8mm
Posted on 05/14/2007 5:19:23 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
A group of House Democrats yesterday publicly repudiated the Pope’s recent suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
Eighteen House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), are responding to Pope Benedict XVI’s statement that indicated he would support Mexican bishops if they were to excommunicate Mexican legislators who voted last month to legalize abortion in Mexico City.
The Pope made his remarks last Wednesday during a news conference aboard a plane before he was to begin a five-day visit to Brazil.
“We are concerned with the Pope’s recent statement warning Catholic elected officials that they risk excommunication and would not receive communion for their pro-choice views,” the lawmakers said in a statement issued yesterday. “Advancing respect for life and for the dignity of every human being is, as our church has taught us, our own life’s mission.”
The Democratic lawmakers said that the suggested penalty “offend[s] the very nature of the American experiment and do[es] a great disservice to the centuries of good work the church has done.”
The Pope’s spokesman later clarified the pontiff’s remarks, saying that, ‘’Legislative action in favor of abortion is incompatible with participation in the Eucharist,’’ and politicians who favor abortion rights should ‘’exclude themselves from communion.’’
Other lawmakers were not as politic as the House Democrats.
“I’ve always thought also that those bishops and archbishops who for decades hid pederasts and are now being protected by the Vatican should be indicted,” said Catholic Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who spoke to reporters last week.
Over the last several years, a few Catholic bishops have threatened to deny communion and other sacraments to politicians who favor abortion rights because their views are not in-step with Church doctrine. The decision to withhold sacraments is made by individual bishops, said Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The debate over whether pro-choice Catholics should receive communion could intensify in the 2008 race for the White House.
In 2004, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the first Catholic Democratic presidential nominee since President John Kennedy ran in 1960, received communion one day after a top Vatican cardinal said politicians who back abortion rights should be denied the Eucharist.
Kerry lost the Catholic vote by 13 points to President Bush, according to DemocracyCorps, a Democratic polling firm. There are four 2008 presidential candidates who are Catholic: Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.), Sen. Christopher Dodd (Conn.), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. They all support abortion rights.
On the Republican side, Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.), former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, and ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are Catholic. Brownback and Thompson oppose abortion rights while Giuliani favors them.
In February, former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) was under pressure to fire two female bloggers who had criticized the Catholic Church before joining the campaign. While Edwards decided not to fire the two women, one subsequently resigned.
Some Catholic organizations have criticized the Pope’s statement.
Jon O’Brien, the executive director of Catholics for a Free Choice, said, “[Pope Benedict] is still putting dogma ahead of the lived reality of the Catholic laity… it will only push Catholic politicians further from the institutional church.”
The House Democrats’ letter mirrors a “statement of principles” that 55 Democrats, encompassing a broad ideological swath of the caucus, signed last year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who is Catholic, signed the letter, as did anti-abortion rights Reps. Bart Stupak (Mich.) and Jim Langevin (R.I.).
In the statement of principles, Democratic lawmakers wrote that they agreed with the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the “undesirability of abortion” and that “each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term.”
Meanwhile, Catholic voters’ attitudes towards abortion are changing, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll released in March. Only 10 percent of those polled believe that abortion should be legal in all cases, a 16 percent drop since 2004. But there has been a corresponding rise in the number who said it should be legal in most cases.
Excellant point.
Placemark
The pre-Christian Hippocratic oath pledges against both euthanasia and abortion. Even the pagan Greeks understood evil when they saw it.
Sadly my dear brothers not all who call themselves Catholic or Evangelical are in fact that. We may in fact be disappointed with the numbers who are willing to stand with us. Those who do, however, are our Christian family!
Blessings
Mel
Pray for Him. He may not be afraid but it is a tough ask to continue to rage against the dieing of the light
Mel
(Give them the comfy pillows!)
Seriously, the batch of ‘em ought to be hauled before an ecclesial court and be convicted of obstinate heresy and tossed out on their ears. Very, very publicly!
By their own actions they excommunicate themselves.
As the modern apologists for abortion say, the Hippocratic Oath, in the form it USED to be taken by doctors, was interpreted in terms of Christian morality. We tend to see all the Greek thought through a Judeo-Christian lens. The abortion law we live with today is a radical “other,” and is based solely on the absolute power of the mother. It is, ironically, the reverse image of the old Rom,an law which gave the Pater familias life and death authority over his children. If after a child was born, the child was chosen or rejected by the father. If he refused to pick it up, the baby would be thrown out with the trash and probably eaten by dogs.
No... Jon... The Catholic Church is putting salvation in front of moral relativism.
Catholic politicians are not being pushed away from the church, they are walking away from the church. The church is pleading with them to change their ways, or risk the loss of their soul. These politicians seem not to care, and continue on their merry way.
Archbishop Burke came from our Diocease. (LaCrosse, WI)
Sure do miss him...
I'll be a warrior for Christ.
Now... where's my sword? ; )
Seriously... I just attended a men's Catholic conference a few months back. It was so heartening to see 450 men committed to their faith.
Excellent summary!
The prohibition against infanticide gives an idea of the age of it. If that was still an acceptable practice in the wider society, it is quite old.
Didache 2.2:
....thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born
>> Jon O’Brien, the executive director of Catholics for a Free Choice, said, “[Pope Benedict] is still putting dogma ahead of the lived reality of the Catholic laity… it will only push Catholic politicians further from the institutional church.” <<
Yup, that’s pretty much what ex-communication means, ain’t it?
Not much difference between "all" and "most", folks. These people are kidding themselves.
No kidding! Remember when Clinton received Catholic communion in Africa. Cardinal O'Connor (I think it was)spoke sternly on it -- saying that non-Catholics had no right to receive. Mike McCurry make a statement, practically saying the Cardinal didn't know what he was talking about and didn't understand the nature of the Eucharist! These people have no shame!
Talked a bit with my Catholic Mother in law this weekend over this subject. She believes that this will be the catalyst to many nominal Catholics leaving the RCC, and many returning.
Don’t know, but I hope that BXVI takes a firm stand on the abortion issue.
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