Thursday, August 28, 2008
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The Bishop of Fargo Adds His Statement Condemning Pelosi (And By Extension, Obama).
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Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
9:51 AM
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As noted below, CNN won't cover this letter from Bishop Aquila, but the Catholics of North Dakota are sure to hear of it. Key excerpt:
The Christian teaching on abortion throughout history is unchanged. Human life from the moment of conception is to always be respected, treated with dignity, and protected. Catholics who support so called abortion rights support a false right, promote a culture of death, and are guided by the “father of lies” rather than by the light and truth of Jesus Christ. Out of respect for the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Church, any Catholic who supports abortion rights has placed himself or herself outside of visible unity with the Church and thus should refrain from receiving Holy Communion. Catholics have a responsibility to study the teaching of the Church on human life and when life begins. This teaching is affirmed by revelation and is a basic truth of natural reason. I ask all of you in your presentations, teaching, or preaching to state the truth of this teaching in an unequivocal manner.
This is more of the unprecedented blunt teaching that has poured out of the Roman Catholic Church leadership following Obama's "above my pay grade" obfuscation and Pelosi's Meet the Press deception. MSM is blinkered to such significant statements, but Catholic voters are not. It is impossible to miss the logic of these messages: Faithful Catholics cannot vote for Obama because he is an abortion rights radical and receive Holy Communion with a clear conscience.
UPDATE: PowderTracks is following this issue closely.
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As a Recovering Catholic who left the church with disgust over the priest scandal and complex cover-up which followed, I'd like to add that the church has zero credibility on this issue if they continue to link it to the rights of children.
No organization has participated in systematically protecting the careers and lives of child abusers more than the Catholic church.
And PS: The Catholic Church is against abortion, but also against birth control? Kindly explain! |
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holding back, ex-pat.
But now that you've launched it, good for you.
Hugh has been beating his readers over the head for days with post after post about the Catholic church hierarchy vs. Nancy Pelosi.
Yet pedophilia and the Church's overall opposition to birth control of any modern sort never get mentioned.
As I recall, Hugh is an ex-Catholic who left the church to pursue justification by faith alone. But his mystical fascination with priests, popes, robes and hats has never quite left him. |
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the last I checked. The whole state is Lutheran Norsky-Svensky--Think Marge in "Fargo".
Trust me. |
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Ex-pat, Briggsy, Giselle,
Our dear Lord was conceived when the Holy Sprit "overshadowed" the Virgin Mary, . At that moment He became fully human and fully divine. One cannot say that "ensoulment" took place later. Luke tells us that after the Annunciation, "Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could" to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth cries out "...blessed is the fruit of your womb". By taking on our humanity, the Word of God invested an unassaible diginity to the human person from the moment of conception.
We know today that the process of life starts at the moment of conception. An uninterupted process is launched that has been unequivocally confirmed by science. All of the "stuff" needed to proceed on this contiuum is there at the moment of conception. Again, we know from scripture that Christ became like us in all things but sin. If His ensoulment was not delayed, then neither can ours be. In this instance, science buttresses the Christian's belief that life begins at conception.
It seems to me that all people of good will who are committed to the dignity of persons would set aside any animosity towards the Catholic church and support the defense of the unborn.
Peace. |
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NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS!!! |
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As an ex Catholic (you seem to be into being ex-anything) you should understand the Church's view on birth control. Basically, contraception is against Natural Law. Sex is meant for procreation.
By the way, saying that the Catholic church has no leg to stand on because of the abuse scandals doesn't ring true. They are separate issues. The church teaches that abortion is wrong. That belief doesn't change because of the scandals. The church has a lot of work to do because of the scandals. I'm not denying that, but if Pelosi says she's Catholic, she is either in step with the church on abortion or not. She's not. No amount of scandal will change that. If the church has lost some listeners due to the scandals, that is fair and expected. But again, one has nothing to do with the other. |
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"No one cares"? This issue alone will be Obama's undoing, mark my words. |
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On the first night of the DNC convention Archbishop Chaput was at the site of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in a primarily Latino and African-American suburb of Denver (some things never change).
