"I believe in an America that is neither Catholic, Protestant or Jewish, and where no public official accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source." - John F. Kennedy, in address to Protestant ministers in Houston, TX, Sept. 1960
"Catholic Bishops have zero credibility. Maybe if they stop molesting children and stop hiding the abusers that might change, but it's doubtful. This is the priest class that protects its own regardless of morality or cost. They are a big reason why people are leaving the church in droves." Denver Post letter writer, April 30, Readers' Forum
Well, they're at it again. The RC Bishops want to teach Joe Biden a lesson by denying him communion. This, on account of his abortion policies. Bishops already troubled by Biden’s stance on abortion grew more dismayed by three measures from his administration in mid-April:
- Lifting restrictions on federal funding for research involving human fetal tissue.
-Rescinding a Trump administration policy barring organizations such as Planned Parenthood from receiving federal family planning grants if they also refer women for abortions.
- Enabling women to get a prescription for an abortion pill via telemedicine and receive the pill by mail.
Engulfed in faux outrage, the aim of these reprobates now is to try to shame Biden back into the RC obedience fold using a document contrived by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The document, if approved, would make clear the USCCB’s view that Biden and other Catholic public figures with similar viewpoints should not present themselves for Communion. This according to Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of KC.
But in accordance with existing USCCB policy, it would still leave decisions on withholding Communion up to individual bishops. In Biden’s case, the top prelates of the jurisdictions where he frequently worships — Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Delaware, and Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C. — have made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches they oversee.
The document-in-the-works results from a decision in November by the USCCB’s president, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles (see top image) , to form a working group to address the “complex and difficult situation” posed by Biden’s stances on abortion and other issues that differ from official church teaching. Before disbanding, the group proposed the drafting of a new document addressing the issue of Communion — a project assigned to the doctrine committee.
The committee up to now has not released details about its work. Naumann said the matter will be discussed at the USCCB’s meeting in June and the bishops will vote on whether the committee should continue working on the document so it could be publicly released later.
A two-thirds majority would be needed for work to proceed, Naumann said. But even critics of the initiative, such as Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, predict the endeavor will win overwhelming approval.
One thing none of these moral absolutists has figured out yet, before they approve their paper, is that Biden doesn't endorse abortion nor has he abortion "stances". His administration policy simply allows women and families to decide for themselves. That's what pro-choice means, letting others make their own decision. He's a secular president of a secular nation - like JFK was- so he knows he cannot impose the dogmas of his church on We the People.
Biden's religious views are irrelevant, except as they influence his policies, and people and organizations are free to jabber, complain or criticize his policies as they see fit. Biden isn't trying to teach what it means to be Catholic- but to teach dogmatic Catholics (namely these testy Bishops) they cannot dictate U.S. public policy.
As JFK first pointed out there must be absolute separation between church and state. The church keeps its nose out of a given administration's public policy decisions and the state or Biden administration refrains from imposing state policy on the church. (Or issuing an executive order to revoke its tax exempt status, say for political meddling.) See also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBNlS8Zg1WA
When fundamentalists insist on risking the life of the mother to deliver an anencephalic fetus they take this tendency to an extreme. People who think this way are unable to override disgust with rational appreciation of the objective characteristics of the fetus. The ability to do so is an indispensable trait of the moral mind."
“If a politician is targeted as a negative example by his own church, that sets a sad context in which the church can deal with this Catholic president. It contributes to the polarization of the church and of society.”
Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego expressed similar concerns during an online forum in February:
“I do not see how depriving the president or other political leaders of the Eucharist based on their public policy stance can be interpreted in our society as anything other than a weaponization of the Eucharist … to pummel them into submission,”
Some Catholic academics are also uneasy about the document. Margaret McGuinness, a religion professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia, asked bluntly:
“Are you really going to deny Communion for the president of the United States? I don’t think this is going to shake his faith. … I don’t see anything constructive coming out of it.”
