Dionne: For an 'Obamacon,' Communion Denied

[RamboLiberal]

Word spread like wildfire in Catholic circles: Douglas Kmiec, a staunch Republican, firm foe of abortion and veteran of the Reagan Justice Department, had been denied Communion.

His sin? Kmiec, a Catholic who can cite papal pronouncements with the facility of a theological scholar, shocked old friends and adversaries alike earlier this year by endorsing Barack Obama for president. For at least one priest, Kmiec's support for a pro-choice politician made him a willing participant in a grave moral evil.

Kmiec was denied Communion in April at a Mass for a group of Catholic business people he later addressed at dinner. The episode has not received wide attention outside the Catholic world, but it is the opening shot in an argument that could have a large impact on this year's presidential campaign: Is it legitimate for bishops and priests to deny Communion to those supporting candidates who favor abortion rights?

A version of this argument roiled the 2004 campaign when some, though not most, Catholic bishops suggested that John Kerry and other pro-choice Catholic politicians should be denied Communion because of their views on abortion.

The Kmiec incident poses the question in an extreme form: He is not a public official but a voter expressing a preference. Moreover, Kmiec -- a law professor at Pepperdine University and once dean of Catholic University's law school -- is a long-standing critic of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/02/AR2008060202591.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Hardrada]

1. At least he wasn't burned at the stake!

[Submariner]

2. Huh! The church with child rape as it's claim to fame

getting self righteous about saving a blastocyst. Hypocritical assholes.

[murielm99]

3. They should start denying communion to people who

support the Iraq war. After all, they oppose it.

And what about people who support the death penalty? Where is the consistency?

[orleans]

4. there is no consistency.

i thought that was what confession was for:
"forgive me father, for i have sinned--it has been one week since my last confession. i have supported a candidate who is not for outlawing abortions."

"that will be one hail mary and five our fathers. bless you."

and then you go and say your prayers, all is forgiven and you get communion.

where the fuck does any priest get off denying someone communion. especially if they have "confessed" their "sins"???

who the fuck do these priests think they are? GOD?

[murielm99]

5. Back before the Reformation, I thought that one of the

fears of those excommunicated was the denial of the sacraments. Of course the excommunicated feared eternal damnation, but I thought the denial of the sacraments was supposed to be a big deal, too.

How does any individual priest or even a bishop have the right to make this decision, if it is part and parcel of excommunication? Isn't that up to the pope, or at least a panel of churchmen? Is there a Catholic historian in the house?

[Doctor_J]

7. "I have supported a candidate who believes the state should not interfere in a doctor

-patient relationship"

is more like it.

[orleans]

10. yes. oh, what a sin, huh? (my god--i say take away their 501c3 status. ) n/t

[noel711]

6. Denial of access to the sacraments in essence..

is a form of 'shunning,' of setting the 'sinner' outside the community of faith,
and warning him of the future of his soul.

Yes, in the 'olden days' this was done to set an example to the community that said:
"Don't mess with the authorities. We have your eternal damnation within our grasp
so don't piss us off."

Since the Reformation, there have been huge theological steps.

BUT... many parish priests see themselves as 'bishops' unto themselves.
Look at the example of that priest in Chicago, "Plueger"?
This was not a good thing to do, even if you agree with him political sentiments.
This was not an example of the gospel in action.

I'm sure this denial of the sacrament was done, not as a warning to the community of faith,
but as a political statement.

We are not longer a medieval culture, where our very existence is at the whim
of the clerical culture. In most communities, the denied communicant
can go to another parish.

But the political games we are playing.... sad.

[pingzing58]

8. The Catholic Bishops fell in with the strategy posed by the Evangelical Right.

That the only solution to the problem of abortion is political and legal. To make such a law without ambiguity it would have to become part of our constitution and that would take a vote from all the states. Won't happen. They can deny everyone the sacraments until they are blue in the face but it won't happen. The solution is not political or legal but individually ethical and moral. It belongs in the realm of educating the person and developing an appreciation for the sanctity of all life (no abortion, no war, no death penalty).

[fjc]

9. I'm no longer a Catholic but....

when I was a young man in my early 20s', a priest friend of mine who could clearly see my uncertain spiritual future, told me last time I saw him that wherever I go in the future, if I should find myself at an occasion where communion is being celebrated, no matter the church or context, that I was there because I had been invited, and that I should not hesitate to participate. I have often done just that in a number of different churches. That's the Jesus he knew, and that's the Jesus I know.