Pope warns Catholic politicians who back abortion

Source: Reuters

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Wednesday warned Catholic politicians they risked excommunication from the Church and should not receive communion if they support abortion.

It was the first time that the Pope, speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him on a trip to Brazil, dealt in depth with a controversial topic that has come up in many countries, including the United States, Mexico, and Italy.

The Pope was asked whether he supported Mexican Church leaders threatening to excommunicate leftist parliamentarians who last month voted to legalize abortion in Mexico City.

"Yes, this excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon (church) law which says that the killing of an innocent child is incompatible with receiving communion, which is receiving the body of Christ," he said.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0956318820070509?feedType=RSS&rpc=22

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Here we go again. When is someone going to ask the Pope about politicians that support wars? How about politicians that lie about Weapons of Mass Destruction that result in the butchering of over 3500 American troops and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians?.

I don't have the picture anymore, but that little Iraqi girl, who is on her knees screaming because she's covered with the blood and brains of her parents....What about that Pope? I'd love to send him that picture and ask him about politicians that are responsible for that.

To quote (as closely as I can remember) former Vice President Spiro Agnew when commenting on a previous pope's opposition to birth control: "He no play-ah dah game. He no make-ah dah rules."

Mega-churches seem quite attractive to average folks.

That has to go.

I hope they are not closely held corporations.

One of the reasons that churches have enjoyed tax-exempt status in this country is because they are not supposed to participate in partisan politics.

I think if the United States threatened to remove the Roman Catholic Church from tax-exempt status, we would soon see just how "strong" the Pope's convictions are.

The whole lot of them ought to lose tax exempt status. Everyone from the Southern Baptist that publish RNC Porno Brochures and pass them out with the church bulletin, to the predominantly African American churches that allow Sharpton and Jackson to give campaign speeches from he pulpit.

Just the property tax on the real estate of these churches would be enough to give our veterans the care they deserve, with enough left over to re-build our broken military and infrastructure.

Hey Pope! You want to participate in the discussion, pay your taxes like everyone else.

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The worst thing about this, is despite the fact that the front runner on the GOP side is a Catholic that supports the right to choose, the MSM will feature nothing but Democrats.

I guess the Pope doesn't have to worry about abortion. No prepubescent altar-boy has ever been impregnated by a Catholic priest, but again, that hasn't stopped them from trying.

All churches need members to fill their coffers and also to procreate. Raise those babies to believe they will go to hell if they do not conform to the churches' beliefs. Just another fear tactic to keep the sheep from wandering. But it looks as if many are wandering away.Churches would disappear if they did not have money pouring in, imho.

If you are only going after Democrats, it's time for your racket to pay taxes. Render under Ceasar, Eggy Baby!

and you are correct, the pope is being a major hypocrite when it comes to human life.

we could end this fucking war?

It still causes me to wretch when I see it. There was another of this girl that was even more poignant. She was screaming and holding out her hands that were dripping with the blood of her family.

it was horrible, beyond words. :(

I don't know what could end this fucking war. I really don't.

we could end this fucking war?

It still causes me to wretch when I see it. There was another of this girl that was even more poignant. She was screaming and holding out her hands that were dripping with the blood of her family.

we could end this fucking war?

It still causes me to wretch when I see it. There was another of this girl that was even more poignant. She was screaming and holding out her hands that were dripping with the blood of her family.

I feel at a minimum, I owe it to them to read what happened. Thanks.

Though I have to look at it when I can set aside some time, because I know it will be a complete downer. :(

omg. . .

And your frantic attempts to hush it all up.

How come nobody ever threatens Giuliani, Arnold, Todd-Whitman, Collins and the rest of the pro-choice Republican Catholics?

I don't think the pontiff is being partisan here the way the domestic political hacks are. But I will point out that the pontiff isn't threatening to excommunicate pro-death penalty politicians. Nor is he threatening to deny Giuliani communion for being divorced twice.

The Pope is not supporting excommunication of pro-choice politicials because the pro-choice people are of a particular party. He and the Christian church organization he represents have made a religious stand on a particular issue, and one of the political parties of the US has taken on the mantle of being the party of Christianity. Therefore, one of the political parties of the US is aligned with the viewpoints of the Church, not the other way around.

During the 2004 election, the official Bush website had a number of pages for Catholics. The main page had a picture of Pope John Paul shaking hands with Bush, emblazoned with the title "Catholics for Bush."

I called my diocese to complain about the deceptive web page (the Pope hadn't endorsed Bush, but the intent of the website was to make it appear that he had). And I emailed the Vatican. (Yeah, I know, a waste of time.)

