So How Should I View the Repudiation?

[aubreyL]

Does the repudiation of Father Newman’s statements by the Msgr. from the Charleston Diocese actually reflect the Church’s teaching?

 

[DavidFilmer]

Does the repudiation of Father Newman’s statements by the Msgr. from the Charleston Diocese actually reflect the Church’s teaching?

Yes.

The Church teaches that we should not receive communion if we believe ourselves to be in a probable state of mortal sin - we must first seek recourse to the Sacrament of Confession.

News media reported that Father Jay Scott Newman claimed that anyone who voted for Obama should not receive communion until s/he repents - suggesting that a vote for Obama is, in itself, a mortal sin.

That’s not *quite *what he said, but it was pretty close, and that is what was reported, and folks (including Msgr. Laughlin) responded to those reports.

Fr. Newman clarified his position in a manner which clearly and accurately reflects the teaching of the Church:

What I wrote last week has to be read in light of the teaching of the American bishops on ‘Faithful Citizenship’ which was distributed in the bulletin the week before the election and explained from the pulpit. From that document and the teaching of the Church’s Magisterium, no one could conclude that a vote for Senator Obama is in itself or by itself a mortal sin. But from that same teaching, though, we must conclude that a vote for a pro-abortion candidate can be a mortal sin if the intent is to support abortion, that abortion is not merely one issue among other important issues, and that no Catholic should endorse a pro-abortion politician if a plausible pro-life alternative is available… I regret that I did not take time last week to parse out every stipulation of the Church’s teaching