Posted on 06/05/2006 6:55:38 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Sure, Kerry has been formally ‘excommunicated’ from the Catholic Church. Actual excommunication was likely long before we thought. But 2004 is when you heard from the Vatican that it was official. But the real question is, what about the rest of all the Catholics in public office? Unfortunately, there are many Catholics who refuse to believe and vote for Catholic principles. What should be done with them?
It’s true that 24% of the American population claim they’re Catholic. But it’s also true that voting for a politician who votes for policy in direct opposition to Catholic doctrine(i.e., the “non-negotiables”: 1)abortion, 2)euthanasia, 3)same sex marriage, 4)cloning, and 5)embryonic stem cell research), has committed a ‘serious sin’. In Catholic circles, that’s referred to as ‘mortal’. This is the kind that prevents you from gaining a happy eternal life.
Even though Catholic hierarchy rarely makes an excommunication ‘official’ when an alleged Catholic publicly professes the right to choose heresy, it was lately deemed necessary. For those believing that ‘heresy’ is somehow denoted as a ‘curse’ from God, Webster’s dictionary defines heresy as simply “a belief different from the accepted belief of the Church”. To Catholics, this seems fairly commonplace among certain politicians, and puts them in a state of ‘mortal’ sin. In that state with excommunication, they are ineligible to receive any of the seven sacraments until the error is recanted, and excommunication lifted. If the sin is persistent, Catholics hope that any public excommunication may be the only way to bring the offender back to the Faith.
Word from the Vatican in 2004, was that “Sen. Kerry and all ‘pro-choice’ Catholic politicians who publicly call themselves Catholic yet who blatantly violate Canon Law(Catholic law) by continuing to profess heresy, and receive Holy Communion, must publicly reject their abortion advocacy for the sake of their own souls, and the others they have scandalized. If not, then these people will have been excommunicated.” There it is—formal.
To get very specific, some other Catholic senators(none of which have recanted) that likely have already been ‘excommunicated’ are: Durbin, Kennedy, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Landrieu, Dodd, Reed, Biden, Cantwell, Voinovitch, Harkin, Murkowski, Domenici, and Sununu. And that doesn’t even count the 48 Catholic congressmen who wrote a letter in 2004 warning Catholic bishops to back off of the doctrine of the evils of abortion. The worst part about this is that these ‘representatives’ all claim Catholicism as their true Faith, and most have used it to further their political careers. The scary part--they have lied to us about something as personal as their Faith. What else will they lie about? If someone can be so callous and unscrupulous, what else is possible? To be sure, the vast majority is Democrat, but certainly not all. What part of fraud and scandal do they not understand?
It must be also said that any Catholic who publicly and obstinately supports, or votes for the right to an abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, commits the above heresy(envisioned by Canon #751). Why would any Catholic do this, and insist that they are still Catholic? Any voter who understands the latter, and still votes for the candidate who votes ‘for’ abortion, is likely automatically excommunicated(latae sententiae). Harsh words---that will raise the hackles on many backs. It may even fan the flames of anti-Catholicism. But even Christ, Himself, had very severe words for those that persisted in evil. Even secular organizations have rules for its members. If the members choose not to obey those rules, they can be removed from that organization.
Catholics sincerely wish, however, that any prodigal member will recant his sins, and come back into the Faith. It is their hope, as it is Christ’s, that all people will enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. But even Christ admitted that no matter how much he wanted everyone to enjoy Heaven, that there would be many that would choose otherwise per their own fruition. How short many of us look into the future…
Thanks for calling people to the thread.
See the following website: http://www.defide.com/
DC is who -- McCarrick? 'Nuff said. And the "Catholic" church Kerry favors in Boston is the infamous Paulist Center, which advertises itself IIRC as "a worship community in the Roman Catholic tradition" -- whatever that means. (I hear they skip chunks of the Creed that don't conform to their views.) Or maybe the Jesuit Center, with its rainbow flag decor. The Paulist Center at least should have been nipped in the bud 40 years ago, but wasn't.
For the record, O'Malley did at least state publicly (during the campaign) that "Catholic" politicians that defied the Church on abortion should not receive.
See my comments in post 16, above.
Thanks Mark!
I had no clue about this....
I would like to see a formal excommunication, with the name John Forbes Kerry explicitly mentioned.
Three of the Catholic Senators listed are actually pro-life on abortion and support traditional marriage: Sununu, Domenici and Voinovich (the writer actually misspelled the names of the latter two). Here are the votes for the three Senators according to National Right to Life:
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/bio/keyvotes/?id=376
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/bio/keyvotes/?id=396
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/bio/keyvotes/?id=457
Voinovich's voting record on life issues has been perfect, while the only deviations for Sununu and Domenici have been on peripheral issues not really involving abortion (the Medicare Modernization Act in the case of Sununu, and Campaign Finance Reform in the case of Domenici).
I can't think of any votes by these three Senators that would trigger excommunication, so the editorial writer has made a mistake and should publish a correction so as not to defame these three good Catholics..
Maybe the Church should bring back Burning at the Stake, huh? Worked for Jacques DeMolay and all them pesky witches.
Thank you for the ping, NYer. I wasn't aware that Kerry had been excommunicated, although there is some discussion here that questions this. Mainly the type of excommunication.
I hope the Pope can come out and publicly excommunicate those politicians who profess their "faith" then thumb their noses at the Church teachings. There is some clergy that sorely needs to go, as well.
bttt
The generations of fat-load cardinals & bishops saw themselves as part of the oligarchy and fell in love with all the photo-ops and free lunches. They forgot the Dogma and let evil take root everywhere, even in the clergy.
Dear maryz,
Mr. Kerry received Holy Communion at then-Archbishop O'Malley's installation Mass.
sitetest
Dear StJacques,
The opinion offered by the CDF's consultant was informal and offered privately. When it became public, the consultant stated that it was not binding or authoritative, and no one in the CDF bothered to correct him for saying that it was not authoritative.
sitetest
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