I'm not a Catholic, and although I have some knowledge of the Catholic Church I'm certainly no expert on their liturgy. However, I'd assume that Catholic bishops and cardinals are experts, moreso than politicians.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., like John Kerry (news - web sites) a Catholic who supports abortion rights, said Thursday she will continue to ask for Holy Communion in spite of Vatican (news - web sites) opposition to pro-choice Catholics doing so.There appears to be some disagreement among Church leaders still, because the archbishop of Washington DC says he's not going to deny pro-choice people communion."I fully intend to receive Communion, one way or another. That's very important to me," Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference.
A top Vatican cardinal said last week that priests must deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Meanwhile, it looks like Pelosi should become a Protestant.
Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat who was raised in a devout Italian Catholic home, told reporters, "I believe that my position on choice is one that is consistent with my Catholic upbringing, which said that every person has a free will and has the responsibility to live their lives in a way that they would have to account for in the end."If you don't like the Catholic Church telling you want to believe, then you're in the wrong religion.
The whole hateful bigotry against 1960 Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy was that he was unfit to be president because he would take orders from Rome. Now Pelosi comes along and says she won't take orders from Rome and some people, who aren't even members of her church, say she should leave that church.
Well, I've had people tell me I'm an atheist for believing that the theory of evolution might be true. Now, those people are almost never a member of my denomination, which has no official position on the theory.
See this, Michael. I doubt you'll like it, though.
Oh, by the way, I'm a Catholic.
I agree that pro-choice Catholics are in an odd position, though I'm not sure why they are being singled out. After all, they are not the only nominal Catholics who disagree with basic teachings of the Catholic Church. Why not also deny communion to any nominal Catholics who do not believe that the Pope is infallible?
Mr. Porretto,
I started to read yoou article and then ended up scrolling through about half of it so maybe you addressed this and I didn't see it but no one is MAKING Kerry run for office. He could be the person who privately espouses this and still take Communion. No one forced him to run for any office, least of all the Presidency. Sometimes there are consequences for our choices whether we think they are fair or not.
FP: I read the post, but I'm not entirely sure I understand your position. I think you're saying that although the Church can prohibit people from taking Communion, it shouldn't, because any use of that power would ipso facto serve to influence Catholic politicians. Right?
It seems to me, as a non-Catholic, that the Catholic Church should make its decisions based purely on theology, without any concern for what the political effects of that theology may be. If they think it's wrong to allow pro-choice people (or specifically legislators, because of their additional influence over the issue) to take Communion, then that's what they should do. It may end up having political effects, but those effects don't determine the rightness or wrongness of the greater theological question.
The Cardinal did not state what should happen in the US. He put out a huge document which never mentioned abortion but simply said (in a very heavily footnoted document) that if people come up indiscriminately to receive communion when they do not qualify that the pastor should stop that. When asked about specific individuals he punted to the local bishops, as he should.
The controversy is media generated. If anybody should be laying out what is the general norm for the Catholic Church, it should be the Vatican.
I was raised and educated in the Roman Catholic Church and can clarify part of the controversy.
Catholic doctrine prohibits anyone from receiving Communion who is not in a state of grace. To a Catholic that means the recipient has no unforgiven sins on their conscience. The sacrament of penance is available to be officially absolved of your sins, and normally priests and bishops make no judgements about whether you have had your sins forgiven.
The point where this becomes an issue is "public sinners". Priests are prohibited from giving Communion to "public sinners" in order not to undermine the whole setup. If someone murders somebody in church and asks for Communion without first receiving absolution and performing the prescribed penance, the priest is enjoined to not give him
Communion.
Now are Pelosi and Kerry public sinners? They publicly advocate the legality and availabilty of an act the church considers a grave sin. Does that make them public sinners? That's the point on which the internal debate in the Catholic church turns.
Actual theologians may have more nuance to add.