D. Albany Bp. Scharfenberger calls out hypocrite Gov. Cuomo

It seems that Albany’s bishop, Most Rev. Edward B. Scharfenberger, is not remaining silent about Gov. Cuomo and his hypocrisy.

From Fox:

NY Bishop Calls Out Cuomo Over State’s New Abortion Law: ‘It Goes Way Beyond Roe vs. Wade’

A bishop in Albany, New York, called out Gov. Andrew Cuomo for citing his Catholic faith and supporting recent legislation that legalizes abortion up until birth.

Cuomo (D) signed the Reproductive Health Act on Tuesday, which he called “a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values.”

Days earlier, though, the governor touted his Catholic faith during his ninth State of the State address.

In an open letter to Cuomo, Albany Bishop Rev. Edward B. Scharfenberger said it was “very difficult to understand” how the governor can cite his faith, yet advocate for such a “profoundly destructive legislation.

Scharfenberger said Saturday on Fox & Friends that although Cuomo’s bill advertised bringing more equality to women, it excludes the class of women who are unborn.

“It goes way beyond Roe vs. Wade in so many ways, so certainly I don’t see it’s something to celebrate,” he said.

He added the governor’s excommunication from the Catholic Church may occur if he continues to distance himself.

“I can certainly understand the outrage and the anger,” he said. “My hope is that since his faith is important to him, he will reconsider the importance of maintaining that communion and not continue to distance himself.”

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27 Comments

  1. monscarmeli says:

    My understanding is that someone like Cuomo by the very act of openly advocating abortion is automatically excommunicated; is that correct? Isn’t it still appropriate for his bishop to publicly announce or affirm this excommunication, as Bp. Bruskewitz once did for those adhering to anti-Catholic organizations?
    I mean, it’s great that Bishop Scharfenberger said something, but his words seem timid in the face of such an obviously-horrific evil. Where are the strong, forthright trumpet calls of bishops and popes past??

  2. Kathleen10 says:

    Let me agree with monscarmeli, and I don’t want to minimize the bishop’s words here, they are appreciated, but if not now, when. I am convinced that if people who have not seen an abortion done saw one, knew what really happened, they would stop supporting it and I’m sure that is why America is reported to have moved away from full support for abortion, because of ultrasounds and imagery. We know exactly what that “fetus” looks like now, and to imagine a living, responsive small being, perhaps sucking their thumb in the womb, and what butchery is done to that child, what violence, if bishops do not stand up with all zeal and denounce this savagery as such, then when would they? If they do not state directly that anyone who supports such legislation and action is acting not as a Catholic, but as a butcher, then when would they? And to see this happen by someone who touts his Catholic creds, is an insult to Christ and to the Church and faith. It scandalizes me, it scandalizes the sheep, and it is completely opposite to the teaching of the church. Say so! But use Scripture as your rationale, there is power in the Gospel, use it! Bishops should not shy from words like “sin” and “damnation”. God gave them to us for a reason. They are comprehensible to all and the human heart responds to that language that we all speak, even if we deny it, Truth.

  3. FrAnt says:

    The bishop made it to FOX after the fact. Why didn’t he and the other N.Y. bishops make a big ruckus before the vote and signing. We got a wispy washy insert for our bulletin telling everyone to call their public official. Then afterwards we got a statement from the NY bishops saying they were sad about the Act being signed in to law. The Church in the US is so reliant on government money, it’s sinful.

  4. Sawyer says:

    The American bishops are “leading from behind.” It’s up to the laity to get out in front and show some real leadership.

  5. excalibur says:

    FrAnt, indeed.

    This was all the rage when Cuomo was reelected, he was bragging about this and more once the Republicans lost the State Senate in November 2018. Then the bill was in the Assembly, finally to the State Senate, and then Cuomo had to sign it. Nothing serious until after this vicious and diabolic legislation was signed into law. Complicit seems to be the correct word.

    And yes, the Catholic Church gets huge sums of money every year to aid illegals, and Mohammedans seeking refugee status as well. This is why the Church is so adamant about a never ending flow of illegals and those seeking refugee status. Almost all mainline Christian denominations are in on it. Where is the separation of church and state when we need it?

    Our Lady of Fatima pray for us.

    JMJ

  6. SKAY says:

    For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
    Mark:36
    Andrew wants to run for the Democrat Party’s presidential nomination and this is what that Party stands for.
    It made me physically ill to see the video of all of those people clapping as “catholic” Cuomo signed that bill as if they had done such a marvelous thing.
    I agree with your comment excalibur.

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
    A lot of “good men” did nothing.

  7. SKAY says:

    For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
    Mark:36
    Andrew wants to run for the Democrat Party’s presidential nomination and this is what that Party stands for.
    It made me physically ill to see the video of all of those people clapping as “catholic” Cuomo signed that bill as if they had done such a marvelous thing.
    I agree with your comment excalibur.

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
    A lot of “good men” did nothing.

