Politicians normally don’t welcome being singled out for public criticism. Yet Charlie Angus is actually hoping he’ll continue to be the biggest target for the Roman Catholic Church’s wrath over legalization of same-sex marriage. "I’m a Catholic in exile," says the New Democrat MP for Ontario’s Timmins-James Bay riding. "I wouldn’t want that to happen to any other MPs and their families. I’d prefer to be the sad anomaly."
Angus has been denied communion by his parish priest since affirming his support for same-sex marriage last January. A former Catholic school trustee and choirmaster, he no longer feels welcome at his local church. His wife and three young daughters don’t go anymore either, the youngest missing her first communion as a result. And what happened to Angus could soon become the norm. Bishops from around the world are currently meeting in Rome for the first synod under Pope Benedict XVI. Among other doctrinal matters, they are discussing whether the holiest sacrament — the taking of bread and wine symbolizing Christ’s body and blood — should be withdrawn from Catholic politicians who flout Church teachings.
Symbolizing Christ’s body and blood. No surprise that this article is so one sided when they couldn’t even get the fact about the Catholic belief in the Eucharist right.
Currently there’s no consensus among Canadian bishops about how, or even if, Catholic politicians should be disciplined for deviating from Church teachings. That’s left to the discretion of parish priests. Hence, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Joe Comartin, another NDPer who supported gay marriage, was banned from teaching marriage preparation classes and other church activities.
What! Somebody who doesn’t have the basic understanding of what marriage is is prevented from teaching marriage prep? What a scandal! Hey, anybody can get the ingredients wrong once in a while. Only having one man and one women who are free to marry is a difficult recipe to memorize. I mean if a baker used only egg yolks to make Angel food cake would we ban him from teaching other chefs on how to make Angel food cake?
Whether that would compel Catholic politicians to toe the Church line, however, is debatable. "I’ll go take communion with the United Church, for heaven’s sake," scoffs Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry. Toronto Liberal MP Maria Minna says she has disagreed with the Church on a number of issues — its handling of pedophile priests, its refusal to admit women to the priesthood, its stance on same-sex marriage — and has never docilely accepted every dictum from Rome. "If my faith depended entirely on the behaviour of the institution, I don’t think we’d have too many Catholics left," she says, contending that politicians "have a responsibility to the whole country," not just to their church.
Scratch a dissident on one issue and what you will find underneath is a white-washed tomb. A theology as brittle as dead man’s bones with only a thin-veneer of Catholic culture painted on the outside. An ecclesiology more associated with nationalism than having any basic understanding of Christ’s bride the Church.
But Comartin worries that moderate Catholics, who are already feeling alienated, will leave and start a splinter church if the Pope condones denying communion to politicians like him. Moreover, if the Church is going to exclude liberal Catholics from communion over issues like gay marriage, where will it stop? [Source]
Well they have already started a splinter Church that has much to associate it with Protestantism. If you have no need to follow the pope and the Church’s magisterium and you think an apostolate is a government program exactly what Church do they think they are attending? It is one thing to know what the Catholic Church is and what it teaches and then disagree with her reasoning. Most of the disagreements our totally out of ignorance. They will complain about a couple dogmatic teachings of the Church when in reality they should be complaining about the whole nature of the Church according to their understanding. By rejecting the authority of the Catholic Church they are in reality rejecting the Catholic Church. Garbage in – garbage out. A mistaken ecclesiology leads to garbage theology.
Hat Tip to Letters From a Young Catholic for sending me the story.
10 comments
I really feel badly for this man’s children, who are being led away from the One True Church! His daughter missed her First Communion?!?!? Good golly, Miss Molly! I can’t even IMAGINE such a lackadasical attitude!
Why on earth do these people even wish to associate with the Church when all they do is gripe about how Christ set Her up? I hate to see people leave the Faith, but for goodness’ sake, they’ve already left in their hearts. Sitting in the pew each Sunday and receiving Eucahrist doesn’t make you a Catholic any more than sitting in the garage will make you a sports car!
