“I don’t think it’s for me to decide. I can’t
decide when life begins. All that I can decide is, you know, what
are the constitutional issues? What are the legal issues? How do
you deal with these things?”
So spoke Rudy Giuliani this past
weekend as he tried to clarify his positions on
abortion, embryonic stem cell research and other issues of concern
to those who value innocent human life from the moment of
conception to natural death. He seemed confused about when life
begins and wondered how to deal with “these things.”
Luckily for him, a self-professed Catholic, there happens to be
age-old and specific teaching on these issues from some fellows in
Rome who might be inclined to help him out. One of these is named
Pope Benedict XVI, and he and his predecessors have had much to say
on these subjects. When asked last week whether he agreed with
Mexican bishops who threatened pro-abortion lawmakers with
excommunication, he
replied that such penalties are incurred automatically
(latae sententiae) under Church
law:
“Yes, this excommunication was not an arbitrary one but
is allowed by Canon law which says that the killing of an innocent
child is incompatible with receiving communion, which is receiving
the body of Christ. They did nothing new, surprising or arbitrary.
They simply announced publicly what is contained in the law of the
Church… which expresses our appreciation for life and that human
individuality, human personality is present from the first
moment.”
As in civil law, the Church extends the penalty to those who aid
and abet the offense. And, lest some Catholic politicians insist
that they have never voted to keep abortion legal since our secular
gods on the U.S. Supreme Court have made that decision for us, they
should realize that the charge of heresy carries the same penalty.
Rudy in particular should pay special attention to the Church’s
definition of heresy as “the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt
after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be
believed by divine and Catholic faith.” The Church regards sins
against faith as especially dangerous because, like scandal, they
kill the life of the soul.
This is not the first time Giuliani has run afoul of the
Vatican. In 1996, after Bill Clinton vetoed the Partial Birth
Abortion Act for the first time, Pope John Paul II took him to
task, calling his action “a shameful veto that in practice is
equivalent to an incredibly brutal act of aggression against
innocent humans.” How did Giuliani respond? Predictably:
“Such direct involvement in politics is not a good
idea, because I think it confuses people. I think that religious
institutions, including the Catholic Church, have every right to do
everything they can to persuade their members and others as to
their moral views. That can be done without focusing on a
particular political figure, in this case the President of the
United States.”
An important precept of the Church involves spiritual works of
mercy, one of which is known as fraternal correction or admonishing
sinners. With his remarks on the Mexican politicians, Pope Benedict
is exercising that charity. What many people fail to realize is
that the Church does not desire to oust those members who have
disagreements with her. Like her founder, she is in a constant
search for the lost sheep of her flock; eager to return them to the
fold.
Indeed, the Church views excommunication for abortion as a
healing instrument. Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi explains this
beautifully: “Excommunication for procured
abortion constitutes a gesture of maternal love. It expresses and
puts into action the love of Mother Church, who comes to the
defense of the defenseless unborn child, and who recalls and
supports the one who has erred so that it doesn’t happen
again.”
Sadly for them, many Catholic pro-abortion politicians will no
doubt wear their self-imposed excommunications as a badge of honor,
as does Mexico’s Leticia Quezada who haughtily declared, “I’m Catholic and I’m going to
continue being Catholic even if the church excommunicates me. My
conscience is clean.”
It remains to be seen whether other Catholic politicians will
repent their positions on abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem
cell research and whether bishops will instruct their priests to
deny communion to those who have so publicly excommunicated
themselves.
In any case, this will be a test for those like Senator Joe
Biden who claims that he is “prepared to accept my church’s view”
that life begins at conception, but at the same time says “I
strongly support Roe v. Wade.” He continues, “Look, I’m a
practicing Catholic, and it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms
of comporting my religious and cultural views with my political
responsibility.”
He and others like him may soon be forced to face that dilemma
at the altar rail.
