Should I still receive communion from this priest?

[underhismercy]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

 

[Earnest_Bunbury]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

His mind is askew, his hands are still consecrated.

 

[I_Believe]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

How did you learn it ? Did he admit it ?

 

[underhismercy]

How did you learn it ? Did he admit it ?

I learned it from a member of his staff . It is also important to note this information was not a matter of gossip,but important to a decision I must make for a ministry in the parish .

 

[Shin]

Well, if you have a choice I would choose a different priest, but if you do not, despite the grave problems with him, it does not directly correlate that he would not celebrate a valid Eucharist.

It’s merely (merely?) a grave sign of trouble.

Probably has a number of other related problems, but what exactly? One cannot know. And until one does…

Too common in these times.

It is not as if God can’t work through even the worst of sinners.

 

[down_under]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

this is his sin not yours. nor does it communitcate to the sacrament. if it troubles you ( you are going into ministry in this parish?) then go to a different parish. that is what i did in a similar situation. make sure to write a Polite letter to explain your reason for leaving.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

So the problem is he follows the Catholic Church but you do not? The Church never taught voting for Obama was a sin. If you cannot accept the actual Church’s teaching a period of deep reflection is proper. Sin and law are not synonymous it is a sin to covet but not illegal. It is a sin to disobey parents but not illegal. It is a sin to deny god but not illegal. It is a sin to have an abortion but not illegal and that was before Obama took office.

 

[estesbob]

So the problem is he follows the Catholic Church but you do not? The Church never taught voting for Obama was a sin. If you cannot accept the actual Church’s teaching a period of deep reflection is proper. Sin and law are not synonymous it is a sin to covet but not illegal. It is a sin to disobey parents but not illegal. It is a sin to deny god but not illegal. It is a sin to have an abortion but not illegal and that was before Obama took office.

I would be very uncomfporatble being ministered to by a Priest who has such a disregard for the Teachings of the Church and for the unborn. Whether it was a sin for him to vote for Presdeoint Obama or not one can not tell as we dont know the state of his mind-we do know, however, that he directly rejected the explicit teachings of the Church . One can draw their own conlusions from that.

 

[underhismercy]

this is his sin not yours. nor does it communitcate to the sacrament. if it troubles you ( you are going into ministry in this parish?) then go to a different parish. that is what i did in a similar situation. make sure to write a Polite letter to explain your reason for leaving.

Thank You all for your help. Your thoughts are very helpful.

This is the second parish in our diocese that we have encountered this.I’m not considering a ministry there now because of what I found out … I’m only trying to know the right thing to do Our diocese has a liberal Bishop… and there are many discouraged people here who really love the Church.

 

[yellowbird]

My thoughts:

1. You can’t know for sure who he voted for. The staff member could be mistaken.
2. A Priest is human and entitled to his own politicial opinion. You said he didn’t make his choice obvious… I respect him for that.
3. As someone stated, it wasn’t a sin to vote for Obama. I assume that IF the Priest voted for him, he didn’t do so to further abortion rights.
4. Even if what he did were a sin, so be it. My Priest sins too. It’s part of the human condition. You won’t find a Sinless Priest this side of heaven.
5. PLEASE reconsider your ministry aspirations. The Church needs more people like YOU.

God bless.

 

[underhismercy]

So the problem is he follows the Catholic Church but you do not? The Church never taught voting for Obama was a sin. If you cannot accept the actual Church’s teaching a period of deep reflection is proper. Sin and law are not synonymous it is a sin to covet but not illegal. It is a sin to disobey parents but not illegal. It is a sin to deny god but not illegal. It is a sin to have an abortion but not illegal and that was before Obama took office.

The reason I asked the question is because I love the Church.I’m not struggling with obedience, but with the sorrow of what I know. I love my Pastor

On your other points let me help you out my good brother…Check it out and God bless you

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2242; 2270- 2275
Acts 5:29

 

[1ke]

What does the church teach in a case like this ?

