News Jan-May 2004

News archive: January - May, 2004

SAT, MAY 29 -- Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Dianne Williamson with yet another Catholic-bashing column--it's so "mean-spirited" of the new bishop to actually defend the Faith!

Anna Quindlen, Newsweek's token "Catholic," rants against bishops who refuse obedience to secular hetero-doxy.

HLI President Rebukes "pharisaical 48" Congressmen for Scandal (5/27/2004)

Sodomites Whine as Cardinal George Gives Them The Cold Shoulder, But Rainbow Sash Movement Heaps Praise on Heterodox Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles For Welcoming Them to Communion (5/27/2004)

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that homosexual Catholics plan to disrupt Catholic masses in the city this weekend by identifying themselves with a rainbow sash and presenting themselves for Communion. Prior to leaving for Rome, Francis Cardinal George wrote a letter to all pastors in the Archdiocese of Chicago indicating that protesting homosexuals were to be denied Communion. (CCI Commentary, 5/25/2004)

TUE, MAY 25 -- Arizona bishop offers clarification; notes possibility of "measures beyond those of moral persuasion."

Victoria Kennedy's Washington Post op-ed in which Mrs. Ted Kennedy claims that excommunication advocates -- like us -- "erroneously conclude that pro-choice politicians are 'obstinately persevering' in the 'manifest grave sin' ..."

Democrats to bishops: Shut up! by Ben Shapiro (5/23) -- Democrats aren't satisfied with building a stone wall between church and state. They now want a moat between church and politicians.

Denver's Archbishop Chaput recently issued a very timely statement on conscience, and its misapplication by guilty politicians.

FRI, MAY 21 -- How's this for nerve?? U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, co-wrote and signed a letter along with 47 other Catholic members of the House of Representatives, urging the church not to deny politicians who support abortion the sacrament of Communion. (Boston Herald, 5/21/2004)

Why Communion Could Be Denied to Anti-Life Legislators: Interview With an American Theologian in Rome -- (www.zenit.org, 4/28/2004)

SAT, MAY 15 -- Robert Novak on Kerry's closed-door talk with Cardinal McCarrick, in which "Kerry was lobbying McCarrick against being denied Holy Communion as an unwavering pro-choice abortion advocate."

"Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or for any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside full communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation. Any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences. It is for this reason that these Catholics, whether candidates for office or those who would vote for them, may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted their positions and been reconciled with God and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance." -- Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan, Bishop of Colorado Springs, CO

TUE, MAY 11 -- "Is Governor McGreevey ripe for a conversion?" by Barbara Kralis.

Lansing's Bishop Mengeling Crosses Over to the Dark Side: Breaks With Rome and Refuses to Condemn Pro-Abortion "Catholic" Michigan Gov. Granholm (5/3/2004) By Monica Migliorino Miller, Church and Truth Project -- The Lansing State Journal reports, "The Diocese of Lansing won't withhold Communion from Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, Bishop Carl Mengeling said last week. Instead, the diocese will leave the decision on receiving the Eucharist to individual Catholics. Vatican Cardinal Frances Arinze, a Nigerian who heads the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said recently that priests must deny Communion to politicians who favor abortion rights." CCI notes that the Vatican - which is rumored to have had something to do with appointing Bishop Mengeling - had no comment.

CATHOLIC CARDINAL McCARRICK’S WAFFLING ON KERRY CONFRONTATION: ANOTHER COP-OUT? (5/2/2004) By Pastor J. Grant Swank, Jr. -- When John L. Allen, Jr. of Rome reported for the National Catholic Reporter, he stated verbatim an interview he had with Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Allen asked McCarrick why the hesitancy in not confronting US Senator John F. Kerry and other Catholic politicians regarding their misuse of Communion. The media has focused particularly on Kerry due to his running for US President. But there are plenty of others, especially in the US Congress, who blaspheme the Blessed Sacrament by receiving the holy elements while defending tenaciously immoral positions such as abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research and the practicing homosexual lifestyle.

FRI, MAY 7 -- Letter from Archbishop Myers on the Eucharist and abortion.

Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has sparked controversy by suggesting that abortion is just one of many issues Catholic voters should consider in voting. But Bishop James C. Timlin, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, disagrees: "... Abortion must take precedence over every other issue. I repeat. It is the single most important issue confronting not only Catholics, but also the entire electorate."

THU, MAY 6 -- 20/20 interview Friday: Teresa Heinz Kerry almost had an abortion 30 years ago. (Newsday, 5/6/2004)

N.J. governor says he won't take Communion in public (Associated Press, 5/6/2004) -- Governor James E. McGreevey, at odds with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church over his support for abortion, said yesterday that he will not receive Communion during public Masses.

ALL's full page ad in The Washington Times regarding Cardinal McCarrick and pro-abortion politicians.

MON, MAY 3 -- We have received indirect word from the Diocese of Worcester that there will not be pro-abortion politicians invited to Bishop McManus's installation. So far, so good!

Kerry and communion by Robert Novak (5/3) -- Readers of the Catholic Standard, official publication of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., raised their eyebrows two weeks ago.

SAT, MAY 1 -- Bishop Joseph Galante, incoming leader of the Camden, NJ Catholic diocese, said pro-abort NJ Governor McGreevey should not receive Communion. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/30/2004)

THU, APR 29 -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA), like John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion, said Thursday she will continue to ask for Holy Communion in spite of Vatican opposition to "pro-choice" Catholics doing so. (AP, 4/29/2004)

'Bible as hate speech' bill nears final OK: Passes Canadian Senate, lacks only formality of 'Royal Assent' (WorldNetDaily)

WED, APR 28 -- In its filings yesterday at the Massachusetts SJC (posted at www.aclj.org), the ACLJ contends that the SJC is required under the state constitution to vacate its judgment in the Goodridge case and argues that the constitution grants the Governor and legislature the exclusive authority in cases involving marriage. The constitution states: “All causes of marriage, divorce, and alimony, and all appeals from the Judges of probate shall be heard and determined by the Governor and Council, until the Legislature shall, by law, make other provision.” Full ACLJ news release

Bishop Robert J. McManus, who will become fifth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester on May 14, said the Vatican has issued no criteria that would exclude Catholic politicians from receiving Communion based on their public positions on so-called "life issues."
He joined with Providence Bishop Robert E. Mulvee in issuing an official statement Friday after Cardinal Francis Arinze of the Vatican Congregation of Divine Worship said political leaders who favor abortion rights should not be given Communion. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 4/27/2004).

Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the setting up by the NCCB of a task force to deal with pro-abort politicians; it is response to Cardinal Arinze's press conference of last week. (Zenit, 4/26/2004)

MON, APR 26 -- John Kerry's Wife Backs Abortion, but says it "Stops the Process of Life" (LifeNews.com) -- In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of John Kerry, says she backs abortion. She also retracted a previous statement indicating she wasn't fully 100% committed to the pro-abortion cause. "I'm more old-fashioned than a lot of women ... I don't view abortion as just a nothing. It is stopping the process of life," Heinz Kerry said.

FRI, APR 23 -- Deal Hudson reports on Kerry and the march for abortion this weekend.

FRI, APR 16 -- Kerry meets with Washington's Cardinal McCarrick. Should Kerry be excommunicated? "I would want to get to talk to him, get to see him and understand him before I would make a decision like that," the cardinal said. (Washington Times, 4/16/2004). Do you think Kerry is trembling? Or laughing?
Excerpt of a FOX News interview with the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, broadcast Sunday, April 11, 2004.

"Whose duty is it to correct Kerry and, if need be, sanction him? The duty belongs to Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston and the conference of U.S. Catholic bishops. For Kerry is now a candidate for an office where his decisions on law, funding and Supreme Court nominees may determine whether countless unborn children live or perish. This one is going to separate the Cardinal Woolseys from the Thomas Mores." -- Column by Pat Buchanan, 4/12/2004

Excommunicate Kerry: check out a new web site at
http://www.excommunicatekerry.com/

THU, APR 15 -- Bishop Bruskewitz would deny Kerry Communion by Barbara Kralis.