I don't know if my phone call never got passed on, or if someone higher up ignored it. But I assumed at the time that they must have been fine with the web page, or someone would have made the Bush people take it down.

Here's something I just found.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/35439.html

SNIP

As president, Bush adroitly employed networking, symbolism, and substance to maximum effect. Upon inauguration, Bush began regular networking meetings with a conservative Catholic advisory group and his campaign later benefited from the support of well-funded conservative Catholic political action committees. Symbolically, Bush gave the 2001 commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame. As president, Bush never ceased to court the pope, meeting with him several times, liberally quoting his words, and awarding him the Medal of Freedom.

Substantively, Bush emphasized the issues upon which Pope John Paul II and he agreed, going so far as to borrow the pope's "culture of life" sound bite to refer broadly to socially conservative positions on abortion, euthanasia, and marriage. Of course, the pope and the president disagreed vehemently on Iraq, the death penalty, and many aspects of economic policy. John Paul II once argued that "savage capitalism" is little better than "savage Marxism."

Bush astutely chose to ignore such serious cleavages, emphasizing the pope's socially conservative side. Conservative Catholic leaders were emboldened by the pope's lead on social issues and, in turn, they encouraged traditionalist Catholics to support Bush and fellow socially conservative Republicans.

In June 2004, Bush dashed off to the Vatican to meet John Paul II to exhort the pope to encourage American bishops to criticize Kerry's stance on various Catholic-sensitive social issues. At that meeting, the pope told Bush, "I follow with great appreciation your commitment to the promotion of moral values in American society, particularly with regard to respect for life and family." The Bush campaign subsequently placed the pope's picture on its campaign website under the headline "Catholics for Bush." The Republican National Committee web site contained entire sections tailored to conservative Catholic voters.

SNIP

He also was very much for social justice and against the way the poor in the world were treated. This is cherry picking the one statement.

There was a statement that said it was NOT a sin to vote for a prochoice politician, as long as you were voting for him for reasons other than the pro-choice stance. This was thought by many Catholics I know to be saying it was ok to vote for Kerry.

There were conservative Bishops in areas like Colorado who overtly opposed Kerry and questioned if he should be allowed to receive communion.

Pope John Paul did oppose the Iraq war. But for whatever reason, the Catholic hierarchy appears to have cooperated in the Republican party's attempt to make it seem as if John Paul's choice was Bush.

Who did they go after in 2004? John Kerry and only John Kerry. It may well have cost us the election.

The Church hasn't threatened anyone except Democrats for years. Because Republicans tithe and the Church needs their money to cover the pedophile law suits.

My family is Catholic as far back as our ancestry goes. The Church is definitely being political.

I suspect his position is grounded more in temporal politics than any divinely inspired message. This practicing ex-Catholic requests that the Pope get his house in order.

Oh well...

This only affects Catholics, which by the way would not include Bush or Cheney, since neither of them are Catholic.

Now Rudy is another story, but since he's already violated canon law regarding divorce, his excommunication should be right around the corner, providing Ratzi the Nazi isn't being a hypocrite?

Why chance it if you are NOT Catholic?

Pope Clavin (Benedict) should be very careful about issuing such proclamations. He is taking what is effectively a political stance in threatening to excommunicate pro-choice Catholic politicians. It is grounds to have 501(c)3 status revoked.

So the next time some type of pro/anti abortion vote comes up we can drop the catholic church's tax exempt status!
That would be a huge influx of tax revenue.

WOOHOO!!!
:bounce:


Think it would be enough to stave off the impending Social Security meltdown?

The Catholic Church is against abortion, as are most Protestant churches.

but I find it strange that the Pope never talks about politicians that support the death penalty, or those that are divorced.

I don't mind the Pope and the Catholic church setting their own rules, but you're being naive if you don't acknowledge what will happen with this.

The MSM will use this to beat Catholic Democrats over the head until the cows come home, and ignore Catholic Republicans. Will they follow Rudy around on Sunday giddily anticipating a priest denying him communion like they did with Kerry? Doubtful.

Again, the Pope brings this up, but when it comes to the death and destruction in Iraq...<crickets>

there are no poor babies to indoctrinate...

but the pope openly using a threat of ex-communication to influence how politicians vote makes it hard to argue the catholic church is non-secular and deserves to retain tax-exempt status.

He's leaving it up to the bishops. Basically, he's telling politicians that if your bishop excommunicates you for being pro-choice, that is permissible by church law. But he doesn't say that bishops are required to excommunicate pro-choice politicians, just that they can.

