion to a validly ordained priest. If he errs, it's his problem.)
Who gives a hoot what difference it makes to the American bishops.
They have chosen disobedience and dissent over obedience and orthodoxy by a vote of 183 to 6. Their opinion no longer matters to me.
"Keep one eye on your bishop and one eye on your Pope. If your bishop goes against your pope, close that eye."
Better to follow Rome than schismatic American bishops, sink.
We're not at that point, Not yet. (The system is too broken to fix but its still too early to shoot the bastards.)
**But they are not to take upon themselves who to distribute the Eucharist to.**
I have had a young child come up to me and not know what to do...........so I asked if he had made his First Communion. When he said "NO" I gave him a blessing and said that he could receive Communion after his First Communion.
Are you saying that I should not have taken the steps I did here. (He did not have his arms crossed over his chest, nor did he have an exposed tongue or cupped hands.)
**I've given a blessing, instead of the Eucharist, on Christmas and Easter to those who don't seem to know what to do when they come up, as they are obviously not Catholic. In fact, I'll usually ask them, and 99 times out of 100, they say "no." But that's not a decision our EEMs are allowed to make.**
You sort of answered my question here. I should not have refused the boy who did not know what was going on? Correct?
One more solid justification to eradicate this 'responsibility' from the "deacons" of the Catholic Church. I watched in total amazement as an EEM dropped a consecrated host on the floor, in my former parish. (I was instructed by the good sisters, from the very beginning, that in such an instance, the priest must be called, the errant host consumed by him, and the spot on the carpet covered over with a cloth). In utter amazement, I watched this EEM bend over, pick up the consecrated host, stare at it, look towards the priest and then redeposit it into her Pyrex glass salad bowl. That was the final straw for me! It was apparent that neither she, nor the pastor, were unduly concerned about this one host that 'accidentally' fell to the floor. Nor were either of them concerned that the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, should be treated with any more respect than to toss it back into the salad bowl.
Mercifully for us, who believe in the Real Presence, there are still Catholic liturgies, where TOTAL RESPECT for the consecrated host, are in place. At the risk of sounding redundant, in the Maronite Catholic Church, ONLY the bishop or priest, may touch the consecrated host. During the communion service, the priest dips the consecrated host into the Precious Blood, places it on the tongue of the communicant, with the words: "Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and eternal salvation.
The fact that ONLY the priest may distribute communion is a non issue. If it takes 2 hours, the congregation willingly and patiently, waits in line. After the Sunday liturgy, it is ONLY the priest who brings communion to the sick and homebound. It takes as long as it takes.
And, since the priest is the ONLY one distributing communion, those who are not "properly disposed" know enough NOT to present themselves for communion, despite the fact that the Maronite Catholic Church places greater emphasis on God's mercy. Father is ALWAYS available for Confession prior to the Divine Liturgy!
Personally, I've stopped receiving from EEMs, especially women.
The EEMs should all be sacked.
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