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| Because ], a number of controversies have occurred with respect to '''Catholic politicians who ]'''. Most |
Because{{Citation needed|date=December 2011| reason=unsourced attribution of cause; one could with equal right say the reason is about interpretations of Catholic teaching and canon law (as suggested in the "In the United States" section of the article, the generic summary part of which is almost the only place where an actual "controversy" or "debate" is described), or that the controversies occurred, not because of the Church's teaching that abortion is sinful, but because some members ignored the teaching, or any other equally unsourced claim about why the controversies have arisen; Misplaced Pages should state the facts without making unsourced statements about what caused them.}} ], a number of controversies have occurred with respect to '''Catholic politicians who ]'''. Most of the controversies were about whether bishops should deny ''']''' to politicians who do so vote. In a few cases, ''']''' was suggested. More numerous were cases in which bishops told them they should refrain from receiving communion. | ||
| ==In the United States== | ==In the United States== | ||
| In 2004, there was controversy in the United States about whether ] should be refused to Catholic politicians who voted for legalizing abortion, a controversy described as "raging" and as being peculiar to the United States.<ref name=Word/> With some few American bishops in favor of withholding communion from them and the majority against such action, the ] decided that such matters should be decided on a case-by-case basis by the individual bishops.<ref name="Espresso"/> |
In 2004, there was controversy in the United States about whether ] should be refused to Catholic politicians who voted for legalizing abortion, a controversy described as "raging" and as being peculiar to the United States.<ref name=Word/> With some few American bishops in favor of withholding communion from them and the majority against such action, the ] decided that such matters should be decided on a case-by-case basis by the individual bishops.<ref name="Espresso"/> There has also been debate subsequently on a number of occasions. In the following year, Archbishop ] of Pittsburgh said that, because of "national ramifications", no individual bishop should on his own deny communion to politicians, and that such an action should be taken only on the basis of a two-thirds majority of the bishops as a whole or of a mandate from the Holy See, while conservative bishops ] of Phoenix and ] of Denver declared that they would act on their own initiative.<ref>{{Cite |work=The Tablet |url=http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/974 |date=August 27, 2005 |title=Communion for pro-choice politicians splits Church |first=Richard |last=Major}}</ref> In 2008, ] said that such politicians should not be given Communion, both for their own sake, so that they don't endanger their salvation by sacrilege, and also for the sake of Catholics as a whole, lest they too be led to receive Communion in mortal sin or think that public support for what Burke called "the taking of innocent and defenseless lives in the womb", while a sin, is not so serious.<ref name="Espresso"/> | ||
| Those few<ref></ref> bishops who support denying communion to pro-choice Catholic legislators interpret ] as justifying such action, an interpretation with which the great majority of the bishops disagree.<ref></ref> Wuerl has commented that he believes the canon was not intended to be used in such a way, and that a pastoral approach would be more effective for changing minds than a legalistic one.<ref name=PD>{{Cite news |publisher=Politics Daily |url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/06/archbishop-wuerl-why-i-won-t-deny-pelosi-communion/ |title=Wuerl: Why I Won't Deny Pelosi Communion |first=Melinda |last=Henneberger |date=11 May 2009}}</ref |
Those few<ref></ref> bishops who support denying communion to pro-choice Catholic legislators interpret ] as justifying such action, an interpretation with which the great majority of the bishops disagree.<ref></ref> Wuerl has commented that he believes the canon was not intended to be used in such a way, and that a pastoral approach would be more effective for changing minds than a legalistic one.<ref name=PD>{{Cite news |publisher=Politics Daily |url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/06/archbishop-wuerl-why-i-won-t-deny-pelosi-communion/ |title=Wuerl: Why I Won't Deny Pelosi Communion |first=Melinda |last=Henneberger |date=11 May 2009}}</ref> | ||
| Only in the United States is there debate about denying communion to such legislators.<ref name=Word/> Suggested reasons for this uniqueness of the United States are a greater politicization there of pastoral practice brought about by a more single-minded, crusade-like way of changing law and society, and abortion's status, in the United States alone, as a constitutional right that cannot be taken away by the legislature.<ref name="Espresso"/><ref name=Word>, ] in ''National Catholic Reporter'', 28 May 2004]</ref> | Only in the United States is there debate about denying communion to such legislators.<ref name=Word/> Suggested reasons for this uniqueness of the United States are a greater politicization there of pastoral practice brought about by a more single-minded, crusade-like way of changing law and society, and abortion's status, in the United States alone, as a constitutional right that cannot be taken away by the legislature.<ref name="Espresso"/><ref name=Word>, ] in ''National Catholic Reporter'', 28 May 2004]</ref> | ||
| Other bishops and archbishops have said that legislators who support legalization of abortion should refrain from seeking communion, without necessarily demanding that it be withheld from them if they do not refrain, an attitude that is not limited to the United States alone.<ref name=CNN/><ref name="fox"/><ref></ref><ref name=RBOUP/><ref name=CGSC/><ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Kirkpatrick |title=Abortion Issue Again Dividing Catholic Votes |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/politics/17catholics.html?bl&ex=1221883200&en=1e3acb5115249581&ei=5087%0A |work=] |date=2008-09-16 |accessdate=2008-09-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=No Sanction for Spanish King Signing Abortion Law |url=http://ncronline.org/news/politics/no-sanction-spanish-king-signing-abortion-law |work=] |date=2010-02-26 |accessdate=2011-12-23 }}</ref> | |||