  8. FrAnt says:

    The NY bishops are shaking in their robes, this is only the beginning of a systematic take down of the Church that will begin in NY and spread to other states. Over the past several years th Democrats have been trying to remove the statutes of limitations on clergy sexual abuse. Yes only clergy sexual abuse of minors, to be more general would open the door to sexual abuse by teachers also being investigated.
    The letter to Cuomo is only a gesture with no real bite.

  9. FrAnt says: The NY bishops are shaking in their robes, this is only the beginning of a systematic take down of the Church that will begin in NY and spread to other states. Over the past several years th Democrats have been trying to remove the statutes of limitations on clergy sexual abuse. Yes only clergy sexual abuse of minors, to be more general would open the door to sexual abuse by teachers also being investigated.

    I think this refers to the statute of limitations on civil actions stemming from sex abuse cases. I can only speak to my jurisdiction (which is not New York), but it has been many years since there was a statute of limitations on criminal charges arising from child sexual abuse. I would be surprised if there is now any state in the Union where criminal charges cannot be brought at any time.

  10. zama202 says:

    So Andrew Cuomo is still officially a Catholic in good standing, but some Catholics have a problem with the SSPX…I don’t get it.

    Charles

  11. jhayes says:

    Monscarmeli writes My understanding is that someone like Cuomo by the very act of openly advocating abortion is automatically excommunicated; is that correct?

    You are probably thinking of Canon 1398

    “Can. 1398 A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication”

    Dr. Peters has explained several times why a politician who votes for a law permitting abortion does not incur an automatic excommunication. His current blog post is about Governor Cuomo. The basic issue is that voting is not “procuring” an abortion,

    https://canonlawblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/25/canon-915s-moment-has-arrived/

  12. Grateful to be Catholic says:

    Judging from the aftermath of the PA Grand Jury Report, or lack of aftermath with respect to criminal prosecutions, there is a statute of limitations on criminal charges for abuse of minors in Pennsylvania. There are few crimes that do not have a limitation.

  13. Grateful to be Catholic says: Judging from the aftermath of the PA Grand Jury Report, or lack of aftermath with respect to criminal prosecutions, there is a statute of limitations on criminal charges for abuse of minors in Pennsylvania. There are few crimes that do not have a limitation.

    There may be other difficulties in prosecuting a criminal case besides the statute of limitations. Given the passage of enough time, witnesses die, perps die and evidence degrades or disappears. No human law can change that.

  14. Josephus Corvus says:

    Who wants to be that when Cuomo’s time comes regardless of what happens between now and then he will get a big Catholic funeral with multiple bishops present and no call for public penance?

  15. The Egyptian says:

    for years the catholic church in NY were known as the Democratic party at prayer.
    Up here in the great white north of the Cincinnati diocese, I spent my teen years preached at and ccd educated by a pastor who insisted you WERE REQUIRED to vote demorat, after all the Kennedy’s!!! They’re catholic!!! Once they get into office they’ll change, promise!!!! Then again this was the time of the whole cloth crap of Bernadine.

  16. JustaSinner says:

    FrAnt, if the the Church in America were to divorce themselves from the government teat, myself and a vast amount of American Catholics would open their checkbooks WIIIIIIIDE open. More than replacing the money. But it won’t happen, unfortunately imho, because deep down too many Bishops are left-wing in thought and mindset, though this be diametrically in opposition to Christ’s Church.

  17. Joe in Canada says:

    “if he continues to distance himself…”? How much farther does he have to go?

  18. veritas vincit says:

    “So Andrew Cuomo is still officially a Catholic in good standing, but some Catholics have a problem with the SSPX…I don’t get it.”
    @zama202: Given that Andrew Cuomo is openly living with a woman not his wife, to all appearances unrepentant, giving scandal to the faithful before even considering his position on abortion, he was not a “Catholic in good standing.” For that public sin alone, he could be barred from Holy Communion under Canon 915.

  19. monscarmeli says:

    jhayes — thank you for that clarification on canon 1398.

  20. robtbrown says:

    jhayes says,

    Dr. Peters has explained several times why a politician who votes for a law permitting abortion does not incur an automatic excommunication. His current blog post is about Governor Cuomo. The basic issue is that voting is not “procuring” an abortion . . .

    His comments seem to ignore the moral consequences of formal cooperation in evil (the civil analog of which is conspiracy).

    Canon 1329 seems to address this problem.

  21. zama202 says:

    “So Andrew Cuomo is still officially a Catholic in good standing, but some Catholics have a problem with the SSPX…I don’t get it.”
    @zama202: Given that Andrew Cuomo is openly living with a woman not his wife, to all appearances unrepentant, giving scandal to the faithful before even considering his position on abortion, he was not a “Catholic in good standing.” For that public sin alone, he could be barred from Holy Communion under Canon 915.
    @veritas vincit: My point is that although Andrew Cuomo has taken many, many positions against his Faith, not only voted for them but has become champion of them, he has not suffered any ecclesiastical sanction I am aware of. Therefore he is a Catholic in good standing. As a New Yorker, I can tell you that most people think he is a Catholic in good standing and the fact that neither the Diocese of Brooklyn, nor the Diocese of Albany have done anything to clarify that fact makes it very hard to argue with them.

    These same people are also certain that the Society of St. Pius X are in schism. It really is a crazy world.

