Posted on 05/11/2008 5:05:36 PM PDT by NYer
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas has been dealing with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for a while now regarding her scandalous and unrepentant support, as a Catholic, of abortion. He has now taken further action. The Kansas City Star reports:
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should stop taking Communion until she repudiates her support for the “serious moral evil” of abortion, the Catholic archbishop for northeast Kansas says.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, also criticized the governor Friday for her recent veto of a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion providers.
The Archbishop, in his weekly column, wrote:
Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas. My concern has been, as a pastor, both for the spiritual well-being of the governor but also for those who have been misled (scandalized) by her very public support for legalized abortion.
It has been my hope that through this dialogue the governor would come to understand her obligation: 1) to take the difficult political step, but necessary moral step, of repudiating her past actions in support of legalized abortion; and 2) in the future would use her exceptional leadership abilities to develop public policies extending the maximum legal protection possible to the unborn children of Kansas.
Having made every effort to inform and to persuade Governor Sebelius and after consultation with Bishop Ron Gilmore (Dodge City), Bishop Paul Coakley (Salina) and Bishop Michael Jackels (Wichita), I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion.
Recently, it came to my attention that the governor had received holy Communion at one of our parishes. I have written to her again, asking her to respect my previous request and not require from me any additional pastoral actions.
Read the entire column. Dr. Ed Peters comments:
Canon 915 as a tourniquet to staunch the wound that Gov. Sebelius has inflicted on the Mystical Body of Christ. But Canon 915 is only designed to keep a bad situation from getting worse; what is ultimately necessary here is repentance by a prominent Catholic of her grave pro-abortion activities. In the meantime, if Canon 915 doesn't stop the bleeding, the archbishop's only alternative would be surgery under Book Six of the Code of Canon Law, "Sanctions in the Church."
And no one should want that.
Read his entire post.
Her father, John J. Gilligan, was a ‘Rat governor of Ohio in the early 1970s. He was pretty bad, too.
Refers to former Ohio governor John J. Gilligan, father of Sebelius.
Add to that the fact that some priests, especially those with "lenient" bishops, have no objection to giving them communion. And some churches are actually run by orders (e.g., Jesuits, Paulists), over whom the bishop has less practical authority. Theoretically, no priest is allowed to perform priestly duties without the permission of the bishop of the diocese. But if the priest is a member of an order and not a diocesan priest, the bishop has fewer means of enforcing a ruling, say by pulling a recalcitrant priest out of parish work and sticking him in some kind of chancery position or moving him to an undesirable parish.
And if push comes to shove and bishop acts, there's bound to be a media circus over it -- and whose side do you think the bulk of the press will be on?
It's going to take time to straighten this out, and probably moving more slowly than a lot of us would like is, in the long run, the most effective way to do it.
Nice try there Father Joe, and God Bless you for your efforts, but the Governor thinks that public policy is better served by allowing the unlimited slaughtering of unborn babies.
Maybe if Pope Benedict were to authorize you to state clearly in public that your pro-abortion Governor will be excommunicated and expelled from the Catholic Church, maybe that would get her attention eh?
Hey, it’s a thought.
The Archbishop needs to follow up with a directive for ex-communication for the Governor.
On Judgment Day, the Governor will not able to box with God on her support of killing babies.
I am glad that the Archbishop is doing the job he has been entrusted to do. More Catholic and Protestant and Evangelical leaders need to do the same.
“Give Teddy Kennedy this much credit: he did NOT take communion at Nationals stadium the day of the papal mass.” ???????????????
I read that Teddy Kennedy did not rise to receive communion but that some bozo priest actually brought communion to Teddy.
As for Governor Sibelious, she is a well-known CINO, and a scandal to her faith. Hilariously, tonight on Fox news, a panel was discussing possible VP candidates, and Kathleen Sibelious was suggested because she is/was Catholic. Those Democrats just really do not get it, do they? Sibelious would be like a red flag to serious Catholics and would be rejected as an insult to us. Only today on this very forum there was an article posted that said her bishop requested she not receive commuion anymore.
Whoops! Holy, smoly. I think I’m getting old too fast. Sorry for the silly reference to an article that I was actually posting to. If this keeps up, I’ll soon be at the mental level of the Democrats, and think Obama is the Messiah. If that ever happens, I’ll turn in my conservative credentials.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all.
God bless the bishop for doing his duty.
Sebelius has excomminicated herself.
The bishop has been publicly explaining things to the public, while he has been privately explaining things to her.
She has arrogantly flaunted her refusal to accept his discreet guidance.
Now, he has raised the stakes, and openly corrected her, for all to see.
He issued a public condemnation of her willful arrogance, and when he issues a public ban on her receiving communion, she will not be able to hide behind,
“I didn’t know. The bishop is so mean....”
Cardinals and Bishops need to be pointing out all Catholic politicians. I look at the abortion supporters as CINO (Catholic in name only). All of the abortion supporters should be banned from receiving Communion and should be excommunicated.
Life is not something that can conveniently be used to get votes. It is a gift from God.
Great points. More Cardinals and Bishops need to be standing up for life. Supporters of abortion should be barred from Communion and excommunicated.
Life is precious. Those that support and encourage the taking of life will be remembered on Judgment Day.
I think it is rather offensive people went around taking pictures and spying on people at a Papal Mass. They should worry about their own sins rather than Teddy Kennedy’s. A Papal Mass is no place for people to pass judgement on others.
If the Catholic Church wants to discipline politicians, let the Catholic Church do so. I encourage that Catholic Church to request that it’s parishoners to oppose arbortion.
But to engage in this kind of behavior during Mass....
I shouldn’t pry, but why didn’t your momma try for an annulment?
We’ve never met Archbishop Naumann, but know Bishop Coakley and Bishop Jackels, both fine men and it doesn’t surprise me at all they they concurred with the Archbishop. What surprises me is how I have also come to know just how blessed we are here in Kansas. It really breaks my heart to hear from my fellow Catholics here on FR just how bad some of these Bishops elsewhere are, where they are. What you all good people have to put up with shouldn’t have to happening at all.
God strengthen the Archbishop to continue to do his duty and others to follow his example. When prominent politicians start being excommunicated, Joe and Joanne Six Pack will sit up and take notice that no one is ‘above God’s law’.
The bishops intended the address following Vespers, to be private. Alas, the Vatican decided otherwise and the media were invited in for full coverage. Here is his address:
And you are absolutely right - we are now seeing the fruit born from his visit.
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story about your parents. And you are right about politicians living above the law - I’m from NY ;-)
Three cheers for a bishop with some backbone!!
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