Rep. Nancy Pelosi / Archbishop Chaput
Posted on 08/25/2008 1:51:53 PM PDT by NYer
.- In a statement eloquently titled “On the Separation of Sense and State,” the Archbishop of Denver, Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., and his Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley harshly criticized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for giving a confusing view of the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion, during a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate” –says the statement- “tend to take a hard line in talking about the ‘separation of Church and state.’ But their idea of separation often seems to work one way.”
“In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a ‘political’ issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.”
Archbishop Chaput’s statement recognizes Pelosi as “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills” but adds that “regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.”
During the Meet the Press interview on August 24, Pelosi responded to a question about when human life begins by saying that “as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.”
The Archdiocese of Denver argues that since Speaker Pelosi claims to have studied the issue “for a long time,” “she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery’s Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977).
The statement recall’s Connery’s conclusion: “The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion.”
The Archdiocese’s statement also quotes “the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”
Bonhoeffer, a strong critic and later victim of the Nazi regime in his native Germany wrote that “the destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder.”
Archbishop Chaput’s statement continues, explaining that, “ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or ‘ensouled.’ But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.”
Archbishop Chaput also highlighted that “we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today’s religious alibis for abortion and a so-called ‘right to choose’ are nothing more than that – alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.”
“Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it – whether they’re famous or not – fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith,” the statement adds.
Finally Archbishop Chaput recalls that “the duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the ‘separation of Church and state’ does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it’s always important to know what our faith actually teaches.”
Read the full statement at: http://www.archden.org/images/ArchbishopCorner/ByTopic/onseparationofsense%26state_openlettercjc8.25.08.pdf
Rumor has it that Chaput has been selected to replace NY Cardinal Egan. May this rumor be true!!! If ever NYS needed a strong leader, it is now!
That is more horrifying than having her leave it at a mystery. Now she is admitting that she is fine with possibility of the destruction of life. Doesn't matter either way to her.
Obama is the same - he claims to have no idea when life begins. 50/50 chance that it is murder, but he'll support it anyway. Going a step further, he says, even if the aborted baby moves (he or she is alive) it is not worth saving.
Forget about 'No blood for oil' The Dems are willing to give the blood of infants for expediency and votes/power.
Maybe Rev Wright is right... G-D America if this stands. I would see no reason for Him to bless her.
I believe he covered that with the following statement:
“Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it – whether they’re famous or not – fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith,” the statement adds.
My Slovak Pastor had a little speech at the end of Mass yesterday.
He started with, “I know I am going to offend some of you....” then went on to explain that the only time he was physically ill at a CNN report about the “Born Alive Act” and Obama.
He said, “I’m I telling you how to vote? No, but the USCCB is against all forms of abortion, including partial birth and for the “Born Alive” act. That tells you what you should do as a Catholic.”
God Love My Pastor!!!!!
Because our Lord came for the sinners. What good is accomplished by tossing them out of the Church. The proper and most Christ like approach is to correct them - first in private then, if necessary, publicly. The bishop is following in the footsteps of Christ, the Shepherd.
Yes ... I have heard this. Can you provide links to more detailed connections between the two? I have also read that one of Obama's major financial backers (is it also Singer?) is seeking to postpone the issuance of children's birth certificates for up to 2 years ... just in case .... the child has a life threatening birth defect or illness. This would then preclude the necessity to issue formal death certificates. They could simply terminate the child's life, as if it had never been born. What do you know of this?
Agreed, Jesus did come to save us sinners. However, our Lord clearly indicated that eventually...if someone who claims to be a brother (or sister) is intransigent, and won't be corrected privately or publicly, than they must be thrown out of the Church...and this must be public.
Pelosi and other politicians like her--who base their careers on being pro-abortion AND Roman Catholic fit this description perfectly.
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." (Matt. 18:15-17)
Oddly enough this passage is immediately followed by one commonly attributed to establish Roman Catholic authority: "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
What good is a Church's authority if never exercised?
Not a chance.
The Pope is right when he said, "God bless America.
Talk is cheap.
Actions speak louder than words.
If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear, does it make a sound.
Cliches, yes! Trite, maybe! The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth - priceless.
As a side benefit of the public excommunication of public officials, it makes it clear to the faithful that what the public officials are doing or supporting is wrong.
Pelosi’s comments go farther than any pro abortion Catholic pol. I had the Blessed Mario as my governor for 12 years and he parsed the personal/public issue in ways that could make your hair hurt. But even Mario never proposed to speak for Church Dogma. In Catholic theology Pelosi would be responsible for the action of any Catholic who followed her view of abortion and Catholicism.
self government, frequently lauded by those who can fathom it, who can see its incalculable blessings as the greatest gift every given a nation (given, but still having to be apprehended by bloodshed and sacrifice), is not a spectator sport. it is simply unthinkable for an American to adopt a passive attitude about the his government.
Or a Catholic his Faith. Good post.
a_r
Jesus had no trouble clearing the temple of the money changers. Pelosi, Biden, Kennedy, Kerry, etc.... are no better.
The Catholic Church does not need members that will lead others into sin. Much better to kick these few out to send a clear message to the rest of the flock. They can always publicly recant their errors, go to confession and come back into communion.
Jesus welcomed the woman caught in adultery when she mended her ways.
Just passing on what was given me.
I proofed it, reposted it, asked the Mod to delete the first one, and still missed at least one typo.
Agustine believed that "life began" when the woman could feel the baby move. He believed that this was the time of ensouldment. I believe that this is what some refer to as "the quickening", but I could be wrong.
I did a google on it, but all the recent references were to Pelosi and I just can't remember the quote from Augustine.
Catholic churches don’t have Sunday School.
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