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| Sen. Murkowski supports federally funding Planned Parenthood. |
Yesterday,
we posted about how Senator Lisa Murkowski - (R) from Alaska has come out against attempts by her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate to remove the federal funding of Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider.
CatholicVote.org and
GLACC also posted on this issue. In other words, we aren't in the minority thinking that Murkowski as one of the only Republicans to oppose this plan, is problematic,
but what makes it even worse is that she
is a Mass attending receives Communion at Mass.
I made the claim that this sort of public support of abortion from Catholic elected officials
must stop! Every time she comes to Mass and fellow Catholics see her, it suggests to them that
they too can object and
defy the teachings of the Church. It places doubt in their minds as to the supremacy of belief that the Church espouses. What exacerbates this problem is that we don't have priests or bishops that come out and denounce their action. In other words, we have no one willing to exercise a
pastoral practice to remove this thought from the minds of Catholics.
Yesterday, Dr. Ed Peters a Vatican Canon Lawyer,
discussed the idea of pastoral practice in relation to Communion, Canon Law, and Canons 915 & 916. He wrote this post in response to those critics of his analysis that the denial of Communion to elected officials
via Canon 915 may be
Canonically appropriate, are really a matter of
pastoral practice. Such arguments separate Canon Law from Pastoral Practice and in essence turn Canon Law into a set of
suggestions. Dr. Peters' response to this is:
while many canons do not have immediate pastoral relevance, many other canons do have obvious pastoral implications, and surely the canons on the reception and administration of holy Communion count among them. Indeed, the whole purpose of Canons 915 and 916 is to direct concrete pastoral practice!
Canons 915 and 916 boast aged, even ancient, nay apostolic, roots, and both norms are illuminated by copious and consistent canonical commentary reflecting many centuries’ worth of . . . . . what? . . . . . pastoral practice. In other words, one cannot discuss Canons 915 and 916 without discussing pastoral practice at the same time. The two disciplines are inextricably related. And not because I say so, but because they are.
Dr. Peters is saying that the entire purpose of Canon 915 is to direct
pastoral practice. The law was put in place to not only guide, but direct the way in which priests and bishops form their
pastoral flock through a specific practice – i.e. the reception or denial of Holy Eucharist. He continues and explains that the Church has done this to combat difficult issues:
Ours is certainly not the first generation to face the serious problem of Catholics whose lifestyle is protractedly and publicly at odds with important Church teachings, nor are we the first to face rampant ridicule and accusations of hypocrisy for holding Catholics to higher standards for their public behavior than we hold others to. It is precisely because the Church has such extensive experience in dealing with difficult issues that she has set down, for the guidance of pastors and faithful alike, certain norms for behavior in her Code of Canon Law, norms such as Canons 915 and 916.
In other words, it is in the Church's infinite wisdom that she has created a
set of norms for pastors and faithful to follow
. By not following Canon Law, what happens is that at a pastoral level, our Church leaders are saying that they disagree with how the Church guides them, and they are taking matters into their own hands. The purpose of Canon has multiple purposes and is at the disposal of the pastors and Bishops
because it guides them to the
heart and mind of the Church. Ignoring these Canons creates
sacrilege (improper conduct with Communion) and scandal (the affect on the other faithful).In fact, as important as the prevention of sacrilege is in the operation of Canon 915, it is not the only basis for the canon; rather, the prevention of scandal is also a key consideration, but scandal arises only from public behavior seriously at odds with Church teaching and order.
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| Will Abp. Schwietz utilize Canon 915? |
Imagine the Catechesis that would occur if a bishop or priest came out and said, "The Church has spoken on this issue, and we will adhere to the infinite wisdom laid down by Her." Obviously, that statement isn't coming and therefore we will continue to suffer
sacrilege, scandal, and confusing catechesis on the issue of Communion, Sin, and Church Doctrine. Until Canon 915 is used the way that Canonists like Dr. Peters explain that it should be, we will continue to have public officials like Senator Murkowski who think they can put on and take off their Catholicism like a sweater.
The teachings and doctrine of the Church are supposed to be definite and resolved in the minds of her leaders and the faithful. But when public figures that are Catholic like Murkowski call those teachings into question by her actions leaders of the Church have two choices. Either act and use the guidance of the Church to correct those actions and teach the rest of the faithful how to properly think and act about such issues, or not act and allow the actions to occur through some weak and uncourageous explanation all the while losing souls to eternal damnation and hell. One would think this would be an easy and clear cut decision...
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