    Charles

  22. Ultrarunner says:

    Father Z, you altered and boldly emphasized a quote attributable to Bishop Scharfenberger in a way that significantly changed it’s meaning. [I altered it? While I am glad to know what Bp. S said, if you are not simply a sloppy reader, I resent your accusation.]

    You wrote, “In an open letter to Cuomo, Albany Bishop Rev. Edward B. Scharfenberger said it was ‘very difficult to understand’ how the governor can cite his faith, yet advocate for such a ‘profoundly destructive legislation.’ ”

    Bishops Scharfenberger’s letter to Governor Cuomo actually stated, “It is very difficult to understand how you can align yourself with Pope Francis and so vehemently advocate such profoundly destructive legislation.”

    The statement in it’s original form goes to Cuomo’s political alignment with Pope Francis, not his faith in God. The actual quote also begs the question: Given the Pope’s advocacy of a host of profoundly destructive causes which he holds in common with Cuomo, global warming and unlimited westward immigration to name but two, why wouldn’t the governor align himself with Pope Francis, and more importantly, why isn’t the Pope himself publicly disavowing and distancing himself from Cuomo’s alignment with him?

    Pope Francis, for example, had no problem directly comparing to President Trump to ‘Satan’, and identified him as a ‘divider and separator’ during his World Youth Day address last week due to a small stretch of wall the President wants to build along our southern border.

    And yet we know, there neither has been, nor will there be, a similar comparison directed at Governor Cuomo for signing a bill that will divide and separate viable infants from their mothers wombs by literally ripping them apart in utero.

    How can Cuomo align himself with the Pope while signing into law the most comprehensive abortion legislation in the land? The answer is profoundly simple and obvious: because Cuomo can’t align himself with Jesus Christ, but the pope is a willing proxy.

    Contrary to the title of your article, Governor Cuomo is not being called out as a hypocrit to his Catholic faith by the bishop, for any man who can sign into law such a murderous bill, which is at complete variance with the Catholic faith, has none. Operating under the strict title of a pro abortion Democrat , there is absolutely nothing hypocritical in what Cupmo has done. It is what it is, and always has been, for anyone with eyes to see.

    The secular governor of New York alligns with Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, as a political ally, and the pope, as everyone well knows, will remain completely silent in response to Cuomo’s public and murderous renouncement of the Catholic faith.

    As a result, the hypocrits appear to be the pope, US cardinals and bishops, who fail to defend the Catholic Faith by forcefully renouncing those who have committed abjectly evil deeds under the banner of Roman Catholicism.

  23. jhayes says:

    Robtbrown, Dr. Perters mentions Canon 1329 in his earlier (January 24) post

    “3. Cuomo is not liable for excommunication for abortion under penal Canon 1398. I have made this argument many, many times and won’t repeat it here. Neither is he, in my view, liable for prosecution as an accomplice to abortion per Canon 1329.”

    He discusses a number of other Canons and how they might or might not apply, but none of these involve an automatic excommunication.

  24. Cincture says:

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/01/24/thoughts-on-ecclesiastical-consequences-for-gov-cuomos-pro-abortion-acts/
    (Dr Peters on avenues other than Canon 1398)

    The commenters here have made excellent points, e.g. as to late-to-the-party Bishops, state-church economic interests, and even keeping a pragmatic relevant political hand-in the process.
    It is certainly prudent to take these things into account in some other instances, i.e. those which may not rise to the level of flat-out in your face action by a public figure who professes to be a Catholic.
    Gov Cuomo appears to have not sought the Sacraments, so being a CINO, none of the options would appear to resonate with him as a Catholic. BUT, as a politician, it would seem clear that the Canonical process in all its options and in all its vigor should be implemented, and its publicized result made manifest the conclusion and the unequivocal standing Gov Cuomo occupies in the eyes of Mother Church and its faithful.

  25. RichR says:

    Can I ask an honest question? What would happen if he did pronounce an excommunication? IOW, what would the practical consequences to the diocese or the churches in America really be?

  26. RichR says: What would happen if he…

    I assume that “he” is Bp. S. It would undermine the Bishop’s own position and use of penal censures to bring about conversions. Why? Because bishops can’t just excommunicate people. They have to follow the law. It is possible to built a case against Cuomo based on appropriate canons, but the censures have to be imposed according to law.

  27. robtbrown says:

    1. In so far as Andrew Cuomo has been shacked up with Sandra Lee for some years, the notion that he has agreed not to receive Communion now begs the question: Was he receiving it before?

    2. Reading the recommended texts, the only Peters reference to 1329 says that it doesn’t apply to abortion. I saw no reason why.

    3. I am a theologian not a canon or civil lawyer. Formal Cooperation in evil is an uncontroversial principle of moral theology. It’s hard to believe that a promoter of abortion is not considered excommunicated latae
    sententiae.

    4. Some years ago a friend (now deceased), former dean of the canon law faculty at the Angelicum who had worked on the new code, answered aquestion I asked by saying: “There are a lot of holes in the new code.” Could it be a textual deficiency to deal with pro abortion politicians is among them?

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