The Church teaches that the efficacy of the sacrament is not dependent upon the state of the priest.

 

[zab]

If Jesus does not hesitate to become present during the words of consecration from this priest, then you should not hesitate to receive Him from his hands.

 

[underhismercy]

If Jesus does not hesitate to become present during the words of consecration from this priest, then you should not hesitate to receive Him from his hands.

Thank you so much for this answer…how humbling …This is what I needed to know.

 

[EasterJoy]

I learned it from a member of his staff . It is also important to note this information was not a matter of gossip,but important to a decision I must make for a ministry in the parish .

If he didn’t tell you himself, then yes it is gossip. I hardly think the staff member was in the voting booth with your pastor. On top of that, it is not important to decisions about ministry to know how your pastor voted in past elections. That is nonsense. If you don’t know what you need to know by what he teaches in his capacity as pastor, how often, and with what fervor, then getting second-hand reports on his private voting habits isn’t important.

Next time you think something so personal is so vital for you to know, then privately ask the person yourself. If the question isn’t out of line, he’ll probably answer it. If it is, expect him to tell you that it isn’t any of your business, regardless of how he votes. Even conservatives have been known to value their privacy, for its own sake.

If you are afraid that his political views might impinge on your future ministry, or that his private political sentiments might become public and that you might be unfairly implicated as being complicit in the scandal, then resolve to quit when that happens. Until then, mind your own business.

 

[EasterJoy]

estesbob:

His third day in office President Ogama released funds to pay for overseas abortions-funds Presdient Bush steadfastly refused to allow to be used for such a purpose. Case closed.

Discernment about parish service doesn’t require sluething around behind your pastor’s back to find out his private views. If we needed to know all our priests’ sins in order to decide whether to serve the needs of our parish (?!?), then when the Church went from making the Sacrament of Reconciliation public to making it private, the priests would have been held to the old method, in which both confession of sins and penance were public.

As it is, we aren’t allowed to poll a priest’s confessor, so we don’t know which one is a worse sinner than another, or what sins were repented of and what sins not. We aren’t told because we don’t need to know, even “for a decision I must make for a ministry”.

Case closed.

 

[dashso40]

Unless you hear it directly from the preists mouth, it is gossip…

 

[Shin]

Unless you hear it directly from the preists mouth, it is gossip…

I don’t consider asking a member of the staff for information about a potential future boss, gossip. I consider it prudent investigation, though in a serious matter and regarding a priest one would prefer further confirmation.

I think the above poster bringing politics into it, protesteth too much because of politics.

It does not take much to put two and two together to think of ministries that would be undercut by an Obama vote.

And I’ve seen ministries destroyed simply by a pastor becoming annoyed, when he did not fully support it. And there goes a good deal of… even a life’s work.

There are two faced pastors as we’ve seen. And yes, sometimes you might get wrong information from people who work there. So you ask around. You weigh all that you can find out, for how much value it might or might not have. You pray, you make the decision. Hopefully the person above is doing the best to make a proper decision and weigh the evidence.

Idle talk, gossip is one thing. Prudent forethought and investigating another.

Wise as serpents, innocent as doves.

 

[PacoG]

I learned it from a member of his staff . It is also important to note this information was not a matter of gossip,but important to a decision I must make for a ministry in the parish .

It’s still gossip. Unless you hear it from him, it’s gossip.

 

[Cluny]

I recently learned that my priest voted for Obama … On the surface he hides his position well .He puts on a very good front…but as Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out. Now, my family is devastated to find that he is not who we thought he was. What does the church teach in a case like this ? I can hardly be at peace watching His hands as he consecrates the bread and wine yet knowing he willingly put a pro abortion president in office.

You actually think his political views somehow invalidate the Sacraments he celebrates?

And where did you get the idea that voting for Obama was necessarily a sin? (BTW, I held my nose and voted for McCain.)