Alaska & Canon 915

Gun Lovin' Alaskan Catholic Club (which seems to be growing its membership as of late) has a very interesting post on two different stances that Bishops take on public figures and abortion. The two bishops in question are Archbishop Schwietz of Anchorage and Archbishop Chaput of Denver.

I would argue this post seems a little out of place, but since Canon 915 is such a hot topic, I dare say it is extremely relevant.

Now I wouldn't say that Florian (GLACC) is being unfair about the situation, but those quotes are from a while ago - I would think the Archdiocese would have a much clearer explanation about what their interaction and understanding is with Senator Murkowski and Senator Begich, who claims to be Roman Catholic as well.

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when does Canon 915 apply?

But it does raise a good point - is the issue of abortion enough to invoke the restrictions of Canon 915? Cardinal Raymond Burke has this to say:

Finally, the discipline must be applied in order to avoid serious scandal, for example, the erroneous acceptance of procured abortion against the constant teaching of the moral law. No matter how often a Bishop or priest repeats the teaching of the Church regarding procured abortion, if he stands by and does nothing to discipline a Catholic who publicly supports legislation permitting the gravest of injustices and, at the same time, presents himself to receive Holy Communion, then his teaching rings hollow. To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law. Confusion, of course, is one of the most insidious fruits of scandalous behavior.

I am deeply aware of the difficulty which is involved in applying the discipline of can. 915. I am not surprised by it and do not believe that anyone should be surprised. Surely, the discipline has never been easy to apply. But what is at stake for the Church demands the wisdom and courage of shepherds who will apply it.

The United States of America is a thoroughly secularized society which canonizes radical individualism and relativism, even before the natural moral law. The application, therefore, is more necessary than ever, lest the faithful, led astray by the strong cultural trends of relativism, be deceived concerning the supreme good of the Holy Eucharist and the gravity of supporting publicly the commission of intrinsically evil acts. Catholics in public office bear an especially heavy burden of responsibility to uphold the moral law in the exercise of their office which is exercised for the common good, especially the good of the innocent and defenseless. When they fail, they lead others, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to be deceived regarding the evils of procured abortion and other attacks on innocent and defenseless human life, on the integrity of human procreation, and on the family.

Now this conversation to fully play out would take volumes, as it has in places like In Light of the Law and CatholicVote.org but I think it is important for us to think about. I know when Sen. Murkowski visited our Parish prior to the August primary folks were visibly upset.

The issue isn't that their sins are greater, but that they are in public actively working against the teachings of the church in a public way and then walking up to receive Communion. This isn't a matter of judging others (Cannon 915 vs 916) but a matter of how scandal and Catechesis play into the idea of the purpose of Communion.

It is so unfortunate that we have both of our U.S. Senators that are Catholics who actively support abortion through their legislative decisions. Who knows what scandal this creates when they come forward for communion.

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