More on Cardinal Egan, and Giuliani taking communion

From the NY Times - Hit the link to read the full article. You may have to register with the NYT but it is free and easy to do. For the full context, see our prior posting LifeNet: Cardinal Egan statement on Rudolph Giuliani receiving communion

Cardinal Egan Says Giuliani Shouldn’t Have Received Communion From Pope - New York Times

The cardinal’s statement, Mr. Zwilling said, was prompted by Mr. Novak’s column and by comments from others about elected officials who had received communion. “The cardinal felt it was important to clarify what had been the understanding, and to address it publicly,” he said.

Mr. Zwilling also said he did not know how the 2000 meeting at which the cardinal and the mayor reached their “understanding” came about: “whether they were meeting about something else and that came up,” or whether the cardinal asked to see Mr. Giuliani about the communion issue.

In the statement, Cardinal Egan appeared to take issue with Mr. Novak’s claim about “disobedience” to the pope. After declaring that the Catholic Church “clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God,” the cardinal said, “I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind.”

The statement made no mention of Mr. Giuliani’s multiple marriages.

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George Weigel, a conservative scholar and a biographer of Pope John Paul II, said it was “primarily the responsibility of the recipient to know his or her own situation”— meaning, he said, it was up to the individual not to seek communion if he knew that the church did not want him to.

“When one has heard Catholic bishops say for 35 years that the right to life is the premier civil rights issue of our lifetime and takes positions to deny that, or, in the case of Pelosi, Kerry and Chris Dodd, have facilitated that through their legislative actions, then one ought to know that one is objectively in a situation of fractured communion with the church,” he said.

“This is not rocket science, and if some clergy are telling these Catholic politicians that it is all right to take a pass on this, then those clergy are doing something deeply wrong.”

Comments

[Mary Teresa]

Mr. Weigel is right that the onus in this situation is primarily on the soul that presents itself to receive Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is not a question of being in agreement with a particular bishop or even the Pope. It is a question of being free from sin, and so able to receive God in a clean, pure vessel. To do otherwise is a sacrilege. Once a public sinner decides to commit this very grave sacrilege in front of millions of people, faithful and non-Catholics included - and in the case of these celebrity politicians who openly oppose the Church and a number of fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ, this becomes a VERY public scandal of international proportions - then the bishop in whose jurisdiction the sacrilege occurred has an OBLIGATION to take corrective action. Ideally, of course, mechanisms should have been in place to prevent these atrocities from taking place. They weren't, but now we need to support and encourage Cardinal Egan to take the strongest measures he can, not only for the benefit of the souls who committed these terrible acts, but also, and perhaps especially, for the benefit of the faithful, who are all watching the situation very, very closely.

[Mary Teresa]

Let's not forget, either, that New York State Governor Paterson also received Holy Communion at Yankee Stadium. Gov. Paterson is apparently a Catholic by birth, but his current religious status is unclear and his office refuses to respond to any questions on this issue. He is worse on the abortion issue than Mr. Giuliani. He has received the Margaret Sanger award from Planned Parenthood, and is a fanatical supporter of the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (RHPP) in NYState which would cement the legal right for abortion through 9 months of pregancy in the state with or without Roe v. Wade, make abortion a "civil" right, allow underage girls to legally get abortions without the knowledge or consent of their parents, force all CAtholic hospitals to perform abortions, among other things. Gov. Paterson has publicly announced that he has had many affairs, and he is also divorced and remarried, though he married his second wife in a Protestant church. It is unclear if it was the Pontiff who gave the governor Communion, or another priest nearby, but he definitely received Communion at the solemn high Pontifical Mass at Yankee Stadium.

[Nancy]

God can change hearts; look at Bernard Nathanson.

[Stan Tomkiel]

The Cardinals and Bishops correctly state that they have been pronouncing Church teaching for years. Cardinal Egan claims Giuliani violated "an agreement" with him (not a metion of the desecration of Jesus' flesh). Now, after Robert Novak's courageous article, they give the appearance of shock that obstinate, unrepentant politicians thumb their nose at the Church, and worse, give sacrilege to the very Body & Blood of Christ. Well a few sayings come to mind, like "Actions speak louder than words" and "Faith without works is dead." What these clerics have to face is the reality that while they cloak their cowardice (after 35 years we can't deny that's what it is) in "pastoral concerns" the incorrigibles are flipping them the middle finger! And giving widespread scandal, so that despite all the "pastoral concern" for the blood-stained politicians, about 70% of the laity, don't even believe in the core tenet of Catholicism, the Real Presence, and a majority support legalized abortion! So much for the pastoral approach. We need our episcopal leaders to start teaching with actions instead of hollow words: serious, meaningful actions as authorized by Canon Law to stop the deep erosion of the faith -and the slaughter of the innocents - in America. The time for courage and fortitude is long overdue.

[Nancy]

I still think Vatican 3 is long overdue.