| ===Mario Cuomo=== | ===Mario Cuomo=== | ||
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| ===Rudy Giuliani=== | ===Rudy Giuliani=== | ||
| Burke also said that he would deny communion to ], and that Giuliani should not seek communion.<ref name="fox">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299205,00.html |title=Outspoken Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke Says He'd Deny Rudy Giuliani Communion |date=October 3, 2007 |work=Fox News}}</ref> | Burke also said that he would deny communion to ], and that Giuliani should not seek communion.<ref name="fox">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299205,00.html |title=Outspoken Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke Says He'd Deny Rudy Giuliani Communion |date=October 3, 2007 |work=Fox News}}</ref> | ||
| ===Kathleen Sebelius=== | |||
| ] ] ] asked that ] no longer receive ] because of her position on abortion. Naumann criticized Sebelius for vetoing HS SB 389.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dennis |last=Sadowski |title=Archbishop Naumann: Kansas governor should stop receiving Communion |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802605.htm |work=Catholic News Service |publisher=U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops |date=May 12, 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-11 |quote= said many Kansans "find it more than an embarrassment" that the state had become "infamous for being the late-term abortion center for the Midwest." }}</ref> The action received mixed reviews in the Catholic press.<ref name=RBOUP>{{cite news|title=Rigid bishops one-up the popes |url=http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/1110 |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=May 30, 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Whelon |title=Conservatives gear up again to use Communion as a political weapon,, no matter the cost to American Catholicism |url=http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2008/05/conservatives_gear_up_again_to.php |work=Catholic Democrats |date=May 14, 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-11}}</ref><ref name=CGSC>{{cite news|title=Catholic Governor Sebelius Corrected |url=http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=27933 |work=National Catholic Register |date=May 13, 2008 |accessdate=2009-03-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Archbishop asks Kansas governor to refrain from Communion for abortion support, awaits response |url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12619 |work=Catholic News Agency |date=May 12, 2008 |accessdate=2009-03-01}}</ref> | |||
| ===Joe Biden=== | ===Joe Biden=== | ||
Revision as of 12:18, 23 December 2011
Because the Roman Catholic Church officially opposes abortion, a number of controversies have occurred with respect to Catholic politicians who favor abortion rights. Most of the controversies were about whether bishops should deny communion to politicians who do so vote. In a few cases, excommunication was suggested. More numerous were cases in which bishops told them they should refrain from receiving communion.
In the United States
In 2004, there was controversy in the United States about whether communion should be refused to Catholic politicians who voted for legalizing abortion, a controversy described as "raging" and as being peculiar to the United States. With some few American bishops in favor of withholding communion from them and the majority against such action, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that such matters should be decided on a case-by-case basis by the individual bishops. There has also been debate subsequently on a number of occasions. In the following year, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh said that, because of "national ramifications", no individual bishop should on his own deny communion to politicians, and that such an action should be taken only on the basis of a two-thirds majority of the bishops as a whole or of a mandate from the Holy See, while conservative bishops Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and Charles J. Chaput of Denver declared that they would act on their own initiative. In 2008, Raymond Burke said that such politicians should not be given Communion, both for their own sake, so that they don't endanger their salvation by sacrilege, and also for the sake of Catholics as a whole, lest they too be led to receive Communion in mortal sin or think that public support for what Burke called "the taking of innocent and defenseless lives in the womb", while a sin, is not so serious.
Those few bishops who support denying communion to pro-choice Catholic legislators interpret canon 915 as justifying such action, an interpretation with which the great majority of the bishops disagree. Wuerl has commented that he believes the canon was not intended to be used in such a way, and that a pastoral approach would be more effective for changing minds than a legalistic one.
Only in the United States is there debate about denying communion to such legislators. Suggested reasons for this uniqueness of the United States are a greater politicization there of pastoral practice brought about by a more single-minded, crusade-like way of changing law and society, and abortion's status, in the United States alone, as a constitutional right that cannot be taken away by the legislature.
Other bishops and archbishops have said that legislators who support legalization of abortion should refrain from seeking communion, without necessarily demanding that it be withheld from them if they do not refrain, an attitude that is not limited to the United States alone.
Mario Cuomo
In 1984, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, then Archbishop of New York, contemplated excommunicating then-Governor of New York Mario Cuomo.
John Kerry
In April 2004, Archbishop Raymond Burke forbade Senator John Kerry, a Catholic, to take communion because of his stance on abortion and possibly stem cell research. This action was at that time considered unprecedented and taken on grounds that experts considered not to apply to Kerry.
Rudy Giuliani
Burke also said that he would deny communion to Rudy Giuliani, and that Giuliani should not seek communion.