Exactly! She also noted that a majority of U.S. Catholics, according to polls, say abortion should be legal in at least some cases. And let's recall the Roman Catholic Church was amazingly silent on Trump's moral and ethical failings while in office- from his penchant for pussy- grabbing to bedding down porno stars while his wife was pregnant. But that was because Trump knew how to pander to the premoral right-to-lifers, and the right-to-lifers then rolled over and played dead as to other Trump policies.
Their hysterical reactions also show they've never processed how the RC church lost its moral authority to dictate anything - once the extent of the child sex abuse crisis became known. For example, Naumann's claim: “He doesn’t have the authority to teach what it means to be Catholic — that’s our responsibility as bishops. Whether intentional or not, he’s trying to usurp our authority.”
Bull pockey. He isn't "usurping" Rome's authority, he's preventing Rome from usurping his presidential authority. Even more typical of this power blindness is the comment (to the AP) of San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone:
“They (leaders) need to understand the scandal that is caused when they say they are faithfully Catholic and yet oppose the church on such a basic concept,”
But as I pointed out it isn't a case of "opposing the church" but rather the church grasping the president is acting on behalf of the nation and citizens he governs - not imposing his church's misbegotten doctrines on them! But none of these RC bishops get the fundamental concept of separation of church and state, such as American Cardinal Raymond Burke.
This guy has broached the possibility of Catholicism’s ultimate sanction. He says politicians who “publicly and obstinately support abortion are apostates who not only should be barred from receiving Communion but deserve excommunication."
Give me a break, padre, and while we're at it go back and take a course on American Government. What is there about church-state separation you don't get and especially that NO president - Catholic or other- is in thrall to the Vatican's commands and premoral dictates? In fact, the real apostates are all those bishops (and popes) who helped to conceal the sex abuse crisis-like Joseph Ratzinger. Recall Ratzinger used to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of The Faith, or the old Inquisition.
The future Pope Benedict XVI, told U.S. bishops in 2004 that priests “must” deny the sacrament if a politician goes to receive Communion despite an “obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin,” including the sin of consistently campaigning for permissive abortion laws.
Ratzinger wrote a confidential letter outlining the principles to U.S. bishops in response to their question about whether to deny Communion to John Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president. In the end the bishops ignored Ratzinger’s advice and voted instead for the policy currently in place allowing bishops to decide themselves whether to withhold it. Good move, especially as Ratzinger's vile protection of RC padre sexual abusers was known even then.
Church documents have revealed that as a priest Ratzinger evinced far more concern that defrocking clerics accused of sexually abusing children “could provoke some scandal among the faithful” . This became an overriding issue rather than advocating strongly for justice for child victims. And then in 2012 a scandal involving leaked confidential Vatican documents portrayed the pope as a “lonely” man, plagued with trouble “keeping the shop together or getting information owing to all the filtering and intrigues surrounding him.”
Meanwhile, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, who has sharply criticized Biden’s abortion stance, told the AP he favors creation of a "national policy" on Communion, as opposed to the current “patchwork approach.” He said bishops should first have a private conversation with an individual deemed to be in a state of sin, and deny Communion if they persist. Again, pure baloney and twaddle. Does this bozo really believe Biden will be party to any such daft "conversation"? Give me a break, and stay out of U.S. public policy which doesn't concern you.
Perhaps the real basis for this pseudo-moral codswallop was finally exposed by Steven Millies, a professor of public theology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He said the Catholic church received significant financial support in recent years from conservative philanthropists who are skeptical of Francis and favored Donald Trump over Biden in the 2020 election. Adding in his comment to the AP:
"What we’re seeing now is an effort to please donors who want a church which will wage a culture war,”
This puts all the bishops' moral posturing in the proper perspective: merely acting as shills and parrots for Trump-leaning conservative donors. Especially after the Church was virtually bankrupted by having to cough up so much compensation for the sex abuse victims. Biden is quite right to ignore these pompous fools and to forge his public policies in consonance with a secular state - not a Vatican state!
See Also:
by Mia Brett | May 2, 2021 - 7:01am | permalink
AND:
Loyola grapples with abuse allegations against former university priest
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