Pro-abortion Catholics in Congress
Statement from Judie Brown, president of American Life League:
Seventy-two members of Congress, all of whom claim to be Catholic, are dead wrong on abortion. Their records show, in each case, that they do not understand basic Catholic teaching on this critical question.
The fact is that each and every abortion is an act of killing; an innocent human being dies. The Church does not condone the act of abortion in any case - it is not permitted for any reason whatsoever. Yet, there are 72 members of Congress who, as Catholics, are arrogantly acting against Church teaching, and therefore should be denied the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion.
Today's ad calls on each of the bishops represented by these politicians to enforce the Catholic Church's Canon Law 915, which is designed to protect Christ from sacrilege. This section of canon law should be cited as the reason why Holy Communion will be denied to each of these people until such time as they publicly recant their support for the act of abortion.
It is clear that each of these elected officials is either ignorant of Church teaching or has made a conscious decision to ignore it. The job of the bishop is therefore quite simple and straightforward: to teach the truth, to warn the offender, and if that does not work, to deny the sacrament to the offender. Politicians are not exempt for obeying the teachings of the Church, and as Pope John Paul II has reiterated in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharisitia:
The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law [915] refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who "obstinately persist in manifest grave sin" are not to be admitted to Eucharistic Communion."
Enforcement of Canon Law 915 is not a sanction; it is an act of mercy. Each Catholic bishop can help cure abortion by calling each Catholic who publicly supports abortion to task, helping each to see the violent results of their individual choices to support abortion.
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Release issued: 24 Jan 05