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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Pelosi get Pope-Slapped |
| 2009-02-18 |
| The Vatican Press Office released a note this morning detailing part of the conversation which Pope Benedict XVI had with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Vatican insiders relay that such releases are always phrased in diplomatic language and thus the correction of the Speaker who fancies herself a faithful Catholic despite her abortion advocacy can be taken as a rebuke. The text of the note reads: "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development." Sad thing is, this is wasted on Pelosi, who has already sacrificed her core faith on the altar of Leftist Political Expediency. Its not that the Church is not teaching, it is that Pelosi refuses to heed the teaching. IMHO, she should stop calling herself Catholic, and should be refused communion due to being excommunicated latae sententiae (self-excommunicated by her own acts). If her Archbishop had the courage to act he could make it quite clear. |
| Posted by:OldSpook |
| #15 Steve, sorry - its kinda easy to miss tone on the net. My apologies for jumping on this one with both feet. As for Pelosi, she should no longer consider herself a practical catholic (meaning practicing in full communion with the Church). By her actions she has excommunicated herself, and if the Bishops had any courage at all, they would ban her from communion. If she truly is "an ardent Catholic", being banned from full communion wiht the Church should be enough to spur (sorry for th pun) "a come to Jesus" moment. This would certainly sort the goat from amongst the faithful flock. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 19:15 |
| #14 OS, I was being a bit snarky. Sorry. I took the Hippocratic Oath that banned abortion. So did my entire class, including the several who now do abortions. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-18 19:03 |
| #13 Richard, exactly. She should have been met with a group of priests with a bell, book and candle. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-02-18 18:06 |
| #12 The manual is clear. He should have kicked her out. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-02-18 16:43 |
| #11 From any number of thological and non-theological bases, one can surmise that elective abortion is moral abomination for those who choose to do such evil. This means both the doctor and the woman. They are both culpable like a murderer and his accomplice - guilt flows to the one holding the victim down, and the one slicing the victim's head off. The one wielding the blade, the doctor, is far more culpable, for he is actually doing the killing, and should know better. This is not a recent moral development: First do no harm... The Hippocratic oath Doctors took specifically banned abortion and administering abortifacients up until relatively recently. For Christians (and Catholics specifically), fortunately there is a route to forgiveness, if there is genuine repentance - and a halt to the evil acts. Rachel's Vineyard is one such Catholic organization to help those who had an abortion heal the damage they have caused themselves and others. There are a lot of others as well that offer help to women, to the men whose wife/partner aborted, and even to healthcare professionals who wish to "come clean" of their participation in that evil. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 16:29 |
| #10 Which Pope? one and the same. Life is the value, and it is consistent. Death Penalty opposition is due to possibility of error, and the retained opportunity for redemption, the basic respect for life evne that of a criminal. However, the death penalty is allowed for by this Pope and by Catholic (and Christian) theology, much as is self defense, and "just war". Note that those things are fundamentally unlike elective abortion, which is always an evil act. It is the deliberate destruction of a defenseless human life. Period. And no theology needed, there are some very good atheistic arguments to that effect, based on the sanctity of human life (if this life is all we have, then its all the more valuable, proceed from there). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 16:25 |
| #9 I'm no Catholic, but it's the Pope who stands for protecting innocent life which is a lot different from taking the life of those who deny life, liberty and property to others. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-02-18 15:15 |
| #8 I'm sorry, terrible post, please delete. I am just so unhappy that my county's future has been sold out that I am bitter towards everything. The Pope is couragous and honorable. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-02-18 14:52 |
| #7 This is the Pope that helped Nazis escape to South America after Germany fell. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-02-18 14:49 |
| #6 Is this the evil Pope who stands against abortion or the courageous Pope who stands against capital punishment? I can never keep my popes straight ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-18 13:58 |
| #5 He also underscored -- for Pelosi, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Barbara Mikulski, Rose DeLauro, Kathleen Sebelius, and everyone else -- that the Church's opposition to the taking of innocent human life, at any stage of the human journey, is not some weird Catholic hocus-pocus; it's a first principle of justice than can be known by reason. It is a "requirement of the natural moral law" -- that is, the moral truths we can know by thinking about what is right and what is wrong -- to defend the inviolability of innocent human life. You don't have to believe in papal primacy to know that; you don't have do believe in seven sacraments, or the episcopal structure of the Church, or the divinity of Christ, to know that. You don't even have to believe in God to know that. You only have to be a morally serious human being, willing to work through a moral argument -- which, of course, means being the kind of person who understands that moral truth cannot be reduced to questions of feminist political correctness or partisan political advantage. Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that Pope Benedict did not have only Pelosi in mind when he said what he had to say about the obligations of moral reason and the duties of statesmanship. President Obama is not a Catholic, but he should understand that he will get the same message if, as expected, he meets with His Holiness later this year. (Weigel) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 13:28 |
| #4 Were all North Dakotans, now. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-02-18 13:11 |
| #3 "I don't make the rules, lady. NEXT!" |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-02-18 12:37 |
| #2 It'll go on until Nancy can't find a priest to give her communion on Sunday. Which means it will go on until she croaks... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-18 12:10 |
| #1 You have to wonder how long this charade can go on. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 12:04 |