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Posted on 02/12/2009 4:05:04 PM PST by wagglebee
The Catechism, in paragraphs 279 through 299, says over and over again that God created all things ... "freely" ... "out of nothing" ... "in and by the eternal Word" ... "through his wisdom".
I'm not even sure what a "purely natural phenomenon" is, to a Catholic, since God upholds and sustains all things, even the "purely natural" ones, at all times.
In either case, it is known with infallible certitude. This priest is simply flat wrong.
The Church teaches, INFALLIBLY, that intentional killing of any innocent person is grave matter.
That is: Murder is always a mortal sin and a crime, and abortion is murder.
This priest is an idiot and/or a liar. What he is saying is that “Thou shalt not murder” may or may not be one of the Ten Commandments.
If the Church doesn’t teach that infallibly, it doesn’t teach ANYTHING infallibly.
Pope JPII did teach on this topic, ex cathedra.
> While I suppose that it is true that no pope has ever made an ex cathedra proclamation against abortion, it is also true that the Church has NEVER indicated that abortion was not a sin.
I recall decades ago Pope John Paul II describing abortion as “a violence”...
I guess this provides Pope Benedict the perfect opportunity to make an “ex cathedra” pronouncement and remove all doubt. There is something about this pope that tells me he would not shy away from doing that — or anything else necessary, for that matter.
I really like this Pope.
> You can’t have evolution and and anti-abortion or anti-euthenasia position.
What arrant nonsense! Of course you can. None of these concepts are mutually exclusive.
Well said.
Thank you!
No church ever has been nor ever will be the Body of Christ...The Body of Christ is 'people', proven time and again by Scripture...
You don't figure it was her God-given gift of logic and reason that all Catholics receive that formed her position???
Said Citation was delivered - in the presence of the Cardinal-Archbishop Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap - by Rep. Tom Sannicandro (D-Ashland), a "Catholic" politician whose pro-abortion rating is 100% from NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) and whose pro-gay marriage support was considered crucial enough that MassEquality was one of the prime supporters of his candidacy.
No wonder - another story being run on FR today - some people are upset with the Jesuits placing crucfixes in the classrooms at BC after a 40 year absence!
Since the Catholic Faith has meant nothing around here for so long, what's the big deal now?
Doubly so in Canada, I guess!
Does a pope decide for himself what is to be 'ex cathedra', or is it something God instructs him to do???
> Does a pope decide for himself what is to be ‘ex cathedra’, or is it something God instructs him to do???
An excellent question — I don’t know. I’m not a Catholic yet, I’m in the process of studying.
Peter has spoken. The discussion is over.
Now, this priest is either a fool who has not read Evangelium Vitae or an outright liar who has read it. He really needs our prayers.
My comment was in response to Cokie's comment above.
The answer to your question: If Cokie were using her God-given gift of logic and reason, Catholic or not, she would find the idea of partial birth abortion profoundly abhorrent and barbaric, as well as deeply offensive.
Who says such logic and reasoning ability is received only by Catholics? There are plenty examples of Catholics with little reasoning ability: Nancy Pelosi, our current vice president, and Cokie Roberts on moral and feminist issues, as well as plenty examples of non-Catholics with stellor logic and reasoning abilites like Dennis Praeger, George Will, and Bill Krystol (sp?).
I just jumped into the discussion at this point, and have not read the rest of the thread. I'm assuming other FReeper Catholics have explained the relevant parts of Holy Scripture and the Church's unbroken and UNANIMOUS testimony for the past 20 centuries.
In fact, the teaching against abortion is probably the (!) single (!) clearest (!) example (!) of the authority of the "universal ordinary magisterium" , which means the teaching of all the bishops dispersed throughout the world (including the pope) which, ultimately, comes to us from the Apostles, who also wrote the books of the New Testament and through whose teachings we know the words and deeds of our Savior Jesus Christ.
The teachings of the 'ordinary magisterium' are considered infallible if they are indeed universal, that is, taught as being applicable to everybody at all times.
The teaching against the directly intended and deliberate destruction of an innocent life is a moral absolute. It applies under any circumstances: in law and in custom, war and in medicine, whether by abortion, infanticide, or euthanasia, a bullet, a bomb, or a baseball bat.
It is indeed mind-blowing that a prominent soi-disant Catholic University President pretends not to know this. Such people often fancy themselves "Vatican II Catholics," ignoring what Vatican II actually said: "Life must be protected with utmost care from the first moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes" (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, "Constitution on the Church in the Modern World"), citing sources going back to the first century AD.
(BIG GRIN!) Thanks for that clarity!
Wow. What a bloodbath.
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