Vatican Canon Law Adviser: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Should Be Denied Communion

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In receiving communion at a Mass offered by the Roman Catholic bishop of Albany, NY, that state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who supports abortion, gay marriage, and lives with his girlfriend, committed an “objectively sacreligious” act that “produces grave scandal,” according to Dr. Edward Peters, a top expert in Catholic Church law and a consultant to the highest court at the Vatican.

Peters specifically cited Cuomo’s cohabiting with Food Network hostess Sandra Lee as “publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the Church,” and that “as long as he persists in such conduct, he should refrain from taking holy Communion” and “if he approaches for holy Communion, he should be denied the august sacrament in accord with Canon 915.”

cnsnews.com/news/article/vatican-canon-law-adviser-ny-govenor-and
 
I don’t understand something. We are supposed to trust the Church, and it’s leaders. And even unconditionally and blindly. So…when the Church hierarchy decides to do or not do something, why do conservatives or traditionals call the leaders on their decisions? Are not their decisions to be respected and obeyed? The Bishop has the authority to give or not give communion. And we do not know the state of the Governor’s soul at the time of Communion. For all we know, he could have had confession right before. A Canon Law advisor does not have the authority to publicly question a Bishop. Only the Pope does.
 
Rence said:
I don’t understand something. We are supposed to trust the Church, and it’s leaders. And even unconditionally and blindly. So…when the Church hierarchy decides to do or not do something, why do conservatives or traditionals call the leaders on their decisions? Are not their decisions to be respected and obeyed? The Bishop has the authority to give or not give communion. And we do not know the state of the Governor’s soul at the time of Communion. For all we know, he could have had confession right before. A Canon Law advisor does not have the authority to publicly question a Bishop. Only the Pope does.
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In a perfect world, you are right. However, if you opened your eyes you would see that around the United States bishops are failing in their responsibilities to the Church. The Pope cannot look at each individual bishop and make a decision for every issue. We are told in Scripture that we are suppose to point out each others mistakes (Matthew 18:15-17). Notice how it says to go to the Church (Pope) only when one will not listen to others first. The Pope is to be the final say, but others may point out anothers faults.

The governor is still cohabitating with his girlfriend. It does not matter if he confessed right before Mass because his intent was not to stop cohabitating. He can confess all he wants, but if he is not repentant for what he has done.
 
Redratfish said:
In a perfect world, you are right. However, if you opened your eyes you would see that around the United States bishops are failing in their responsibilities to the Church. The Pope cannot look at each individual bishop and make a decision for every issue. We are told in Scripture that we are suppose to point out each others mistakes (Matthew 18:15-17). Notice how it says to go to the Church (Pope) only when one will not listen to others first. The Pope is to be the final say, but others may point out anothers faults.

The governor is still cohabitating with his girlfriend. It does not matter if he confessed right before Mass because his intent was not to stop cohabitating. He can confess all he wants, but if he is not repentant for what he has done.
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I think people used to be a bit more humble. I know a woman who has been married civally for 34 years. She cannot marry in the Church, because her husband was previously married. She goes to Mass, and does not receive.

Mr. Cuomo *should not have to be denied *communion. He should be humble enough to refrain on his own.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
I think people used to be a bit more humble. I know a woman who has been married civally for 34 years. She cannot marry in the Church, because her husband was previously married. She goes to Mass, and does not receive.

Mr. Cuomo *should not have to be denied *communion. He should be humble enough to refrain on his own.
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I agree, however, the when someone’s sin is as obvious as this, I think it is the priest’s job to try to prevent Mr. Cuomo’s soul from being even more damaged than it is.
 
Rence said:
I don’t understand something. We are supposed to trust the Church, and it’s leaders. And even unconditionally and blindly. So…when the Church hierarchy decides to do or not do something, why do conservatives or traditionals call the leaders on their decisions? Are not their decisions to be respected and obeyed? The Bishop has the authority to give or not give communion. And we do not know the state of the Governor’s soul at the time of Communion. For all we know, he could have had confession right before. A Canon Law advisor does not have the authority to publicly question a Bishop. Only the Pope does.
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This has nothing to do with conservative or liberal. It has to do with the objective reality of scandal. “To whom much is given, much will be expected” and someone in the Governor’s position has the added responsibility to avoid giving scandal. His views are well known and he chooses not to heed the dictates of the Church. If he sins publicly he should repent publicly by word or action. Sounds unfair but that is the price of giving public scandal. The Governor does damage to the Body of Christ by calling himself Catholic and then thumbing his nose at the Church through word and deed. Then to top it off he presents himself for reception of the Blessed Sacrament and commits sacrilege and scandal simultaneously.

His politics do not excuse him from his responsibility to follow the Gospel. If he does not agree with the Church he should leave and find a faith tradition that suits him as he obviously is unwilling to conform to Church teaching. I have more respect for Hillary Clinton just because she was honest enough to join a congregation that agrees with her views on abortion. If you are going to call yourself Catholic you must at least try to live as a Catholic.

Adam
 
Well thanks for trying to explain it to me 🙂 But I still think that if the Pope didn’t want our politicians to have Communion, he would compell the bishops to refuse it. So I’m not going to question it.
 
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