Sunday, September 19, 2004
Dueling archbishops
In response to a question from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the archbishop made it clear that the issue of abortion should take clear precedence over all other political questions. "You have an erroneous conscience if you think there is some case in which you can vote for a pro-abortion candidate," Archbishop John Donoghue told the daily newspaper. "You're wrong as far as Church teaching is concerned."
To his flock in Minnesota, Archbishop Flynn gave a quite different message. Mentioning that some American bishops have advocated withholding Communion from public proponents of abortion and euthanasia, he rejected that approach. "It is my strong belief that the Eucharist is a source of healing and unity and that it should not be an occasion for political scrutinizing and judgments," he said.
Vatican officials (such as Cardinals Arinze and Ratzinger) and documents (such as Redemptionis Sacramentum (doc) and the Code of Canon Law have indicated that bishops and priests should not administer Communion to people who persist in grave public sin. But Archbishop Flynn set a separate policy in his newspaper column. "But I do not believe that it is my responsibility or anyone else’s responsibility to pass judgment on Catholics as they proceed to the Communion table," he wrote.
Remember, if you're a Protestant and you present yourself for Communion, you get it?
To his flock in Minnesota, Archbishop Flynn gave a quite different message. Mentioning that some American bishops have advocated withholding Communion from public proponents of abortion and euthanasia, he rejected that approach. "It is my strong belief that the Eucharist is a source of healing and unity and that it should not be an occasion for political scrutinizing and judgments," he said.
Vatican officials (such as Cardinals Arinze and Ratzinger) and documents (such as Redemptionis Sacramentum (doc) and the Code of Canon Law have indicated that bishops and priests should not administer Communion to people who persist in grave public sin. But Archbishop Flynn set a separate policy in his newspaper column. "But I do not believe that it is my responsibility or anyone else’s responsibility to pass judgment on Catholics as they proceed to the Communion table," he wrote.
Remember, if you're a Protestant and you present yourself for Communion, you get it?