"Here in America, and especially here tonight, we need to remember two basic truths," Archbishop Chaput said.
"Here's the first truth," he said. "Society has an obligation -- and Christians have a Gospel duty -- to provide adequate and compassionate support for unwed and abandoned mothers; women facing unintended pregnancies; and women struggling with the aftermath of an abortion. It's not enough to talk about 'pro-life politics.' The label 'pro-life' demands that we work to ensure social policies that will protect young woman and families, and help them generously in their need. [...]
"Here's the second truth. Killing an unborn child is never the right answer to a woman's or society's problems. Acts of violence create a culture of violence -- and abortion is the most intimate form of violence there is. It wounds the woman, it kills the unborn child and it poisons the roots of justice and charity that bind us all into one human family."
"Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortion and family suppression services in the United States," he explained. "This facility in this minority neighborhood should offend every African-American and Latino family, and all of us, because every child lost to abortion here subtracts one more life, one more universe of possibilities and talent, from the future of this community. [...] The business of Planned Parenthood is the prevention of the future -- and business is good, and very profitable, at the expense of this community."
The archbishop was joined by a niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., Alveda King; Reverend Willard Johnson, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church; and Denver's Auxiliary Bishop James Conley. |
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Ex-pat, Briggsy, Giselle, NeoConScum, Truthseeker ,
Typical ignorant democrat response!!! If your wrong on the facts, change the subject. Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Obama support genocide and NOTHING will every change that!!! |
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As a revert to Catholicism from Evangelical Christianity, I am always amazed at the overt anti-Catholic rhetoric that apparently is acceptable within our society. This would never be tolerated with any other group in our society including women, minorities, and other faith traditions (yes, even Evangelicals). |
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Where I have a little trouble with Bishop Aquila's statement (where it is weak compared to Cardinal Egan's) is that he states a position of belief and expects those under his care to adhere. The right to life/sanctity of life is not a doctrinal issue of one organized religion, it is, as Egan said, truth.
And several of the comments here take off from the weak basis (that
Bishop Aquila's choice of words fails to refute) of "truth is whatever I want to believe it is". The Law of Gravity is true no matter if anyone believes it. Right is right even when everyone is wrong and calling it right.
Our beliefs don't change truth; our selective reporting doesn't change the news. Concerning abortion, or child molestation, or pornography, or how to deal with evil (Obama: "it depends"; McCain: "defeat it"), or how to stimulate the economy, or whether an impeached President should be considered the Grand Old Man of the Party [sorry, couldn't resist], the truth is the truth and the governing laws of nature will apply no matter what we believe.
The question we must continually ask, then, is: "What is the actual truth here? What laws govern this so that we can get the results we need?" We've had too many "leaders" who were popular by following the "consensus", made decisions by the polls.
Cardinal Egan said it doesn't matter what the church says, the truth is the truth. Amen. It's up to the church to reflect the truth, not dictate it.
And it's up to each one of us, and our leaders, to seek truth, live by the truth, and not try to fabricate our own truth.
Seems to me that would solve an awful lot of problems. |
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Rip --
If you or the Catholic Church thinks for one minute I am going to make love with my wife just one day a month you're out of your rhythmic mind.
We haven't had a happy 21-year marriage and two beautiful children by tap dancing.
PS: Is the church prepared to argue that preventing a sperm and an egg for ever meeting (we call that "birth control") is the moral equivalent of an abortion? |
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This is my religon's stand as well. That from conception, a human should "always be respected, treated with dignity, and protected" as the Bishop said. Abortion is a grave and serious sin. And not to be participated in in any manner.
We do accept contraception however. Our view of the purpose for marriage/sex is both physical and spiritual so the spiritual connection in marriage is enhanced by sex. There is more than one purpose for sex it also makes the couple physically and spiritually one.
And personal revelation is essential in making decisions of family life. In all aspects of family life. The Bishop speaks of revelation as well.
