Fr. Z's Blog

The great canonist Ed Peters, on his blog In the Light of the Law, let’s us know about an exchange over an issue of canon law he has had with the Diocese of Albany, NY.

Dr. Peters, a referendarius (consultant) to the Apostolic Signatura, has opined that, in view of can. 915 of the 1983, CIC, New York’s governor, the Honorable Andrew Cuomo, should not receive Holy Communion. Dr. Peters was interviewed HERE.

Peters specifically cited Cuomo’s cohabiting with Food Network hostess Sandra Lee as “publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the Church,” and that “as long as he persists in such conduct, he should refrain from taking Holy Communion” and “if he approaches for Holy Communion, he should be denied the august sacrament in accord with Canon 915.”

The Bishop of Albany, New York’s seat of state government and therefore the residence of Gov. Cuomo, released a statement as a response to Dr. Peter’s. Thus, Bp. Hubbard:

There are norms of the church governing the sacraments which Catholics are expected to observe.

However, it is unfair and imprudent to make a pastoral judgment about a particular situation without knowing all the facts.

As a matter of pastoral practice we would not comment publicly on anything which should be addressed privately, regardless if the person is a public figure or a private citizen.

Dr. Peter’s has responded to Bp. Hubbard saying:

It is Albany Bp. Howard Hubbard’s responsibility to see to it that the common discipline of the Church is promoted and that all ecclesiastical laws are observed, exercising particular vigilance against abuse of the sacraments and the worship of God. 1983 CIC 392. Unfortunately, Hubbard’s rah-rah inaugurational homily before Cuomo and Lee, in which, without admonition for their objectively and publicly sinful status, the prelate seemed to have anointed the pair as his kind of evangelizers in government, and his complicity in the administration of Communion to Cuomo, amounts, in my opinion, to another dereliction of pastoral duty.

Gov. Cuomo himself?

After an appearance this morning on Long Island, Cuomo commented on the matter in a style similar to Hubbard’s: “My religion is a private matter and it’s not something I discuss in the political arena,” he told reporters. “For me, I choose to keep my religion and my religious practices private and not discuss it in the political arena.”

Consistent with the view promoted by his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, that a Catholic can abdicate being a Catholic in the public square and vote in favor of abortion, and all manner of evil, etc.

That said, going back to Bp. Hubbard’s response, one might say brush off, of Dr. Peter’s canonical opinion, Dr. Peter’s himself makes a response.  This is the sort of thing that brought the Z-protocol out, whereby I emphasize and make my own comments in the text itself in red.  Dr. Peter’s uses another method, whereby he emphasizes the original of Bp. Hubbard, and then adds his own comments in regular typeface.  Perpend:

[Bp. Hubbard:] There are norms of the church governing the sacraments which Catholics are expected to observe.

Agreed. I helped point them out.

However, it is unfair and imprudent to make a pastoral judgment about a particular situation without knowing all the facts.

Agreed. Has someone done that? I responded to reasonable questions that I received about public behavior, as known from public sources, about which public canon law, which is my area of expertise, has something to say for the welfare of the faith community. I did so calmly, accurately, and with due respect for the persons involved, per Canon 212 § 3. I do not see how anyone could reasonably construe my comments as making improper ‘pastoral judgments’.

As a matter of pastoral practice we would not comment publicly on anything which should be addressed privately, regardless if the person is a public figure or a private citizen.

Agreed, the diocese should not do that, nor should I. Nor did I. Canon 915, if it means anything at all (and it most certainly means something), is about public consequences for a Catholic whose public behavior is seriously odds with important Catholic Church teaching. I can, and certainly should when asked, tell people what canon law says about such matters. I cannot, however, enforce the law. That responsibility rests elsewhere. + + +

Media note: I have too many requests to do live interviews on this topic, whether Catholic or secular, and it’s not the best use of the limited time I have available. I would be happy to try to reply to written media questions, as always. I aim for 24 hour turn around, depending. Short, concise questions are more likely to get a quick response. For more background on the application of Canon 915, check out this page.

WIVBTV 4 in Buffalo has pretty news story on this matter (pace their assumption that “the Vatican” has said anything about the case). And yes, I saw the clip of Whoopi and friends on “The View”. As Uncle Claudius might say: “it was. . . . .indescribable.” [ROFL!  The reference is to the old Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of I, Claudius by Robert Graves starring Derek Jacobi.  Claudius react to a dance by the deranged Caligula (John Hurt) depicting Rosy-Fingered Dawn.  The dance was indeed … indescribable.  Pretty much sums up the situation in NY, I think.  I have the remastered DVDs, a gift from my wishlist from one of you readers, FW.  Wanna see the dance?  Go HERE.  This is a clip of a whole section of an episode, but it has the famous dance.  The famous line after the dance comes at about 4:12… but watch the whole thing to get the full impact.]

Some other follow-ups, as occasions suggest.

For those who agree with what I wrote, thank you for your kind words.

For those who disagree with what I wrote, I’ve already been informed that: the law killeth and the Spirit giveth life, that I am a Pharisee, that I am worse than a Pharisee, that Jesus forgives everyone (except possibly me and people like me), that I am a sinner, that the Church should deal with child molesters, that religion is a private matter, that Church and State are separate, that Bp. Hubbard is a gracious man, that Republicans (long listed omitted) commit sins too, that lots of people live together who aren’t married, that people get divorced and it might not be their fault, that Jesus came to unite not to divide, that many bishops ignore canon law, that many priests ignore canon law, that many lay people ignore canon law, that only psychologically insecure people think that law is important, that the wafer is just a symbol, that I need a life, that some European politicians behave far worse but their bishops give them Communion anyway, that the Bible says ‘Judge not lest you be judged’, etc.  [Indescribable.]

For both groups: I am not an official of the Vatican, I am a consultant (Referendary) to the Apostolic Signatura. All opinions are my own (and, no, the pope did not tell me to say that.) I am not a priest or a pastor; I am a layman.