This via the delightfully-named Weasel Zippers:
And don’t forget THIS about how’s Cuomo’s hand-picked director for Homeland Security used the laser sight attached to his handgun as a pointer during a presentation and actually scanned it across people in the room.
Creepy!
At least NJ owns enough of Liberty Island to prevent them from shutting off the torch! (I hope)
So where is Cardinal Timothy Dolan to defend his congregation and those that up hold the Church’s teaching in New York?
Where is the campaign to throw out the Governor for such hateful remarks? I am sure the uproar that would rise from a conservative governor who said this about gays or illegal immigrants would have many liberal preachers out in full force.
That’s right Cuomo said those who are pro-life and anti-gay should leave. So those attending St. Patrick’s Cathedral should be safe. Can’t wait to hear his one liners at the Al Smith Dinner!
And all along I thought all are welcome in this place!
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/22/westchester-county-exec-still-mulling-gubernatorial-bid-wants-apology-from-cuomo/
Cardinal Dolan has spoken about the outrageous Cuomo comments.
good cartoon.
Just as a matter of subsidiarity: Governor Cuomo’s bishop isn’t the Cardinal Archbishop of New York City, but the current ordinary in Albany, unless the governor lives within the physical boundaries of the archdiocese of New York.
On another score: wouldn’t it be wonderful if, for the protection of souls, bishops all across the country spoke and (more to the point) acted against this absurd nonsense?
The new NYC mayor doubled down on Cuomo’s words just as the Catholic Governor was walking back his diatribe-a bit. Sigh.
Both Cuomo and the NYC mayor are politically enslaved to their base, as is Obama, which demands more abortion all the time, and it is far from moderate and can only be called in their own words, extremist. Great leaders and statesmen know how to talk with those from the other side of the aisle. Not these men. Yet in the coming generations a Lincoln will arise from the midst who will articulate the thoughts of the younger generations: that women’s dignity does not hinge on snuffing out the life of a child in our midst, that 55 million in 41 years is far too many and the shame of this country. Mayor DeBlasio pretends that the half of children aborted in nyc do not matter. They do matter. They matter very much, to us, and to God.
Another good cartoon on Cuomo is at Powerline Blog:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/01/statue-of-bigotry.php
The disgrace is not Cuomo, but all those bishops in New York, who do nothing. Nothing.
Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Malone have both spoken out about the situation. They point out that the extreme agendas that seek to gain even more abortions than the already roughly half in nyc for example is far from moderate given the national consensus that abortion is the taking of a life and therefore immoral, and from that decades of research and listening to women we know now that abortion truly harms women.
I challenge those of you who have blasted the bishops in NY state to spend 5 minutes with a search engine. It took me less time than that to find statements from the Bishop of Buffalo and the Cardinal Archbishop of NY both highly critical of the Governor and his comments. I suppose it is possible you’ve seen those comments and maybe don’t consider them strong enough. If so I apologize.
Does Governor Andrew Cuomo still receive communion at Mass?
As I recall, there were 2 main arguments to deny him communion a few years ago.
1) Divorced and living with a divorced woman.
2) Endorsing legal abortion.
Since then there is
3) Spearheading and signing legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.
And now
4) Publicly rebuking orthodox Catholicism in general.
CharlesG, great link. Thanks.
Juergensen, whatever point you want to make, you lose credibility by saying the disgrace is not Cuomo…OF COURSE it is Cuomo.
Giuseppe, last I heard, Cuomo refrains from approaching.
So, just out of curiosity, why has Cardinal Timothy Dolan not yet excommunicated this man? His very public and as yet very unrepentant words and actions seem to demand such a fate, or at the very least a denial of Holy Communion. This passivity on the part of our prelates does absolutely no good for Gov. Cuomo or for the rest of the Church, but alas…
@TopSully Wow. Cardinal Dolan asked Gov. Cuomo to ‘apologize’. Yeah, strong stuff there. I’m sure that the Governor is shaking in his boots right now. The man is a self professed Catholic who is, I’m assuming, both baptized and confirmed, yet his allowed by his public actions and the legislation he both advocates and signs into law to contradict Catholic Teaching at every opportunity. It does no good for his soul for his bishop to simply demand that he ‘apologize’ for making a stupid statement. The man needs to repent (as we all do) for the evils he has helped to bring to the state of New York, and he needs to be told that he needs to do this. Publicly, as his actions have been all public. When will the bishops start acting like bishops?
@Priam, by what authority would Cardinal Dolan excommunicate Gov. Cuomo? Teheran governors mansion is in the Diocese of Albany one would assume. You might as well ask for Abp. Chaput to excommunicate him.
Interesting auto correct, eh? “The” not Teheran of course.
I’m deeply ashamed that he and his toady, the mayor of NYC, bear Italian names. Their immigrant ancestors must be spinning in their graves.
However, I will also say that unfortunately many among us Italo-Americans have contributed to this sorry state of affairs, especially among the older generation. I live in western Pennsylvania where there are many “ethnics”, not just Italians, who bemoan what the Democratic party has become yet stubbornly continue to vote for it. They can’t get past that labor union mentality. Between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, I still can’t figure out how Republicans became governors.
Abortion – Excommunication
The way the excommunication for abortion works is this.
Canon 1398 provides that, “a person who procures a successful abortion incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication.” This means that at the very moment that the abortion is successfully accomplished, the woman and all formal conspirators are excommunicated.
