Public Excommunication Poll

[beth40n2]

High profile Catholic political leaders, actors/actresses etc should be excommunicated publically! This would teach the general public what is wrong and against church teaching. So many Catholics do not know their faith and think that what these high profile people say is truth.

 

[catholictiger]

I think doing it privately FIRST is the best thing to do, send them a letter saying.

Dear X

Giving Praise to God greeting. Explain the teaching of the Church which they are violating in a clear and kind way. Then kindly say your action Y, is in violation of that teaching. Explain to them how they shouldn’t receive the sacraments (excluding confession), and strongly encourage them to go to confession and change their way of life. Then explain to them that you would like to talk to them one on one if at all possible.

Sincerely Bishop Z

If that fails, then give the office a call asking to talk to X.

if that fails, then try to set up a meeting with them to talk to them one on one.

if that fails, then you publicly denounce what they are doing. Warning them that if they don’t atleast talk to you that you will make it known your opposition to Catholic Teaching.

The Goal of the Bishop is to save souls, not make himself look good by publicly excommunicating a politician who is Catholic. It is better for the person and the Catholic Church.

I think why we don’t see bishops doing public excommunication now of days is either that they talk with these politicians one on one, or they think that doing it publicly will do more harm then good.

 

[A_G]

I voted “Yes, the Bishops should publicly excommunicate highly placed Catholics who dissent from fundamental Church Doctrine.”

These public figures have the ability to influence countless amounts of people by their actions, what they say, etc… If a famous person does something very wrong, and that wrong that they did isn’t pointed out, then people will start to think it’s ok whatever they did. Therefore, if they break Church teachings publicly, their excommunication should be known to the public as well!

 

[Holly3278]

Highly public Catholics who dissent from Church teachings on matters such as abortion and “gay marriage” should be publicly excommunicated. Maybe this would get them to return to orthodoxy.

 

[Zeno11]

I voted that they should be admonished in private, however, should they continue this behavior, then making it public seems appropriate. This would emphasize the Church’s position rather than have the faith twisted buy a self-appointed spokesperson.

I agree. They should be admonished in private and shown exactly why they are in danger of being excommunicated; they should be reminded of all those souls to whom they are giving wrong example and that they will have to give an account of themselves before the Seat of Judgement. If they persist in their errors, then they should be publicly excommunicated.

‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 18:15

I believe the Church needs to be strong in this age of Godlessness and show clearly to the world that we are not afraid to proclaim our faith, however unpopular it may be. You have my prayers in the USA, I have a feeling there are tough times ahead.

 

[epan]

Depends, at least I think so. First, they need to be told and warned privately. If they reject the private “pep talk” then yes, they should be. They cause a scandal and might make people who aren’t Catholic misjudge Catholic teaching, ending up in a loss of a potential convert.

It might be scandalous, but when people of high office, such as Representative Pelosi, makes a statement like, "I support abortion because of my Catholocism… " or whatever exactly she said, don’t you think that a swift public excommunication would have been a public relations coup for the Catholic Church?

I think that part of the reason that our legislature is out of control, is that corporate interests are willing to go to great lengths to press their influence, while the rest of us don’t take a strong enough stand at times.

 

[GratefulFred]

I voted for public excommunication. BUT ONLY after PRIVATE admonishment. Private counselling may take a while but when all has been tried and failed, ONLY THEN should one be excommunicated.

Actually I am for PRIVATE excommunication but that was not a poll choice. Tell the priests so they do not provide Holy Communion. Let the individual make it pubilc.

This soft way is better than a public announcement that so and so is excommunicated. A formal public announcement seems to come too close to influencing politics. The Church should influence personal conscience.