Archbishop Naumann defends his call for pro-abortion politicians to refrain from Communion

"It is my intention . . . to have similar pastoral dialogues with other Catholics in elective office who support legalized abortion"

Archbishop Naumann defends his call for pro-abortion politicians to refrain from Communion...

"When a man has stepped over the threshold and allowed himself to fall into mortal sin, he must be purified by trial, but he must also, My children, be purified by the rule of penance and confession.
"What manner of evil is being set now upon mankind that compels him to lose his soul by rejecting the Sacraments, by no longer confessing to his confessor, but coming to receive My Son in sacrifice, while his soul is degraded by sin of mortal nature!" - Our Lady of the Roses, September 7, 1976

LifeSiteNews.com reported on May 27, 2008:

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City on Friday published a question and answer explanation and defense of his May 9 public request to Governor Kathleen Sebelius to refrain from receiving Holy Communion until repenting of her political support for abortion. The Archbishop also confirmed plans to address other pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

"In this column, I want to provide you with my responses to some of the more common questions and misunderstandings regarding my pastoral action." wrote the Archbishop in the diocesan newspaper The Leaven.

"Governor Sebelius holds the highest elective office in the state of Kansas, making her the most prominent Catholic in public life," responded the archbishop to accusations of "singling out" Sebelius.

"It is a time-intensive process to enter into verbal and written dialogue, as is necessary, to insure a person is aware of the spiritual and moral consequences of their actions, as well as to understand the scandal their actions cause for others."

"It is my intention eventually, as much as the limitations of my own time permit, to have similar pastoral dialogues with other Catholics in elective office who support legalized abortion," added the Archbishop.

Naumann went on to explain why Sebelius' abortion support is particularly scandalous, i.e. capable of leading others to sin through bad example.

"Governor Sebelius' public support for legalized abortion, as a Catholic, naturally leads others to question the moral gravity of abortion. In effect, her actions and advocacy for legalized abortion, coupled with her reception of holy Communion, have said to other Catholics: 'I am a good Catholic and I support legalized abortion. You can be a good Catholic and support legalized abortion.'"

Sebelius is known as an aggressive supporter of radical abortion "rights" and has vetoed a number of pieces of common-sense legislation over the years that would have reigned in an out-of-control abortion industry in Kansas. As a result, abortion mills remain uninspected in spite of documented substandard conditions, and abortion laws meant to protect women and viable babies remain unenforced.

Sebelius has close ties to abortionist George R. Tiller, who has funneled huge amounts of campaign contributions to Sebelius in the past. Tiller currently faces 19 criminal charges, a grand jury investigation, and two open investigations with the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts for criminal conduct and violations of the standard of care. Nevertheless, Sebelius remains supportive of Tiller and his notorious abortion business.

The Archbishop also refuted "pro-choice" rhetoric contending that a Catholic politician could be personally opposed to abortion while still supporting a woman's "right to choose."

"Freedom of choice is not an absolute value. All of our laws limit our choices. I am not free to drive while intoxicated or to take another's property or to assault someone else. My freedom ends when I infringe on the more basic rights of another."

Naumann also rejected accusations that bishops have been using the Eucharist in a political attack on the Democratic Party and approvingly cited the example of Cardinal Edward Egan's request for pro-abortion Republican Rudy Giuliani to refrain from Communion.

"I encourage Catholics who are Democrats to remain Democrats, but to change the extremist position of the party on abortion. If the majority of Catholic Democrats objected to the platform of the party supporting legalized abortion, it would change tomorrow," added the Archbishop.

While not yet requiring ministers of the Eucharist to deny Sebelius Holy Communion, the Archbishop left open the possibility of such a mandate in the future.

"I have, at this moment, not asked the ministers of the Eucharist not to give holy Communion to the governor."

In his letter titled "Worthiness to receive Holy Communion," then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that a Catholic politician who would vote for "permissive abortion and euthanasia laws" after being duly instructed and warned, "must" be denied Communion. Ratzinger's letter explained that if such a politician "with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it."