An abortion is defined as “the killing of the foetus, in whatever way or at whatever time from the moment of conception” (Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, published in the “Acts of the Apostolic See” vol. 80 (1988), 1818). This definition applies to any means, including drugs, by which a human being present in the woman is killed. Thus, once a woman knows she is pregnant the intentional killing of the new life within her is not only murder but an excommunicable offense. A woman who only thinks she might be pregnant has a grave responsibility to find out and to protect the possible life within. Any action to end a “possible” pregnancy while probably not an excommunicable offense would be callous disregard for life and gravely sinful.
Conspirators who incur the excommunication can be defined as those who make access to the abortion possible. This certainly includes doctors and nurses who actually do it, husbands, family and others whose counsel and encouragement made it morally possible for the woman, and those whose direct practical support made it possible (financially, driving to the clinic etc.).
Clearly those who think the availability of chemical abortions will settle the abortion issue are deluded. It will only widen to drug manufacturers, pharmacists and family physicians those guilty of grave sin and subject to excommunication. [It should also be noted that many contraceptive pills are already abortifacient in operation. Theoretically, the knowing use of such a pill for its abortafacient purpose could also subject one to excommunication. Pill manufacturers have recently been touting this capability of their deadly wares.]
…..
One complicating factor for anyone in this situation is that intentionally withholding mortal sin (abortion) or knowledge of one’s excommunication invalidates ALL the absolutions for other sins given since the time of the intentionally overlooked sin. Culpably withholding mortal sin or an excommunication means that even after the priest says the words of absolution because of dishonesty on the penitent’s part, the sin has not been absolved. Absolution is not magic, it depends upon sincere repentance from all known mortal sins and a firm purpose of amendment. Such sins would need to be confessed again, as part of an integral (complete and honest) confession. This is not the case if the person did not know that what they did was sinful in the eyes of God and the Church, but only found out this out latter. Since they did not withhold from confession what they knew to be sinful their prior confessions are valid.
The Church makes every effort to make Penance available and obliges priests to make anonymity possible as well (c. 964). There is really no valid excuse for delaying one’s full return to the sacraments. All those who have had abortions should come home to Christ and the Church.
Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL EWTN
By this standard, Cuomo is excommunicated as well for encouraging abortion. So, why do not the bishops state this loudly and clearly?
Dr. Peters,
My point, which I thought was evident, is that whatever disgrace is Cuomo’s comment about his political opponents, the greater disgrace is the inaction of the bishops of New York in the face of this open and public and manifest peddler of baby-butchering and sodomy (cf. Can. 915).
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Priam1184: why has Cardinal Timothy Dolan not yet excommunicated this man? His very public and as yet very unrepentant words and actions seem to demand such a fate
Excommunication is supposed to be a wake-up call, like sending a child to his room so he knows he has done something wrong and feels regret over not being part of the group. Unfortunately, it seems all too likely that these very aspects would be lost on the sort of people that you and I might most like to see publicly excommunicated. I guess it’s hard for bishops when excommunication is likely to be worse for someone’s soul than better. It would just get turned into a political dispute, and people who would actually get led astray by heretical politicians are just the sort who would fall for making it all about politics. We should pray that our bishops make wise decisions (even if it’s not evident to us).
Now what would help is a massive P.R. campaign to make people aware that saying “Amen” to communion is saying yes to com-union, completely unity with the Church and all she teaches. Not just mentioned by a few priests from the pulpit one day, but big billboards and TV spots to drill into everyone’s head that taking communion = accepting Church doctrine. I want a photo of a politician receiving the Eucharist to be seen by the public as equivalent to proclaiming “I’m pro-life and against abortion, I’m for real marriage and against same-sex travesties” — then we would find that Cuomo and his ilk would very quickly become ex-communicants of their own free will.
I’m more radical than just being against abortion or for the right to bear arms. I am AGAINST the entire rotten fruit of the Sexual Revolt and FOR the entire Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When Mayor Rahm of Chi-town decides to let loose his next tirade (ala Chik-fil-e) about “Chicago values”, as opposed to those tired Judeo-Christian and American Patriot values, WHERE in the heck does a real radical such as I go? Wyoming? Maybe the Virgin Islands! ;-)
This is why I cringe when I hear a Catholic prelate or layperson bemoan the loss of religious liberty…only. Freedom is indivisible, as President Reagan often pointed out. You cannot decide you’ll ignore the right to self-defense or criticize Robert Spencer for “hate” speech because you’d rather not acknowledge what the Koran has wrought and then turn around surprised to see YOU have no religious liberty. INDIVISIBLE. Basic freedoms codified not bestowed by the Bill of Rights. Cherish them all or all will perish.
Juergensen, my point, which I thought was evident, was that whatever point you want to make, you can’t make it by starting with a point that is flatly wrong.
Supretradmom, before pronouncing Cuomo excommunicated, you might want to look at, and consider carefully, the points in this post: http://www.canonlaw.info/2007/05/case-for-applying-canon-1398-to.html.
Dr. Edward Peters says:
Supretradmom, before pronouncing Cuomo excommunicated, you might want to look at, and consider carefully, the points in this post: http://www.canonlaw.info/2007/05/case-for-applying-canon-1398-to.html.
Can formal cooperation in any way incur excommunication?