WED, APR 14 -- The next great Catholic scandal? by Maggie Gallagher (4/13) -- Stay with me a minute. This is not a column about a presidential candidate. It's a column about a religion. My religion. And maybe yours, too.

TUE, APR 13 -- Seton Hall Law School to honor pro-abortion judge Friday! (Priests for Life, 4/12/2004)

MON, APR 12 -- "Catholic" Kerry receives Holy Communion on Easter: Boston Herald article.
Boston Globe article.

HOLY SAT, APR 10 -- Diocese gives nod for Kerry to receive Eucharist claims priest in charge of Paulist Center. (Boston Herald, 4/10/2004)

Senator Kerry is "a practicing Catholic, and his religion is an important part of his life... He has no concerns about being confronted or snubbed by Catholic leaders. It's not once been an issue the campaign has run into in almost two years on the campaign trail." -- David Wade, Kerry spokesman. (WorldNetDaily, 4/10/2004)

Trenton's Bishop Smith rebuts NJ Gov. McGreevey's "Catholic" claim. (Times of Trenton, 4/10/2004)

GOOD FRI, APR 9 -- John Kerry: planning on Easter Holy Communion(!)??:
John Kerry's Easter Show - NewsMax.com
John Kerry's Communion at Catholic Church Upsets Pro-Life Groups - LifeNews.com
Kerry's Easter Mass: the Paulist Center??
Boston.com (4/8/2004)

(CWNews.com, 4/9/2004) - Cardinal Francis George of Chicago has announced that he will not deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who support abortion, according to an AP report.

Fiery Darts Are Backfiring by Chuck Colson (4/8) -- What would you expect to be playing at the movies in the Middle East this Holy Week? One thing you might not expect is "The Passion of the Christ."

WED, APR 7 -- Archbishop O'Malley to priests: improve preaching; confront the Culture of Death (Boston Globe, 4/7/2004).

Bishop Bruskewitz will deny Kerry the Eucharist by Barbara Kralis (4/6/2004).
U.S. bishops mull whether to refuse sacraments to public pro-aborts.

Excommunicate Kerry: check out a new web site at
http://www.excommunicatekerry.com/

SAT, MAR 27 -- Politicians must be trembling in New Jersey: Newly appointed Bishop Joseph Galante promised to take note of Catholic politicians whose voting records are contrary to Church teachings on abortion and euthanasia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports he will not deny Communion to such elected officials, but would consider refusing to allow them to speak at church facilities. [You're welcome at the Eucharistic banquet, but not the chicken banquet.]

A more encouraging note was sounded by Phoenix, AZ Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted in his weekly column.

WED, MAR 24 -- John Kerry, skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, attended Mass at Our Lady of the Snows on Sunday (!). Of course, he received Communion. Pastoral Associate Teresa Gregory said, "The Kerrys have been coming here for a long time, and they're always welcome."
Union Leader article (3/24/2004)
American Spectator article (3/23/2004)

MON, MAR 22 -- Professor at "Catholic" Marquette U. Under Fire for Pro-Abortion Activism (LifeNews.com) -- Daniel Maguire, a former priest and professor of theological and cross-cultural ethics at the Jesuit college in Wisconsin, addressed a crowd of approximately 400 at a Florida Planned Parenthood dinner.

FRI, MAR 19 (St. Joseph) -- Catholic Campuses Promote Infamous 'Sexologist' by Dennis Jarrard (Human Events, 3/11/2004).

WED, MAR 17 (St. Patrick) -- "Each and every Sunday, Senator Kerry enters a different parish, approaches the altar, receiving the Eucharist while obstinately refusing to obey the Church's clearly defined laws against his unlawful reception of Communion. Each parish receives advance notice of Kerry's clamorous arrival, yet, in parish after parish, both pastors, priests, deacons and lay extraordinary eucharistic ministers (EOEMs) willfully give Kerry sacrilegious Communions." ("Is the Church serving two masters - politicians and God?" by Barbara Kralis, 3/16/2004)

TUE, MAR 9 -- Father Tim Ryan, the Toronto Priest who was forbidden to say public Masses by the Archdiocese of Toronto last month for having submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court of Canada in defence of homosexual 'marriage', has indicated he is 'gay' in an opinion piece in the Toronto Star. (LifeSiteNews.com, 3/8/2004)

THU, FEB 26 -- ALL issues Ash Wednesday challenge to pro-abortion "Catholic" politicians (press release) -- The Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church, today issued the following statement ...

