NOW OFFICIAL: John Kerry, et al, excommunicated from the Catholic Church
First off, that title, while somewhat misleading, is accurate. Technically, John Kerry has already excommunicated himself, and is merely daring the Church to make it official. (See UPDATE#2 below.)
In a "major news announcement" over the weekend, canon lawyer Marc A. Balestrieri confirmed that he received an "unofficial response" (now official - see UPDATE#2 below) from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith about two questions he posed regarding his pending heresy claim against John Kerry. For more extensive details, check the PDF at De Fide or read Dom Bettinelli's article at Bettnet.com.
Here's the upshot: the Congregation confirmed that any Catholic who "publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion... commits that heresy... (and) is automatically excommunicated according to (canon law)." According to Bettnet, the burden of proof is now on Kerry to refute the charge. Reportedly, Mr. Balestrieri has amended his complaint to include Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, former Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine as heretics.
I'm trying very hard not to feel joy right now, but it's very tough. May our fallen brothers and sisters come to their senses and reform. Quickly.
UPDATE: Incredible. (stovepipe hattip: Pavel Bloviates)
UPDATE#2: Weaselteeth points us to a press release posted just yesterday at De Fide. Apparently, my caution at using Fr. Cole's word "unofficial" was not necessary, for what might seem rather arcane reasons to our non-Catholic friends. (These most crucial points of the press release are found in the extended entry.) While Mr. Balestrieri uses the phrase "official" with regard to the response, what I think he means to say is that Fr. Cole was only tasked with formulating an "unofficial" response because the opinion of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith holds that the teachings Mr. Balestrieri has asked to be clarified are "manifest", a theological term meant to convey that these issues are and have been taught to the faithful in such clear terms that any clarification - and thus any "official" response - is unnecessary.
The result, as shown in his statement below, is an unequivocal declaration of the status of "pro-choice" Catholics: "They have been excommunicated." It is because the doctrine is "manifest" that the burden of proof in these cases now lies with the accused when denounced for Heresy. Any attempt to claim that the pro-choice position is theologically valid is essentially a public confession of guilt. Case closed.
YET MORE: Dom has a roundup of sorts, most of which parses the word "unofficial". Don't let it throw you. I think my take is just a slightly different perspective of the same concept - and the other perspective deals with church politics that make the elephant/donkey wars seem like a walk through the zoo.
Mr. Balestrieri, a political independent, has repeatedly declared that his actions come to defend the Faith and Holy Eucharist from sacrilege and scandal, not as one focused on an electoral outcome. Catholics confess to the real presence—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of God Himself—in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. “As early as today, Sen. Kerry, and all pro-choice Catholic politicians, who publicly call themselves Catholic yet who blatantly violate Canon Law by continuing to profess Heresy and receive Holy Communion, must publicly reject their abortion advocacy for the sake of their own souls, and the others they have scandalized. They have been excommunicated....”The Response states that any Catholic who denies or doubts the two main conclusions, after knowing of their existence, commits Heresy. The Response holds that the dogmatic force of the two propositions is “manifest,” a term not lightly used by any theologian. This means that one is dealing here not with a matter of a theologian’s personal opinion, but with two core non-negotiable Articles of Faith. The Response, therefore, is “official” and binding in that it simply restates infallible teachings of the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium, already stated unequivocally by Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the CDF, and Tarcisio Bertone, then secretary of the CDF, in their own commentaries to the Professio Fidei of 1998. Hence the Response’s rapid and forceful content.
The Response goes even further in specifying that any baptized Catholic who publicly states, “I’m personally opposed, but I support a woman’s right to choose,” is in fact presumed by Canon Law to be guilty of heresy, with the burden of proving that he is not shifted to the violating politician. A Catholic who publicly professes the right to choose heresy is automatically excommunicated, not by any declaration of the Church per se, but by the acts committed by the individual, and thus being in a state of mortal sin is ineligible to receive any of the Sacraments of the Church, including reception of the Eucharist, marriage, absolution from sin, and even Christian burial until the error is recanted and excommunication is lifted.
Comments
I am not really sure how to feel about this. I mean I think it is deserved but in a sense it makes me sad. I have never been one to think excommunication should be taken lightly. I have always felt it was our obligation to try and help those who have strayed to find their faith again.
I am not sure that this will not cause a backlash against Catholics and a surge of sympathy for Mr. Kerry.
The Kennedy men as a group should have been excommunicated decades ago for their womanizing, adultery, and basically immoral behavior. Tom Harkin is a bald face liar and has a cold calculating heart. Honestly, I do not think any of these folks care about this. They will just use it as a political tool and join some Episcopal Church who will not care.
I am just not sure that pressing this issue is a good thing. I could be totally wrong. Maybe people will see it for what it is, a church standing by its principles. But with the current tenor of debate about Catholics of late, I have not got much faith.
The day this goes mainstream the sound bite from Terry McAuliffe, another Catholic probably will be, "The Bishops couldn't be bothered with child molesters, but they have enough time to persecute and hunt down honest, civic minded, public servants blah blah blah.
We shall see :)
Posted by: Jennifer | October 17, 2004 06:56 PM
I couldn't agree more about how we should feel about this, Jennifer. Excommunication is a sad result of a terrible situation, and deprives our brothers and sisters of communion with the Body of Christ - never a happy occasion. That's why I said I was trying not to feel joy over it, but the urge to proclaim vindication is great. (That in itself is sinful, venial though it may be.)
But as much as I dispute their politics, I do disagree about your view of the Kennedy family. Womanizing and such aren't grounds for excommunication, unless one does so publicly without remorse, or disputes that it is sinful, or proposes that it should be done flagrantly in violation of church law. While the Kennedy men may have much to answer for, you can't really say they promoted debauchery except through their private actions, which they never promoted should be emulated. Since everyone's a sinner, all we could do is tsk, tsk, tsk, wag a finger, and carry on.
On the other hand, abortion, euthenasia, homosexual "marriage", embryonic research, and cloning are all proscribed acts, yet Kerry (among others) continues to proclaim them as acceptable. That's heresy, plain and simple - as Fr. Cole's letter makes plain. If this result causes a backlash, so be it - this is the proper (and even overdue) response to the heretic. There are some things more important than elections. And yet, we don't yet know if that will be the result.
My opinion is that the MSM will ignore it, since it's not an affirmative act. If the Church came out and delivered some sort of proclamation, they would look at it differently, but I figure they'll look at this as somehow illegitimate because it's an automatic, passive response.
Posted by: Chris | October 17, 2004 08:23 PM
Good post. I expect you're right, Chris - the MSM won't care about this - except to slam a few bishops - there was a big oped piece in the Denver Post yesterday which likens to the Taliban the bishops who said Kerry is "cooperating with evil" in his public support of abortion.
Posted by: Pavel | October 18, 2004 09:24 AM
Yes, I agree i was overstating to a degree about the Kennedy men, however leaving your "secretary" trapped in a car at the bottom of a lake would tend to qualify.
I do not disagree with an excommunication. I just worry about how it will play out for Catholics once the anti-catholic media has their way with the facts. They have practically demonized us and I firmly believe they feel we are like some sort of American version of the Taliban like Pavel says.
I do not want my kids in parochial school targeted by other kids for being Catholic. Never doubt the mean spiritedness of the left. The preach peace and equality, but it is always on their terms. Otherwise you are some sort of zealot.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 18, 2004 05:13 PM
Chris, here's the news release on that subject:
http://www.defide.com/news.html
Posted by: weaselteeth | October 18, 2004 10:45 PM