[Apologetics] Re: Democrats in U.S. Congress Assail Denial of Holy Communion

[Art Kelly]

What is amazing about this article is the part that
says:

"Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs,
Colorado, and Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland,
Oregon, also recently asked those in public office who
support abortion to refrain from receiving Communion.

"That prompted a prominent donor in the Colorado
Springs Diocese to threaten to revoke a $100,000
pledge to his parish's building project and to enlist
others to take similar steps, the Denver Post reported
Wednesday.

"In a scathing open letter, businessman Ric Kethcart
contended that Bishop Sheridan's stance hearkens back
to McCarthyism."

What kind of person would pledge $100,000 to the
Church but not support its stand on moral issues? 

I can only guess that cafeteria Catholicism may exist
to a greater extent than I thought. Someone ought to
give Mr. Kethcart the address of the nearest Episcopal
Church.

Also, I strongly suspect that the reason Cardinal Law
(remember him?) never uttered a word of criticism
against his home state senators, Kennedy and Kerry, is
that both of them or/and their families gave a LOT of
money to the Boston Diocese. 

And this may be true in other places as well. Of
course, I don't know, but I fear that some of the
bishops may have been "bought off."

Art

--- Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Democrats in U.S. Congress Assail Denial of Holy
> Communion
> Church Being Used for Partisan Purposes, They Tell
> Cardinal McCarrick 
> 
> WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).-
> Forty-eight Catholic Democrats in Congress sent a
> letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick saying the
> indications by some bishops to deny Communion to
> pro-abortion politicians were "deeply hurtful" and
> counterproductive.
> 
> The letter is the first organized response by
> Democratic legislators since a number of Catholic
> bishops declared that they would withhold Communion
> from politicians who favor "abortion rights," the
> New York Times reported today.
> 
> The letter's signers, including at least three House
> members with strong pro-life voting records, said
> the bishops are "allowing the Church to be used for
> partisan purposes.''
> 
> They also question why these bishops made abortion a
> litmus test while ignoring politicians who voted
> counter to the Church by endorsing the death penalty
> and the war in Iraq.
> 
> Cardinal McCarrick is the chairman of a bishops'
> task force asked to devise recommendations for U.S.
> prelates on relations with Catholic politicians.
> 
> Recently, Coadjutor Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando,
> Florida, asked that those in public office who
> support abortion to refrain from receiving
> Communion.
> 
> "Today, some self-identified Catholic politicians
> prefer to emulate Pontius Pilate's 'personally
> opposed but unwilling to impose' stance," he wrote
> in a statement.
> 
> "Perhaps, they are baiting the Church, daring an
> 'official sanction' making them 'bad Catholics,' so
> as to gain favor among up their secularist, 'blue
> state' constituencies," the coadjutor bishop added.
> "Such a sanction might turn their lack of coherent
> Catholic convictions into a badge of courage for
> people who hold such convictions in contempt."
> 
> Bishop Wenski went on to say, "You cannot have your
> 'waffle' and your 'wafer,' too. Those pro-abortion
> politicians who insist on calling themselves
> Catholics without seeing the contradiction between
> what they say they believe and their anti-life
> stance have to do a lot more of 'practicing'
> [holiness]. They need to get it right before they
> approach the Eucharistic table."
> 
> Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs,
> Colorado, and Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland,
> Oregon, also recently asked those in public office
> who support abortion to refrain from receiving
> Communion.
> 
> That prompted a prominent donor in the Colorado
> Springs Diocese to threaten to revoke a $100,000
> pledge to his parish's building project and to
> enlist others to take similar steps, the Denver Post
> reported Wednesday.
> 
> In a scathing "open letter," businessman Ric
> Kethcart contended that Bishop Sheridan's stance
> hearkens back to McCarthyism.
> 
> Peter Howard, Bishop Sheridan's executive assistant,
> said the diocese is willing to sacrifice dollars to
> stake a moral claim, the Post reported. Already,
> some Catholics in the 10-county diocese who support
> Bishop Sheridan's leadership have increased their
> giving, Howard said. 
> ZE04052023
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul
> longs for you, O God.
> 
> Ps 42:1
>  
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
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> 
> Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul
> longs for you, O God.
> 
> Ps 42:1
>  
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 		
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=====
ART KELLY, ATM-S 
13524 Brightfield Lane 
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360 
(703) 904-3763 home
arthurkelly at yahoo.com
ArtK135 at Netscape.net


	
		
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