We don't claim to know when the spirit enters the body. But that does not negate our responsibility of respect for the process by which human life is created by God. |
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1. Newest Gallup Poll Reveals that Pro-Life Demcorats are moving to going over to McCain because of Obama's Above my Pay Grade Answer to Rick Warren of when a Baby gets Human Rights. If above O's pay grade who makes more that SCOTUS then by O's Logic it is above theirs too.
Poll finds pro-life Dems abandoning BO's hardcore pro-abortion position. 72 percentage point clip in mid-July falls to just 63 percent & dropping steadily public learns BO's opposed to a bill to provide medical care for newborns who survive abortion.
BO lost 5 percentage points with pro-life Democrats in the last few days. As the election draws closer and more voters are paying attention to it and learning where the candidates stands.
http://www.lifenews.com/nat4218.html
2. As an Ardent Catholic I'm glad the CC is paying thru the nose with law suits(1 billion +)!(I hope I'm not as Ardent as Pelosi & not destined for a place that makes Dantes'Inferno seem like a cooler. If Pelosi digs deep for erroneous answers from ancient Church Fathers I will use the 4th definiton of Ardent on Diction.com to infer that she is Ardent cuz she knows she's headed for a place hotter than the center of a Star). I pray Pelosi will reover from her Mistakes & not risk Heaven over Abortion.
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3.I pray Pedophile Priests & enabling Bishops go to Jail & Dantes' Crib 2 along with Pedophiles @ large n the Public which like in the Priesthood is ~2. These Priest are monsters as r those in the General Population & I want them all to pay for this is an affliction affecting our fallen Humanity A tragedy all the greater for Priests' victims given that these Monsters r supposed to be God's special helpers & worse thant wolves in sheep clothing. Here is a erudite thesis on the Subject:
Philip Jenkins, a non-Catholic scholar, and author of the book Pedophiles and Priests ,work reflects results from the most comprehensive study to date. Pedophilia or the sexual abuse of a prepubescent child) among priests is extremely rare, affecting only 0.3% of the entire population of clergy. This figure was based on a study which found that only one out of 2,252 priests considered over a thirty-year period(in Chicago) was afflicted with pedophilia. In the recent Boston scandal, only four of the more than eighty priests labeled by the media as "pedophiles" are actually guilty of molesting young children.Pedophilia is a particular type of compulsive sexual disorder in which an adult (man or woman) abuses prepubescent children. The vast majority of the clerical sex-abuse scandals now coming to light do not involve pedophilia. Rather, they involve ephebophilia or homosexual attraction to adolescent boys. While the total number of sexual abusers in the priesthood is much higher than those guilty of pedophilia, it still amounts to less than 2 percent or comparable to the rate among married men (Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests)http://tinyurl.com/5fjvkk. As bad as CC scandal is it pales to Abortion. Since BO has been in the Senate 1.6 million African-American Babies never dream ~5 million American Babies don't either!http://www.prolifeaction.org/faq/abortion.htm |
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I'm not catholic, but I have family that is, so take this for what it's worth. Birth control that prevents conception is not on the same level of sin as abortion. One is the taking of life, the other is preventing life. Similarly, the catholic church does not target politicians who are pro-death penalty, even though the church opposes it.
Some things are worse than others. Few things are as clearly wrong as taking innoncent life. |
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The Catholic Church had a pedophile scandal so that means abortion is okay to follow the rationalizations going on here. Jeez. The position of the Bible is very clear that all human life is precious to God and not up to us to decide its value. And measuring sin is just plain silly when using a scale of which the far end is infinity. "I'm not as bad as him," is a meaningless rationalization on that scale.