WED, FEB 25 -- John Kerry discovers states' rights on "gay marriage"; rejects Bush's proposed amendment. (Wall Street Journal, 2/25/2004)

MON, FEB 23 -- Catholic League: "The Passion" Wounds Theologians’ Egos

Arizona's Bishop O'Brien also exemplified and perpetuated the moral relativism that has taken hold of so many... O'Brien's diocese [was] one of the most liberal in the country. O'Brien's top lieutenants reflected this tilt. In 1999, the monsignor who served as O'Brien's top lobbyist at the legislature worked to torpedo a piece of anti-abortion legislation... The same monsignor was an open backer of liberal Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano — with O'Brien's tacit support. (National Review, 2/23/2004)

FRI, FEB 20 -- Phil Lawler critiques the U.S. bishops and their governance toward pro-abortion politicians.

TUE, FEB 17 -- A Primer on Canon 915: regarding the bishops' obligation to deny the Eucharist to pro-abortion politicians, and the risks of refusing to do so By Barbara Kralis 2/6/2004 -- St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "A distinction must be made among sinners: some are secret; others are notorious, either from evidence of the fact, as public usurers, or public robbers or from being denounced as evil men by some ecclesiastical or civil tribunal. Therefore Holy Communion ought not to be given to open sinners when they ask for it" (STh, III:q 80: art 6). Read more...

TUE, FEB 3 -- Refuse Holy Communion to Kerry? Archbishop Burke remains firm; Archbishop O'Malley says no Communion, but he wouldn't refuse Kerry -- One archbishop in the United States has said publicly that he would refuse to distribute the Eucharist to pro-abortion Catholic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, while another says it's up to the politician himself to decide whether to go to Communion.

SAT, JAN 31 -- Archbishop Burke says he would refuse Communion to Sen. Kerry (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1/30/2004).

Two U.S. Professors Say Catholic Bishops Obliged to Refuse Communion to pro-abort pols ... (LifeSiteNews.com 1/30/2004)

SAT, JAN 24 -- Archbishop O'Malley: "These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to communion." Complete article.

Dr. Mengele to speak at Assumption College

FRI, JAN 23 -- Dynamite article by a BU anthrpologist, Peter Wood, "Sex & Consequences": "If America normalizes male homosexuality through gay marriage, our culture is not suddenly going to become exactly like the Etoro, or the Big Nambas of the northern New Hebrides, or other such tribes. Rather, we will follow out the biological and cultural logic of homosexuality in our own fashion. The general results, however, are predictable on the basis of the ethnography: heterosexual marriage will be weakened; the birth rate will decline; the status of women as mothers will further erode; and young boys will be a much greater target of erotic attention by older males." Full article.

Our correspondent at the March for Life reported a possibly smaller crowd than usual, but a very young crowd. President Bush phoned in from Texas. OR: Boston people were holding the Excommunication banner, and distributing cards advocating the excommunication of pro-abortion politicians--a photo of John Kerry illustrated our point. The cards advertised this web site.

Another bishop speaks out! Pro-Abortion Lawmakers Urged to Refrain From Communion (Jan 20, 2004, Zenit.org) -- Archbishop Alfred Hughes has declared that lawmakers who support abortion and assisted suicide should no longer receive holy Communion.

SAT, JAN 10 -- Lawmakers lawbreakers (World Magazine, 1/8/2004) -- A look at churches that are considering the exercise of discipline over pro-abortion politicians.

FRI, JAN 9 -- Bishop disciplines pro-abort politicians!! Citing his duty to "explain, persuade, correct, and admonish, those in leadership positions who contradict the Gospel of Life," the bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Most Rev. Raymond Burke, has issued an order stating, "a Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion or euthanasia, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons 'are not to be admitted to Holy Communion' (Code of Canon Law, can. 915)." Written in November, the text of the bishop's official notification was just released this week.

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