It really doesn't matter if he does it or he tells the individual pastors they can do it.
The threat of it being done is peddling influence in secular politics by the church.
I suppose they could allow a single diocese or parish to promote one candidate over another and just have the tax exempt status of that diocese of parish removed... but then all the individual parishes would have to appeal for their own tax exempt status.
(which would likely create a nice little boom for the legal profession)

I'm totally OK with the church taking whatever stand it wants.. I just don't think they should retain tax exempt status if they dabble in politics.
It wouldn't be good pr taxing a church... but wow... just think of how much revenue is there to be taxed.

hmmm... I actually kind of hope they *do start excommunicating US politicians over how they vote so it's even more clear cut that they should lose their tax exempt status.

Trying to save one potential male while killing a female. I'm not surprised Benedict
is behind it.

Make sure to excommunicate all the couples who defy your ban on birth control, and return all their sinful donations. You'll have a sea of empty pews to preach to.

against the death penalty?

I thought not.

In my opinion, if some religious group takes a stand as suggested by the Pope regarding abortion, without also taking similar action for all other contradictory positions, those religious organizations have become political organizations and are no longer tax exempt.

And remember... being pro-choice does not mean being pro-abortion.

I don't see the church getting off a fraction of it's wealth to ship in food to save these lives.

I was thinking the same as you.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031203-113907-6166r.htm

Bishops to pressure Catholic politicians


By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


As the 2004 election season heats up, certain candidates might be looking over their shoulders at an unlikely special-interest group: the U.S. Catholic bishops.
America's 275 active bishops are gearing up a new task force that could bring Catholic politicians in line in a way not seen before in American politics.
Announced at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops annual meeting last month, it is headed by Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick. The task force will produce guidelines on how to deal with recalcitrant politicians. But Cardinal McCarrick hedges when asked about their most potent weapon: excommunication.
"I wouldn't be in favor of that," he said.
But the bishops have felt pressured to come up with sanctions with a bite to them ever since January, when the Vatican came out with a 17-page "doctrinal note," a document on how Catholics in politics should behave.
"Those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life," it said. "For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them."

Why the coy focus on mostly-male politicians?
Cmon Rat. Don't be shy. Excommunicate %95 of your flock. That'll show em.

Want somebody please take them in?

According to the Gospels, a permanent no-no.

Time to shuffle some more pedophiles around...

It will be more official and at a high pitch than in 2004.
They will be pulling out all the stops to help the Repiblicans.
They only need one more seat on the Supreme Court
then abortion, birth control, and being gay will be banned forever.

I begin to understand why, in Saint Malachy's list of popes put Maladict as either the last or next to last (depending on whether "Peter the Roman" was part of the original list or a latter addition.) See Prophecy of the Popes in the Wikipedia.

In related news, the Pope has announced the Vatican will now be opened for every child on earth that is not wanted...we will start with those in Africa who are being born because dickhead Bush reinstated the global gag rule.

I applaud the Pope for offering up his services to be a step-father to the world's millions of unwanted children.

But I have some bad news for them: they won't succeed at their attempts to scare me.

adore having you.

freakin' "backin' abortion"..they're giving the woman a choice to do what she wants to do with her body instead of the genocidal fascists sticking their toxic noses into it.

What does the pope have to say about the killing fields of Iraq that bush started on March 20, 2003 with his fucking lies?

to fill up his batmob... uhhh... sorry.... (not!) POPEmobILL too. /sarcasm

(Also... does he fly in private jets when traveling his nazi planet?) :cry:

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Mind-boggling, isn't it?

Only a generation ago, Catholics had to work very hard to prove that they were not operating under Vatican orders to make the United States a vassal of the Vatican. Now, the Pope has all but ordered Catholics that they will work the Vatican's will, or else.

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So not only do you condemn the leaders (justly) you make fun of the followers. (childish)

But were beaten back by howls of disapproval by nearly everyone.

We take our separation of church and state extremely seriously.

The "church" is ENGAGING IN POLITICS, WHICH IS FORBIDDEN!

they need to lose their tax exempt status - PRONTO!

oh, and I almost forgot: FUCK THE NAZI POPE AND THE HORSE'S ASS HE RODE IN ON!!!

my husband is an ex catholic, he couldn't leave the church soon enough.

I can visualize the Pope leading an army of Daleks to the cries of "Excommunicate!"

Ding Dong.

educating them?

clothing them?

sheltering them?

I don't think so...

Catholic charities are rather generous but even they don't have the resources to help feed all the unwanted and abandoned children in this world.

To add salt to the wound...they also oppose birth control which another problem...

I am a pro-choice Catholic. If the church doesn't like that then they can ask me to leave...