If Nancy Pelosi truly believes there is a time and place for taking an unborn life then she should have the courage to say so and renounce her membership in the Catholic Church. She can't have the implied credibility of being a "practicing Catholic" with the evangelical vote and try to keep a foot in the Planned Parenthood camp at the same time. She just looks like a liar to anyone not tangled up in postmodern BS. |
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The birth control pill is currently being used by more than 10 million women in the U.S.1 A number of physicians and researchers have claimed that the birth control pill (BCP—also called the oral contraceptive) is actually an abortifacient. An abortifacient causes an early abortion , specifically the death of the zygote, embryo or fetus after conception has occurred. Others do not believe the BCP is an abortifacient as noted in a 1998 publication authored by several physicians: Hormonal Contraceptives: Are They Abortifacients?2
BCPs could not cause abortions if they always stopped ovulation, so this needs to be the first issue raised. A clear indication that ovulation will occur in women taking the BCP is provided by noting what the BCP manufacturers state in the PDR (Physician’s Desk Reference, @1998).7 The "efficacy rate" table for each BCP claims a "typical failure rate" of about 3%. The PDR defines "typical failure rate" as the rate of annual pregnancy occurrence in "typical couples who initiate use of a method (not necessarily for the first time) and who use it consistently and correctly during the first year if they do not stop for any other reason."
This means that even couples who use the pill consistently over the course of a year will have an average pregnancy rate of 3% according to the BCP manufacturers, who might tend to underestimate this number. A 1996 paper by Potter8 gives an excellent overview of the matter. She notes that the most recent data point to a rate of pregnancy for "typical use" as being 7%, which is probably a more accurate statistic. From these estimates of BCP failure and the common experience of on-pill pregnancies, it is clear that both ovulation and conception occur in couples who use the BCP.
Evidence that some physicians and researchers give to support their claim that the pill is indeed an abortifacient?
see http://www.ccli.org/contraception/mdexplains.php
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You can have sex for more than just one day and avoid pregnancy. That's first of all. Second of all, you asked for an explaination of the position against birth control. I gave it to you. Actually, a lot of Catholics have come out against that position, including Canadian Bishops. So, if you are Catholic, you are either in line with that or not. There is no dancing around it. If you aren't in line with it, that's the way it is. I'm sure there are plenty of married couples out there who get by fine with sex during the infertile time period. Others don't. If you can't do that, it's between you and God. It's certainly not an easy stance, but nobody said it should be easy. |
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The Bishop of the Sun could come out against Dems, and it won't help. Majority women voters are just waiting to jump, and an in-cement, pro-life Republican ticket is dead tap a loser. Between a McCain and a hard place.. |
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(And send a memo to Jack Chick while you're at it.)
ex pat & friends: Study after study has shown that the incidence of clergy sex abuse (percentage-wise) is roughly the same across ALL communions. IOW, the Catholic Church has NOT cornered the market on sin. So, please, wake up and shuck the bigotry.
What's more, a major study (sponsored by AP if memory serves) showed that there's much more sex abuse in the public schools (teachers and school workers abusing students) than in ANY church. Maybe you should turn your ire in that direction...? (I'm not holding my breath.) |
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You said,
"As a Recovering Catholic who left the church with disgust over the priest scandal and complex cover-up which followed, I'd like to add that the church has zero credibility on this issue if they continue to link it to the rights of children."
Perhaps you should for a moment shelve your anti-catholic bigotry and look into our public schools. The John Jay Institute which wrote the report on the homosexual assault on teen-age boys (which is what it was), found that 90% of the abuse occured before 1990, mainly in the 60s and 70s. In all 10,000 seperate cases involving 1000 priests over 40 years came to light.
On the other hand, over 15,000 cases of sexual harrassment and assualt are reported each year in our public schools. And speaking of cover-up, most of these cases are kept off the public record. Despite most newspapers and TV reporters having access to these records, most refuse to publish the stories until after the settlement. Nearly 50% of the assailants keep thier jobs, or are allowed to retire; in many cases the local DAs refuse to prosecute. There occur more cases of rape in our schools by teachers in one year, then had occured in The Church over the last 50 years.
BTW, one can follow the use of artifical contraception and the rise in spouse abuse, illegitimate children, broken homes and divorce. Pope Pious VI in 1969 warned about the resulting sexual objectification of women because of contraception.
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