Well, as for the symbolism, perhaps they are reporting what the pols THINK it is. As to making the Protestants within the Church realize that they are indeed Protestant and not orthodox–it’s about time.
I’m not for driving anyone away, but I’m not for pretending that all who call themselves Catholic are Catholic either.
We’re off to see a Rockets practice.
How about those ‘Stros!
Robin
I agree. What kind of father would in any way prevent his family from participating in the life of the Church, let alone deny his daughter her first communion, if he REALLY believed it was the Body and Blood of Christ present in the Eucharist.
As for the one politician who said that she can
“go take communion with the United Church, for heaven’s sake” if she wants to, well then, I would respond “Go ahead!”
By the way, have these politicians forgotten that when you receive the Eucharist you are in agreement with the teachings of the Church?
also notice how they refer to the Church as “it”, as though she were an oppressive government. What people don’t understand is that the Church is not a government, but rather the Bride of Christ, someone that lives and breathes, not something that spews out random “unfair” laws. The only laws she has are the ones Christ Himself gave to her.
Neither the politician nor the pastor should forget the reason why they are not able to receive communion. I think that the fact they can’t receive communion should be viewed as a call to conversion of heart, repentence, and reconciliation with God, not political leverage.
I really feel sorry for the priests because they’re being put in a tough situation. On one hand, they must guard the Blessed Sacrament from scandal and sacrilige, as well as remind their parishoners to live in accordance with the teachings of the Church if they want to receive the Eucharist. But on the other hand, they don’t know the spiritual state of each person coming up for communion.
I’ve talked with some Canadian priests about this and while most have said that personally they would refuse people such as the Prime Minister communion, it’s not clear cut. When someone comes up for communion they do not know the state of their soul and if they have been to confession or not. Theoretically any one of these baptised Catholic politicians could go to confession and come foreward for the Blessed Sacrament, without the priest knowing that they had been reconciled to God and His Church. It would be a true tragedy if they were then denied the Eucharist. This puts many priests in a compromising situation where they may not know the best response. Pray for our priests. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What really scares me is the priests like the Prime Minister’s parish priest who says he could care less whether or not the Prime Minister is living in accordance with the teachings of the Faith.
Furthermore, it’s true that situations such as pro-choice politicians receiving communion are particularly scandalous because they are in the public eye, we need not forget the scandal within our own hearts and our own parishes. While we point to the politicians in disgrace and outcry that they would be receiving the Eucharist, let us not forget that Catholics contracept at the same rate as the general population (90%) and therefore, for that matter, most of our parishoners should not be receiving the Eucharist either.
Well, Fr. Walsh is the kind of person it is scary to think of as a priest. I wish the cardinal would do something about him!!!!
But this is even scarier. It reveals a lack of understanding of what excommunication and denying communion are about, too.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071906.html
You know, entire Duchys and countries would go under the interdict during the medieval period when one prominent aristocrat went against the Church.
I don’t want to hear anybody complain about being denied sharing in the Eucharist when they already removed themselves — entire populations used to be removed from the Eucharist even when the vast majority of them hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
I don’t understand, when there’s a vast marketplace of churches out there to suit the person’s preferences, that they complain the Church isn’t run to their specifications. That’s why there’s Protestantism, bucko – so people can vote on what they want to be true.
No, don’t feel sorry for any priest in a dilemma about denying communion to a politician incase they had been to confession. IF a politician had been to confession, he had to be repentant, or no absolution can be given, and if repentant, he will have made reparation by a public retraction of his previous stance, whatever it is, eg, prochoice, gay ‘marriage’ etc.
Doling out eucharistic hosts like cookies to all and sundry makes a mockery of the Church and of the Cross. Sure, we are all sinners, myself very much included, but we approach the altar in a spirit of repentance, knowing Who we are about to receive, and trusting in his love and mercy. Anyone who thinks they have a ‘right’ to communion is in the wrong place.
So this sleazejob denies his own daughter first communion to make a political statement. Some folks are damn lucky I’m crippled!
Ezekiel 18: God asks if it is truly his ways that are unfair or ours. Perhaps they should read it and think about it.