Archbishop Chaput responds to Pelosi-Pope meeting

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Benedict108

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Denver, Colo., Feb 19, 2009 / 07:31 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is in complete agreement with the message that Pope Benedict XVI delivered to Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday. The archbishop also went so far as to say that since she disagrees with the Church on the “black and white issue” of abortion, she should not present herself for Communion.

The comments by Archbishop Chaput were made following Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Pope Benedict, at which the Pope reminded the Speaker of the House that all legislators, but especially Catholics, are bound to protect human life from conception to natural death.

Text at: catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15148
 
Thanks be to our heavenly Father for this holy Pope and bishops like Archbishop Chaput.
Pray for those who say they are Catholic, but behave and vote as pagans.
 
That Prelate is a true blessing to the Church in the Western world. I’m sure folks in Denver will want to shoot me for this, but I would hope he is moved to a more significant See, where he can be given the Red Hat he richly deserves. Not that he seeks such recognition, but it would let him do his good work from an even stronger position.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
JPUSC said:
So when are Pelosi, Biden and Kerry going to be excommunicated?
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Perhaps they already are? Remember, people excommunicate themselves. The Church merely acknowledges what they have done.

Whether or not to make a public pronouncement on someone’s excommunicated state is an administrative, not a doctrinal or moral issue. Personally, I don’t worry about whether the public pronouncements are made. They are very much belled cats anyway. Still, I must admit there’s a part of me that mulls over the idea of bringing back the stocks in the square for these folks.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
Yay for Archbishop Chaput!
It can be difficult to become public on such issues, but I am glad he had the courage to say something.

I am from the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS, and we’ve got a similar situation going on in a smaller way. Our governor claims to be Catholic, but many of her political views do not see eye-to-eye with Catholic teaching. Archbishop Naumann has spoken many times about her political stance, and lets her know that he will not stop proclaiming the Church’s teachings because she is in his archdiocese and he is therefore somewhat responsible for her soul.
 
redrosetea said:
He Should Be Our Next Pope!
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No offense, but I was hoping for Bishop Bruskewicz in Nebraska for our next pope, but God grant that will be in the distant future after a long and fruitful reign of Benedict XVI.
 
Gerry_Hunter said:
Perhaps they already are? Remember, people excommunicate themselves. The Church merely acknowledges what they have done.

Whether or not to make a public pronouncement on someone’s excommunicated state is an administrative, not a doctrinal or moral issue. Personally, I don’t worry about whether the public pronouncements are made. They are very much belled cats anyway. Still, I must admit there’s a part of me that mulls over the idea of bringing back the stocks in the square for these folks.

Blessings,

Gerry
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It is always enlightening to see how thoughtful, forgiving, and generous Catholics are. 😊
 
MamaZona said:
It is always enlightening to see how thoughtful, forgiving, and generous Catholics are. 😊
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Sarcasm aside, I think Catholics are much more likely to be thoughtful, forgiving and generous when someone repents and seeks forgiveness/reconciliation. In Ms. Pelosi’s case, she has done the oposite. 😦
 
MamaZona said:
It is always enlightening to see how thoughtful, forgiving, and generous Catholics are. 😊
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You know, there’s a good example to follow in this case. Remember the woman caught in adultery? Jesus told her to leave; that he did not condemn her. But he pointedly did not forgive her, either. There were recorded instances where he said, “your sins are forgiven,” and this was not one of them. Why? Well, we can begin by noting that the woman showed no signs of repentance whatsoever.

So forgiving? Why, are these mockers of Church teaching at all repentant? And what does forgiveness mean, anyway? Certainly not pretending that disregarding Church teaching in public utterances is to be ignored, and that Catholics are to stand mute when the teachings and teachers of the Faith are trashed by public figures through their pronouncements.

And how is guarding the teaching of the church ungenerous? If it be so, then so is placing your money where it cannot be stolen an act that shows a lack of generousness towards a thief.

If these people gave the issue a moment’s thought, reflecting even superficially on the duties incumbent on a Catholic, they would, at a minimum, keep their mouths shut. How dare anyone suggest that Catholics who give voice to the teachings of the Church in response to their erroneous, self-serving, public, and scandalous distortion are the ones who are not being thoughtful?

The accusations of thoughtlessness, lack of forgiveness, and lack of generosity are vicious calumnies, no more to be tolerated than the distortions of the teachings of the Church perpetrated, for political advantage, by people in public life who, for whatever reason, still seek to cling to the title “Catholic.” They are worse than those who make people thirsty; they seek to poison the well.

Jesus made it very clear that he came to bring both the sword and peace. The sword is to be used to guard the truth that brings peace from those who would corrupt it, and in the end, prevent peace.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
Gerry_Hunter said:
…Remember the woman caught in adultery? Jesus told her to leave; that he did not condemn her…
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Using your analogy:
  • Woman not condemned by Jesus for her action of adultery.
  • Nancy Pelosi not condemned by Jesus for her actions of being pro-abortion.
 
Jesus also said to the woman caught in adultery to go and to sin no more.
 
brigid12 said:
Jesus also said to the woman caught in adultery to go and to sin no more.
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That’s a good point. I trust Pope Benedict told her to go sin no more. I think the key thing to remember here is that Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. Likewise, I would imagine that Jesus does not condemn Nancy Pelosi either. After all, we are all sinners (the men who were about to stone the woman to death recognized their own sinfulness and did not throw the stones at her).

Likewise, we are not to “throw stones” at Nancy Pelosi. We are instead called to pray for her soul that she may be redeemed because she may be condemning herself if she remains unrepentant since the Gospel indicates that Jesus does not condemn her if we are correct to make the comparison to the adulterous woman.
 
Stylteralmaldo said:
Using your analogy:
  • Woman not condemned by Jesus for her action of adultery.
  • Nancy Pelosi not condemned by Jesus for her actions of being pro-abortion.
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I’m not sure I see your point. I did not present the analogy in the context in which you are using it. You are not following my analogy. You are using the same source, and offering a new analogy. The aptness of one, therefore, does not imply the aptness of the other. It is therefore not incumbent upon me to accept the aptness of your analogy on the basis of the aptness of mine.

And if Nancy had not opened her mouth and misrepresented the teaching of the Church, I for one doubt that the response would have been such as it is.

I’ve heard politicians (US and Canada) try to wiggle past the Church’s teachings on this issue. That’s one thing. But misrepresenting that teaching, in an effort at political self-justification is another, and a more serious, matter.

Condemn Nancy? As a Catholic, I’m more ashamed of her. (And Paul Martin and Jean Cretien, among others, up here in Canada, for the record.) But this has to be said: By her fruits she will be known, and she is presently bearing rotten and toxic fruit. And being a “fruit inspector” is not the same as being what is commonly called “judgmental.”

Blessings,

Gerry
 
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