See the archbishop's full article on the issue:

Governor’s Veto Prompts Pastoral Action
http://www.theleaven.com/columnists/archbishop_naumann.htm

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Archbishop Publicly Tells Pro-Abortion Kansas Governor Not to Receive Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051001.html

Bishop: Denying Communion to Obstinate Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians "in many cases becomes the right decision and the only choice"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07013109.html

Abortion-Politician-Communion Scandal Shows Real Lack of Pastoral Concern - Editorial
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052102.html

Read the Archbishop's Q&A:
http://cjonline.com/stories/052308/bre_communion.shtml

Read the Ratzinger on denying Holy Communion:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/050419a.html

To contact the Archbishop for addressing pro-abortion politicians:

Archbishop Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann
12615 Parallel Parkway
Kansas City, KS 66109
Phone: (913) 721-1570
FAX: (913) 721-1577
Email: archkck@archkck.org

********

New York Cardinal Egan slams Giuliani for receiving Communion at Papal Mass - demands meeting...

LifeSiteNews.com reported on April 28, 2008:

The decision by several prominent pro-abortion politicians to publicly receive Holy Communion at papal Masses during the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI, despite clear Church teaching that says that their reception of Communion would constitute a grave sacrilege, may have backfired. While at first it seemed like it would be business as usual, today Cardinal Edward Egan of New York issued a statement condemning the reception of Holy Communion by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The Archdiocese informed LifeSiteNews.com that the issue is being brought forward publicly at this time "because it has become a public issue and a public question."

"The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God," said Egan. "Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind."

He continued, "Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion."

"I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York," said Egan, "and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding."

Responding to the matter in the press, Giuliani said that his faith "is a deeply personal matter and should remain confidential."

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, responded, "The Catholic faith is not simply about one's private and confidential relationship with God. It's public, as evidenced by the fact that Mr. Giuliani received Communion in public. Mr. Giuliani's support of legal abortion is also public. That's why Cardinal Egan's remarks are entirely appropriate, as is his expectation that Mr. Giuliani abide by those remarks."

The Pope, just prior to his elevation to the pontificate, issued a document to the US Bishops which outlined that in keeping with Church teaching, pro-abortion politicians who present themselves for communion even after being warned not to "must" be denied communion.

LifeSiteNews.com asked Joseph Zwilling, Director Office of Communications at the Archdiocese of New York, if there had been any communication on the matter between the Pope or Vatican and the Archdiocese. Zwilling replied, "No."

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Exclusive interview: Ottawa Archbishop explains why pro-abortion politicians are denied Communion...

LifeSiteNews.com reported on March 14, 2008:

The mainstream media has picked up on comments by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast regarding reception of Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians. However, one part of the discussion which has received little discussion is the reason why the Church would deny politicians reception of Communion.

"The Code of Canon Law says in #915 that 'those whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin," explains the religious leader of Canada's national capital,"are not to be admitted to Holy Communion'."

"What is at issue is whether a politician who does not himself or herself participate in an abortion but supports 'a woman's right to choose' (or however else shows support for abortion) is guilty of grave sin and then obstinately persists in this state of grave sin."

Archbishop Prendergast stresses that denying Holy Communion is undertaken out of concern for the offending Catholic (politician in the case at hand). "The Church's concern is for anyone who persists in grave sin, hoping that medicinal measures (which is how excommunication and interdict are to be understood) may draw them away from the wrong path to the truth of our faith."

The Ottawa prelate points out how Christians from the beginning were told of the need to be in good standing with the faith before receiving Communion. "(St.) Paul said that before receiving communion a Christian should take part in self-examination and only then receive the Body of the Lord after necessary conversion (1 Cor 11:28)."

Prendergast has no dislike for politicians, in fact just the opposite. "I deeply admire politicians for their desire to serve the public good and to make the many sacrifices necessary to win public office and to give themselves to public service," he says, adding, "They ought to be motivated by a concern for justice, good order, the public good, etc."

He notes however that "One of the greatest areas for effecting justice is the support of life in the womb and through all stages of life. Abortion goes against the Church's understanding, based on the teaching of Jesus, on the inviolability of innocent human life - including the unborn - and of the obligation of public servants to protect the weakest in society. It is hard to see how the support of abortion is not a very grave evil."