Kathleen Sebelius
Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann asked that Kathleen Sebelius no longer receive Holy Communion because of her position on abortion. Naumann criticized Sebelius for vetoing HS SB 389. The action received mixed reviews in the Catholic press.
Joe Biden
After Joe Biden, a pro-choice Catholic, was selected as a vice presidential candidate in the 2008 presidential election, Bishop Joseph Francis Martino, bishop of Biden's original hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, said that Biden would be refused Holy Communion in that diocese because of his stance on legal abortion. However, Biden was not refused communion in his then-current parish of Wilmington, Delaware.
Patrick Kennedy
In November 2009, Bishop Thomas Tobin barred Representative Patrick Kennedy from communion due to his support for abortion rights, saying that it would be "inappropriate" for him to receive the Eucharist and asking him to cease doing so. Kennedy told the Providence Journal that Tobin instructed priests in the diocese not to give him communion; Tobin denied this.
Europe
In Europe, Catholic bishops have not raised the question of refusing communion to pro-choice Catholic legislators: there "rigorous principles coexist with more flexible pastoral customs". In January 2001, Pope John Paul II gave Communion to Mayor of Rome Francesco Rutelli, whose position is that of being "personally opposed to abortion, but not willing to impose his stance through law". Similar cases are found among parliamentarians in Austria, Belgium and Germany.
Mexico comments
One notable incident regarding excommunication of pro-choice Catholic legislators occurred with regard to Mexico. In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI expressed support for the Mexican bishops' envisaged excommunication of politicians who had voted to legalize abortion in Mexico City. Responding to a journalist's question, "Do you agree with the excommunications given to legislators in Mexico City on the question?" the Pope said: "Yes. The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the (canon law) code. It is based simply on the principle that the killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going in Communion with the body of Christ. Thus, they (the bishops) didn't do anything new or anything surprising. Or arbitrary." According to Der Spiegel, many journalists were wondering if this support could be interpreted as a wish to excommunicate such politicians,; Time magazine reported that it was in fact such a declaration. However, church officials said that it was not a declaration but appeared to be a misunderstanding. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, clarified that the Pope was not excommunicating anyone, since the Mexican bishops had not in fact declared an excommunication, and that he did not mean to depart from a recent declaration that placed the decision to leave the Church in the hands of individual politicians. However, Lombardi said "politicians who vote in favor of abortion should not receive the sacrament of Holy Communion", because their action is "incompatible with participation in the Eucharist."
References
- ^ "The Word from Rome", John L. Allen in National Catholic Reporter, 28 May 2004]
- ^ Sandro Magister, "Obama's Pick for Vice President Is Catholic. But the Bishops Deny Him Communion"
- Major, Richard (August 27, 2005), "Communion for pro-choice politicians splits Church", The Tablet
- John Allen, "Antiabortion imperative more complex than acknowledged: John Allen: bishops' views on abortion"
- Michael Sean Winters, "Chaput Cites Disunity Among Bishops on Canon 915" in National Catholic Reporter, 12 April 2011
- Henneberger, Melinda (11 May 2009). "Wuerl: Why I Won't Deny Pelosi Communion". Politics Daily.
- ^ "Bishop bars Patrick Kennedy from Communion over abortion". CNN. November 22, 2009.
- ^ "Outspoken Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke Says He'd Deny Rudy Giuliani Communion". Fox News. Associated Press. October 3, 2007.
- NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli, "Abortion politics: Biden never refused communion"
- ^ "Rigid bishops one-up the popes". National Catholic Reporter. May 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Catholic Governor Sebelius Corrected". National Catholic Register. May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
- Kirkpatrick, David (2008-09-16). "Abortion Issue Again Dividing Catholic Votes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- "No Sanction for Spanish King Signing Abortion Law". National Catholic Reporter. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- Beltramini, Enrico (September 12, 2009). "Il cattolicesimo politico in America". Limes.
- West, John G.; MacLean, Iain S. (1999). Encyclopedia of religion in American politics, Volume 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 98.
- Hancock, David (April 6, 2004). "Kerry's Communion Controversy". CBS News.
- Sadowski, Dennis (May 12, 2008). "Archbishop Naumann: Kansas governor should stop receiving Communion". Catholic News Service. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
said many Kansans "find it more than an embarrassment" that the state had become "infamous for being the late-term abortion center for the Midwest."
- Whelon, Patrick (May 14, 2008). "Conservatives gear up again to use Communion as a political weapon,, no matter the cost to American Catholicism". Catholic Democrats. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- "Archbishop asks Kansas governor to refrain from Communion for abortion support, awaits response". Catholic News Agency. May 12, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
- Kirkpatrick, David (2008-09-16). "Abortion Issue Again Dividing Catholic Votes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli, "Abortion politics: Biden never refused communion"
- ^ "Pope arrives in Brazil with tough abortion stance". USA Today (Associated Press service). 10 May 2007.
- Der Spiegel. Pope Attacks Mexico City Politicians. May 10, 2007.
- Israely, Jeff (May 9, 2007). "Pope Rejects Pro-Choice Politicians". Time.
- "Pope condemns abortion on Latin America trip". Associated Press. May 9, 2007.