Perhaps
the fact that abortion is not legal
in the Philippines is what makes for
complacency among our clergy and even
bishops in supporting pro-RH candidates,
even for the highest position of the
land. That is a big mistake. If the
bishops do not speak out now regarding
what is authentically pro-life, many
more Catholics would be led astray.
Even now, many Catholics are for contraception
and condoms. They are pro-choice. But
they claim to be good Catholics, they
go to Mass and receive communion, they
go through the motions of their faith.
A
big problem is the reality of liberal
clergy and religious. You need only
look to the prominent Catholic schools
of Ateneo and La Salle to find them.
They are helping lead Catholics astray.
They may even provide the "formed
conscience" that allows Catholics
to turn their backs on authentic Catholic
teaching.
If
nothing is done about dissident theologians,
about pro-RH clergy and religious, about
Catholics who are pro-choice, then we
will soon face a crisis. Then it could
be too late. If the bishops do not speak
clearly and are not equivocal about
their pronouncements, then many more
would be deceived and take on anti-Catholic
positions while thinking they are being
good Catholics.
The
work of Satan is deception, as he is
the father of lies. God is about truth.
We in turn are God's prophetic mouthpieces.
We need to speak out, willingly opening
ourselves to oppression, persecution,
being misunderstood, being shunned.
There is just too much at stake. It
is not only about life in the womb,
but the very way of life Catholics are
called to live. There are no compromises.
Pelosi
- Latest Poster Child for Need to Deny
Communion
Editorial
by John-Henry Westen and Kathleen Gilbert
June
1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- It may come as a shock to some that
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed
a group of Catholics last month telling
them that public policy should be "in
keeping with the values of the Word,"
referring to Christ. Pelosi,
who describes herself as "an ardent
practicing Catholic," is a leading
political advocate for abortion and
homosexuality. Already in 2008,
her bishop, San Francisco Archbishop
George H. Niederauer, said
publicly that he was
considering denying her Communion. Perhaps
this latest scandal will tip the scales.
Pelosi,
who took over the mantle of leadership
for dissident
Catholics in Congress
after the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy,
addressed the Catholic Community Conference
on Capitol Hill May 6, telling them
that her "favorite word" was
"the Word, and that is everything."
"And
that Word is - we have to give voice
to what that means in terms of public
policy that would be in keeping with
the values of the Word," she continued.
"The Word. Isn't it a beautiful
word when you think of it? It just covers
everything."
Those
words of apparent deep faith are contradicted
by the fact that they are spoken by
the most prominent abortion advocate
in US politics. Boasting a 100% pro-abortion
rating by NARAL, Pelosi in 2000 voted
against banning partial-birth abortions,
in which children are delivered breech
up to the head before scissors are jammed
into the back of the skull and the brains
removed.
But
who can blame
Pelosi for creating such confusion?
Statistics seem to indicate a majority
of Catholics agree with her positions
on 'choice', contraception and 'gay
rights'. As well, there are likely a
number of priests and theologians who
have been giving her wrong direction,
as now deceased Jesuit Fr.
Robert Drinan did and
just as he and other dissident priests
did
with the Kennedys. While
Pelosi has been publicly reprimanded
by a good number
of bishops, including
her own, she has never been denied Communion.
Catholic schools
and venues continue to invite her to
speak at their functions.
Denying
Pelosi Communion would, in addition
to dealing with the massive confusion
and scandal being caused, be an act
of pastoral charity toward the Speaker
herself. As Ottawa Archbishop Terrence
Prendergast
once explained in an
interview: "The Church's concern
is for anyone who persists in grave
sin, hoping that medicinal measures
may draw them away from the wrong path
to the truth of our faith." He
said that "medicinal" remedies
such as "denial of Communion"
are employed to "draw them back
to the way of Christ, Our Lord, the
Way, the Truth and the Life."
And
Pelosi, by her comments at the May 6
event, believes there will be an accounting
for one's actions at the end of life.
Speaking of "the Word made flesh,"
she said: "He will come again.
He will come again. So, we have to make
sure we're prepared to answer in this
life, or otherwise, as to how we have
measured up."
While
for the Vatican, from the Pope on down,
it
is crystal clearthat
Communion "must" be denied
to pro-abortion politicians, the full
body of U.S. Bishops has not yet settled
on a stance.
However,
the obligation to deny Communion to
persistent pro-abortion politicians
also has a salutary effect on the bishops'
own eternal calculus. Explaining his
own decision to deny Communion to pro-abortion
politicians, the retired bishop of Corpus
Christi Texas, Rene
Henry Gracida, quoted
a section from the book of
Ezekiel warning religious leaders that
they must warn those transgressing the
law of God of their impending doom.
If they fail in their task, they are
held responsible for the loss of the
sinner.
"….when
you hear Me say anything, you shall
warn them for me. If I tell the wicked
man that he shall surely die, and you
do not speak out to dissuade the wicked
man from his way, he shall die for his
guilt, but I will hold you responsible
for his death. But if you warn the wicked
man, trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt, but you
shall save yourself" (Ezekiel 33:7-9).
Are
the bishops not being faithful to their
calling when they refuse to deny pro-abortion
politicians Communion?
Former
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond
Burke, who has been appointed
to head the highest court in the Vatican,
had this to say on the matter: "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 teaching rings
hollow."
To
contact Archbishop Niederauer:
info@sfarchdiocese.org
"For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain." (Phil 1:21)