[valkyrieanne]

As a non-Catholic, my question is, what parts of "official Vatican pronouncements" are Catholics allowed to ignore? The Vatican's opposition to war in Iraq has already been noted. Are American Catholics free to follow their consciences on abortion but obey the Vatican on Iraq? Are they to follow their consciences on Iraq but avoid abortion?

[Desdemona]

As a non-Catholic, my question is, what parts of "official Vatican pronouncements" are Catholics allowed to ignore?

We're not. The Iraq question is more a matter of the Vatican not being convinced completely there is a case for war and a request that all other avenues be exhausted before actually going to war.

The problem with this statement is that it lacks teeth. At the very least, public refusal to administer Communion to these politicians would have been a good idea.

[Steve_Seattle]

In theory, Catholics are supposed to heed all Vatican pronouncements on moral issues, although not all of these pronouncements - such as the pope's views on Iraq - have the force of official doctrine. In practice, people can pretty much do what they want. "Excommunication" is very rare and is usually reserved for individuals who either (1) are members of the clery, or who hold a teaching position in a Catholic educational institution, and (2) who publically and persistently disagree with a basic church doctrine or moral teaching. Church teaching on abortion is unambiguous, whereas the pope's views on Iraq would be evaluated in terms of the church's "just war" teaching, and there is a lot more wiggle room there. It is extremely unlikely that any Catholic would be excommunicated over disagreement with the pope over America's Iraq policy.