Reverend Red

http://thericatholic.com/news/detail.html?sub_id=2632

Mario: “Kennedy wasn’t asked to stop taking communion because of his policy stance but because he publicly announced that he could both support abortion and be a good Catholic; very few people, even abortion supporters, would make that claim.”

If you recall, Nancy Pelosi’s public statement perverting the Catholic church’s stance on abortion also got her in big trouble. She was summoned by the bishop in San Francisco for a private meeting in which she was repremanded for her statement to say the least.

As a Catholic, I think the church has been too lenient on politicians who support abortion as well as priests in political activist roles. Also, since the beginning of the entire health care debate, I’ve only read of one bishop who was questioning the entire idea of taxpayers being forced to pay for a mandated health care program. His name is Bishop Nickless of Colorado and he is fantastic.

very true, coming at things from different perspectives and angles is never a bad thing!

Catholics are not supposed to receive the Blessed Sacrament if they are in a state of mortal sin. Many mortal sins can be seemingly minor things such as skipping Mass on Sunday for a reason other than illness or emergency. Of course, to commit mortal sin, a person needs to know an act is wrong. In Rep. Kennedy’s case he has been repeatedly instructed directly by the bishop.

Normally, a priest has no way of knowing whether somebody who approaches for communion is in a state of mortal sin. The public scandal caused by Rep. Kennedy makes it necessary to deny communion to him. To allow communion after such a public scandal may lead other Catholics to believe that abortion is not a matter of grave concern.

Sadly, just as so many citizens are ignorant of the Constitution, so many Catholics are ignorant of their Catechisms. It has been available in English since 1994. If anyone wants to read it, it’s available online.

Also, what conservative hides the death penalty behind such euphemisms as “choice”? When have you heard someone say, “I support the death penalty but oppose anyone who carries it out”? Furthermore, what “choice” does the pre-born human have that the convicted murder has or had that could have caused them to avoid his or her fate? We know a murder could have chosen not to kill. Could a baby “choose” to be conceived in another’s womb? Could the abortive mother “chosen” to use a condom or abstain?

The same with the death penalty. We can say it’s a political issue, but from what I understand the Catholic Church’s official position is the taking of any life is considered immoral, that only God should decide when someone dies. I personally don’t ascribe to that belief, but again, if they can withhold communion for politicians supporting abortion, it seems logical they could also withhold for a politician supporting the death penalty.

I get the feeling that Bishop Tobin has a very high threshold here; if Kennedy had made any statement, in public or in private, that showed that he understood how his stance on abortion was hurting his overall communion with the Church, I doubt anything would have been done. As it is, he really doesn’t seem to get that point. Rather than punishment, this is an act of mercy, Catholically speaking, because it will hopefully force Kennedy to reevaluate his faith.

I can certainly appreciate the fear in some that this sort of use of power over the distribution of sacraments could spread into other areas and become abused, but Canon Law, which is rarely altered (the most recent version came out in 1983, before that it was revised in 1917) is not nearly so changeable in its interpretation and application. The strength of Canon Law on this point and a few others (like attacking the Pope or desecrating the Eucharist) is a reflection of the gravity of the situation. Health care and other issues, as serious as they are, come nowhere close to qualifying for such special attention.

It is only fair to add that in spite of the softness of many U.S. bishops on topics like immigration and health care, the Catholic Church is a most fierce opponent of three related political schools: Nihilism, Socialism, and Communism. Think back to the much rumored ( and true) stories of the cooperation between President Reagan and Pope John Paul II in the overthrow of Communism in Poland, and look back at the writings of the Popes on Socialism and Communism. There is tremendous intellectual firepower in those works for those of you looking for resources.

Reverend Red