Matt Fradd on Andrew Cuomo and Excommunication

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How about we excommunicate the priests who sexually abuse kids before we excommunicate politicians?
I would support that. And also writing it into Canon Law as an automatic excommunication reserved to the Holy See.
 
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How about we excommunicate the priests who sexually abuse kids before we excommunicate politicians?
While I do want to see those guilty of sex abuse punished harshly, I don’t think excommunication is the right answer. Excommunication is usually applied to very specific circumstances.

If a priest excommunicated due to sexual abuse, sought forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, would you welcome him back? Because that’s how excommunication works, which a lot of people don’t realize.
 
Of course he should be welcomed back as a catholic but he should be defrocked and prosecuted like every other sexual abuser should be
 
Once you say “shouldn’t X be excommunicated first”, I’m sorry, then, that seems to open a whole list of laundry items to me. And thus, respecting everyone’s opinion, now, we would be in a pretty vast area, topic-related but not directly on topic. Then, we all have to start judging for ourselves. Of course, this is not being said, in order to make less serious, the transgressions of anyone.
 
I’m just saying that it looks pretty asinine to go after a politician before we all go after our own priests. This is why people think the Catholic Church is focused on the wrong things.
 
Bishop of Albany Edward Scharfenberger (@7_Sorrows) was on Fox News this morning and spoke for 5 minutes about his thoughts on what Cuomo has done and how we should think about excommunication. Please give a listen:
There was an error and the entire interview did not play, but I am happy he came on FOX and was interviewed.
It was sickening to see the people clapping around him celebrating this new
law. Especially the women who have been given the gift by our Creator to be mothers and bring life into the world.
 
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I’m just saying that it looks pretty asinine to go after a politician before we all go after our own priests. This is why people think the Catholic Church is focused on the wrong things.
Why can’t we do both? Both are serious matters that need to be addressed.
 
I’m just saying that it looks pretty asinine to go after a politician before we all go after our own priests. This is why people think the Catholic Church is focused on the wrong things.
Someone voted Cuomo into office, is he responsible alone for his actions? Also, Cuomo signed the bill, he did not actually author it from what I understand. This is not to diminish the severity of his actions. We are rarely in these events all by ourselves.

PS, it really needs to be remembered, ultimately, you can’t correct everything wrong there would be in the Church even if one said these people should be excommunicated first. Maybe it would serve as an example though.
 
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My penny’s worth. If Cuomo practices his faith by regularly attending Mass he should be excommunicated by his bishop. If he does not practice, then he should not be excommunicated for it will only be seen as a publicity stunt, but he should be publicly called to conversion and repentance for the sake of his soul.
 
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Le_Crouton:
I’m just saying that it looks pretty asinine to go after a politician before we all go after our own priests. This is why people think the Catholic Church is focused on the wrong things.
Why can’t we do both? Both are serious matters that need to be addressed.
Who is the “we” referred to here? In the media age, some Catholics consider the priest just the emcee for Mass, since “we” say the Mass, not just him. In my diocese, a few Catholic laity often collaborate with the proabortion media to critique how the diocese handles many matters, since “we” are the diocese, not the bishop. “We” are not satisfied.

Cuomo is just a more advanced progression of this independent, activist, lay process. “We” will go to the media.
 
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What authority does any apologist have? What authority does Jason Evert have? Or Christopher West? To be honest, I think these three could be modern day saints. But that is beside the point. God has clearly called each of them to serve a ministry that the Church needs, and they do so in a holy and saintly way
 
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Just because someone is a good apologists doesn’t mean they should use their “platform” to tell the LAITY what the bishops should do.

I recall taking a Bible study, taught by a nun with a master’s degree in Theology. She used her platform to promote her opinions on politics, etc.

Matt Fradd earned his “platform” by experience and training in Sexual Addictions. He is an expert. In that.

I’m sure he gets annoyed by “experts” who write on this topic, whose training consists of a half hour on Wikipedia.

Remember when humility was a virtue?
 
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Writing a letter is not being “very outspoken” I’m sorry to say. Giving a press conference is being very outspoken. A letter he knows almost no one will see or read isn’t an exceptional act of courage or of pastoral care. He should be on TV asking Cuomo to meet him to discuss this matter.
 
I’m glad he did that and that’s showing more pastoral care than I’ve ever seen Cardinal Dolan provide. Cardinal Dolan seems to be more of a Democrat politician than a bishop or Cardinal of the Catholic Church. That’s the impression he nearly always gives on television, especially when back-slapping B. Hussein Obama at the Al Smith dinner right after Obama went after the Little Sisters of the Poor. I’ve read quite a lot on the Early Church Fathers and the difference between a St. Jerome or St. Irenaeus and a Cardinal Dolan couldn’t be more stark I’m sad to say.
 
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I just see pure, contorted evil in his face.
I don’t believe that you can determine whether or not a person’s face has evil in it. Some faces are pleasing to the sight: others are not. Whereas a husband may see his wife as beautiful, another man may see the same woman as ugly.
 
Well voting for an openly pro-abortion politician is a grave sin
The Roman Catholic priest Father Drinan had a 100% pro-abortion voting record in Congress. But he said he was morally opposed to abortion. He only did not think that he should vote for any laws prohibiting abortion. AFAIK, he was given a Roman Catholic funeral.
he should be publically called to conversion and repentance for the sake of his soul.
I don’t recall Father Drinan ever publically repenting for his 100% pro-abortion voting record.
 
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