The decision to take "medicinal" remedies, says the Archbishop, is not taken lightly, and is simply an attempt at direct intervention with the politicians. "Perhaps politicians embrace the support of a woman's right to choose unthinkingly, following party policy; this is where the church with the help of its pastors and through fellow believers needs to come to the assistance of those who serve the public good," he said.

"It may take time to work with political figures before one can conclude that they are obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin and that, therefore, denial of communion or of encouraging them not to present themselves for communion is reached as the medicinal remedy to draw them back to the way of Christ, Our Lord, the Way, the Truth and the Life."

One other consideration in addressing seriously such grave violations of Church teaching is scandal. "If one were to allow Catholic political (or other public) figures to freely espouse abortion without drawing to their attention that this is a grave evil," explained Archbishop Prendergast, "other believers might be tended to accept this, not knowing any better and be led on the wrong path: that is what 'scandal' is. One must do everything possible to prevent others from falling away from the path of Christ - i.e. from being scandalized."

See related LifeSiteNews articles:

Pope Supports Excommunication for Pro-Abortion Politicians - "Incompatible with Receiving Communion"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07050901.html

Second U.S. Bishop Says Vatican Letter on Pro-Abort Politicians Withheld from Bishops
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04080603.html

Cardinal McCarrick Continues to Conceal Rome's Insistence that Pro-Abort Politicians Be Denied Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102310.html

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Archbishop Burke says ministers are "held, under pain of mortal sin, to deny the sacraments to the unworthy"

Archbishop Burke preaches tough Communion rule:
Turn away abortion-rights backers under pain of mortal sin...

The Columbus Dispatch reported on October 1, 2007:

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, a veteran of clashes between Catholic bishops and politicians, has attempted for years to enlist fellow bishops to deny Holy Communion to wayward politicians.

Now, the conservative cleric is invoking the church's highest punishment -- mortal sin -- to persuade the lay and ordained Catholics who distribute Communion at Mass to safeguard the sacrament.

Drawing on the works of the late Italian Jesuit scholar Felice Cappello, Burke says those ministers are "held, under pain of mortal sin, to deny the sacraments to the unworthy."

That argument could place Communion ministers on the frontlines of the "wafer wars" as the 2008 presidential race heats up, and as bishops debate a document on "faithful citizenship."

"It is clear that church discipline places an obligation on the minister of Holy Communion to refuse Holy Communion to persons known, by the public, to be in mortal sin," Burke writes in a new journal article.

Burke lays out his case like a legal brief in Periodica de re Canonica, a journal widely read in seminaries and published by Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, an elite school for Catholic clergy.

"No matter how often a bishop or priest repeats the teaching of the church regarding procured abortion, if he stands by and does nothing to discipline a Catholic who publicly supports legislation permitting the gravest of injustices, and, at the same time, presents himself to receive Holy Communion, then his teachings ring hollow," Burke writes.

A former top official in the Signatura, the Vatican's high court, and a noted expert in canon law, Burke previously has kicked off public debates over policing the Communion rail. While bishop of La Crosse, Wis., he ordered clergy to refuse to offer the sacrament to certain pro-abortion-rights politicians.

In 2004, Burke and a handful of other bishops said they would refuse Communion to presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Burke also said Catholics who voted for pro-abortion-rights politicians, such as Kerry, should refrain from taking the sacrament until they confessed their "mortal sin."

In his new article, the archbishop explicitly criticizes his fellow bishops, the majority of whom voted in 2004 to leave the Communion decision up to individual bishops.

Burke retorts: "The question regarding the objective state of Catholic politicians who knowingly and willingly hold opinions contrary to natural moral law would hardly seem to change from place to place."

The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the influential conservative Catholic journal First Things, called Burke's article "a scholarly tour de force."

"The (archbishop's) concern is not a political concern," Neuhaus said. "The article is about, how does the church preserve the sanctity of the Holy Eucharist?"

But the article is ambiguous in some areas, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center in Washington.

