Posted on 09/03/2009 6:57:00 AM PDT by TaxachusettsMan
Cardinal O’Malley issued a forceful defense of his decision to participate in the funeral of Senator Kennedy; revealed the substance of a conversation he had with President Obama: Catholic bishops are “anxious to support a plan for universal health care, but we will not support a plan that will include a provision for abortion or could open the way to abortions in the future.’’
But the most impassioned part of the cardinal’s blog post is a de facto plea for greater civility among Catholics when discussing divisive issues. He warned against “harsh judgments’’ and attributing “the worst motives’’ to people with whom Catholics have disagreements, saying “these attitudes and practices do irreparable damage to the communion of the Church.’’
O’Malley said he regretted Kennedy’s support for abortion rights. But “As archbishop of Boston, I considered it appropriate to represent the church at this liturgy out of respect for the senator, his family, those who attended the Mass and all those who were praying for the senator and his family at this difficult time. We are people of faith and we believe in a loving and forgiving God from whom we seek mercy.’’
Raymond Arroyo at EWTN wrote: “The prayer intercessions, endless eulogies, image of the cardinal reading prayers, and finally Cardinal McCarrick interring the remains sent an uncontested message: One may defy church teaching, publicly lead others astray, deprive innocent lives of their rights, and still be seen a good Catholic, even an exemplary one.’’
Also praise. Rev. James Martin, associate editor at America magazine, wrote, “Cardinal O’Malley’s decision to attend the funeral is large-hearted, compassionate, pastoral, sensitive and, above all, Christian.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
ok you said everything that pains the hearts of Catholics everywhere. God bless, Nora
You are incorrect. You are confusing a Mass intention with a Funeral Mass.
From: http://deacbench.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-can-have-catholic-funeral.html
First, we must distinguish between offering a funeral Mass and celebrating a Mass whose intention is the eternal repose of a particular soul.
Since the latter is basically the private intention of the priest, albeit offered at the request of a particular person, and since there are practically no limitations as to whom we may pray for, almost any intention can be admitted. In cases that might cause scandal, especially if the person were denied a funeral Mass, it would not be prudent to make this intention public.
A funeral Mass on the other hand is basically a public act in which the Church intercedes for the deceased by name. A funeral Mass is one which uses the formulas found in the Roman Missal and the ritual for funerals. Some of these formulas may be used even if the deceased's body is not present.
Because of its public nature the Church's public intercession for a departed soul is more limited. A funeral Mass can be celebrated for most Catholics, but there are some specific cases in which canon law requires the denial of a funeral Mass.
Canons 1184-1185 say:
"Canon 1184 §1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death, the following must be deprived of ecclesiastical funerals:
1/ notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics;
2/ those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith;
3/ other manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful.
"§2. If any doubt occurs, the local ordinary is to be consulted, and his judgment must be followed.
"Canon 1185. Any funeral Mass must also be denied a person who is excluded from ecclesiastical funerals."
Catholic Charities has become an adjunct of the social welfare system. This is owing to the lead of the USCCB.
The Catholics in the northern cities were competing with the blacks for the lowest kind of jobs. They were not opposed to slavery because as it kept blacks from moving to the northern cities. The Mid-westerners who made up Sherman’s army were opposed to the expansion of slavery because they would keep slave owners from taking over farms lands they wanted for themselves.
"The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops" - St. John Chrysostom
O’Malley is a poor advertisement for “the year of the priest.”
Interesting. Why do you think he showed up?
Thanks for the cut and paste tutorial on canon law.
And, again, for MISSING MY ENTIRE POINT.
Obviously, I was PRESUMING section 1’s having been met, GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE PARISH PRIEST ATTESTED TO ATTENDING KENNEDY DURING HIS ILLNESS and the PAROCHIAL VICAR during the “turn for the worse.”
I was ATTEMPTING to answer your FELLOW fact-checker, Salvation, whose INTERMINABLE HARANGUING about Kennedy’s going to Confession and being anointed has filled several threads.
Talk about people with LOTS of time on their hands . . .
Kennedy proudly backed death of the innocent and the parading of other obominations.
Would this Cardinal have given Hitler a hug as he killed people in some efforts to show the church’s willingness to bring him back to Christ in an open national forum?
Seems Christ knocked over lots of tables in anger as people turned a religious place into a swapmeet for money.
Based on that example, I think Christ would not have done what this Cardinal did at all.
This kind of stuff is what gets Catholics leaving the church IMO.
I am a Catholic and I think O’Malley is full of CR@P!
I was also referring to the many Roman priests and Bishopsshalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
who support the Democrat Party and it's Platform.
I don’t quite get the connection.....he was there, right? He was not bound with duct tape or other means to keep him there, right? No one (presumably) had a gun to his head, right?
For whatever purpose or rationale, he CHOSE to be there.
Or, am I missing your meaning?
Militant
If anyone thinks Kennedy’s only problem with Catholic teaching was abortion they should sit down and study the catechism. I am pretty certain that several of the commandments and moral precepts cover the whole leaving someone to drown while you sober up and get your story straight.
The Cardinal should have simply said that out of respect for the family members and in hopes that Kennedy had made his peace with God he attended the funeral. But he made things worse by trying to put the “he really was a great Catholic, if you think about it” spin on things. Sure mention mercy, mention our frailness as humans in trying to overcome sin, mention faith and hope in Christ.
But don’t use it as a means to lecture faithful Catholics that they might be too strident for your tastes. O’Malley has politicized this issue. And I mean in terms of Church politics not secular politics.
And ya know it would not hurt more funeral goers to hear that we face judgment as a consequence of our sins and that our only salvation from that is through Christ.
Blessed be God, forever.
Oh. Yes, absolutely! They are the problem within the church. Like the lib politicians are the problem within this country. Anti-American - they just wear different hats but their hearts are the same. The clergy wear a ‘religious’ mask - unfortunate for them, it’s a see through mask. Light can see through darkness.
God bless Raymond Arroyo.
Obviously to be Republican is to be holy, more knowledgeable than a Cardinal, probably even better Catholics than the Pope. If they were a Confessor, they would probably ask if the penitent is a Democrat and tell him to leave because he couldn’t believe him.
The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops. - Saint Athanasius
NOTHING in my posting deals with the holiness or lack thereof in the deceased.
EVERYTHING is about the integrity of our funeral liturgy, the same for Pope or Politician or Pauper, Democrat, Republican, Independent.
Wise up.
And take the ex- off your screen name.
And we can add the Holocaust to their ‘do nothing’ list.
Absolutely not effing true.
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