If Burke is calling on Communion ministers to disobey their bishops and deny Communion to Catholic politicians, it would be "revolutionary" and "encourage anarchy," Reese said.

"Most bishops do not want ministers of Communion playing policeman at the Communion rail," he added. "This is a significant change in focus. Suddenly, you're going to have a few thousand decisionmakers in parishes across the country."

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis said Burke was unavailable to comment on this article.

"The discipline and rules set down by My Son and those He chose to write the Book of life and love must be adhered to. We direct, in the name of the Trinity, that you bishops and cardinals of the world must use your full powers as hierarchy to excommunicate and defrock all who seek to dethrone My Son and destroy the Faith!" - Our Lady of the Roses, August 21, 1974

"The Eternal City of Rome must now take action by those in rule, the cardinals and the bishops, to restore this city to the light. Those who seek to build a church of man must be removed by the power of excommunication given to those who rule as representatives in My houses, churches upon your earth.
     "As it was in the time of Noe, as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrha, so shall it be upon your earth. Man shall be permitted to fall fast into the abyss. Why? Because he has hardened his heart and closed his ears to the truth. He has given himself to all manners of pleasures of the flesh. Sin has become a way of life in your country and in the countries throughout your earth.
     "The children of God, the candles upon earth, My child, shall suffer much persecution from the agents of darkness.
     "Man runs amiss, My child. He scatters the sheep. He seeks peace where there is no peace. He is going farther into darkness.
     "You shall not gather your flocks, My pastors, by compromising your Faith! You shall not gather the flocks for the Eternal Father in Heaven by giving yourselves to the world, by adopting humanism and modernism as your guide.
     "It is a simple lesson of faith that you must give to the children and to all in your care. As pastor you shall stand before Me and shall you say to Me that your teaching has been pure in My sight? Amen I say unto you, I shall cast you from Me and send you into the abyss. As you sow, so shall you reap." - Jesus, December 31, 1975

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D146 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 1 PDF
D147 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 2 PDF
D186 - Excommunication PDF

Articles...

Archbishop Burke: Bishops must discipline pro-abortion Catholic politicians
https://www.tldm.org/News11/ArchbishopBurkeDisciplineProAbortCatholicPoliticians.htm

Pope Benedict supports excommunication for pro-abortion politicians: "Incompatible with receiving Communion"
https://www.tldm.org/News10/PopeExcommunicateDenyCommunionToProAbortCatholicPoliticians.htm

Pope Benedict XVI says that refusing Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians is a "doctrine of the Church"
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Ratzinger3.htm

Honduran Cardinal: "A politician who publicly supports abortion, he excommunicates himself"
https://www.tldm.org/News10/HonduranCardinalCommunionMustBeDenied.htm

Pope Benedict warns pro-abortion politicians against receiving Communion unworthily
https://www.tldm.org/News10/PopeUnworthyCommunion.htm

Catholics must be free of grave sin to receive Holy Communion
https://www.tldm.org/News6/ReceptionofCommunion.htm

Archbishop Burke: more profoundly sorrowful would be a bishop who failed "to safeguard the worthy reception of Communion"
https://www.tldm.org/news6/Burke2.htm

Sacrilegious Communion and the U.S. bishops
https://www.tldm.org/News6/sacrilege.htm

Austrian Bishop Lugner says mall owner excommunicated for providing space for abortion clinic
https://www.tldm.org/News10/AbortionBishop%20Lugner.htm

Bishop Henry says he would refuse Prime Minister Holy Communion, would consider excommunication
https://www.tldm.org/News7/AbortionBishopHenry.htm

Links...

Bishops and bald eagles, Judie Brown, March 2, 2007
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/brown/070302

Cardinal Ratzinger said, "The minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it." He did not say 'could,' or 'may,' but that he "must," Barbara Kralis, July 6, 2004
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040706

Prohibition is worthless without enforcement, Barbara Kralis, June 24, 2004
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040624

Is not murder just as evil as lust in the eyes of God? Barbara Kralis, June 8, 2004
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040607

Ten questions regarding the denial of the Eucharist, Barbara Kralis, May 24, 2004
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040524

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