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| Cardinal Egan and others speak out; re Nancy Pelosi and her comments | |
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| Topic Started: Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:07 (254 Views) | |
| KatyA | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:07 Post #1 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2008 STATEMENT OF HIS EMINENCE, EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN CONCERNING REMARKS MADE BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age. We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name. Edward Cardinal Egan Archbishop of New York August 26, 2008 |
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| Paduan | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:14 Post #2 |
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I like him! |
| I have a blog! - dotCatholic | |
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| Phil_sfo | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:33 Post #3 |
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God bless him, and I hope he's the first of many others to speak out. |
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| Alan | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:37 Post #4 |
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So do I. I wonder will the speaker of the House of Representatives apologise. 
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God Bless all who visit this forum, Alan. Add Catholic CyberForum to your favourites | |
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| Phil_sfo | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 18:43 Post #5 |
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Maybe not. I don't think she is up to it. The sooner she goes, the better. However, I hope that her going is preceded by a very public push. |
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| KatyA | Wednesday, 27. August 2008, 22:49 Post #6 |
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And here's another on the same subject from the formidable Archbishoop of Denver ON THE SEPARATION OF SENSE AND STATE: A CLARIFICATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH IN NORTHERN COLORADO To Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver: Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate tend to take a hard line in talking about the "separation of Church and state." But their idea of separation often seems to work one way. In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian. And that warrants some interest, not as a "political" issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them. Interviewed on Meet the Press August 24, Speaker Pelosi was asked when human life begins. She said the following: "I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose." Since Speaker Pelosi has, in her words, studied the issue "for a long time," she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery's Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977). Here's how Connery concludes his study: "The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation. Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it. Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion." Or to put it in the blunter words of the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed on this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder." Ardent, practising Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or "ensouled." But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong. Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today's religious alibis for abortion and a so-called "right to choose" are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief. Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith. The duty of the Church and other religious communities is moral witness. The duty of the state and its officials is to serve the common good, which is always rooted in moral truth. A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course, it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches. +Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Denver +James D. Conley Auxiliary Bishop of Denver |
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| Timothy | Thursday, 28. August 2008, 15:48 Post #7 |
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Nancy Pelosi is the mother of the Democratic party what would one expect? :blink: |
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"An adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelty." "Having a clear faith, according to the credo of the church, is often labelled as fundamentalism." Pope Benedict XVI | |
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| KatyA | Monday, 1. September 2008, 23:43 Post #8 |
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The secular Religion News Service site have published an interview with Archbishop Chaput RNS interview The questions were very direct, as may be expected from a secular site, but the Archbishop handled them well. He is a man I admire very much KatyA |
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| KatyA | Thursday, 4. September 2008, 09:51 Post #9 |
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The advocacy group Fidelis is calling for a public thank you to be made to Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput for his unwavering defense of Catholic teaching on the dignity of all human life. The Catholic organization likened the archbishop to former Archbishop Joseph Rummel, who led the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 1935 to 1964 during a period of deep division over civil rights in the country. Fidelis President Brian Burch commented: "Like Archbishop Rummel, who stood up against the prevailing culture of his time to defend the intrinsic dignity of every human person, Archbishop Chaput has been a true prophetic witness in reminding public officials of their responsibility to defend all human life. Zenit article |
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| KatyA | Sunday, 7. September 2008, 16:30 Post #10 |
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From The Curt Jester
:D |
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| John Sweeney | Tuesday, 9. September 2008, 14:29 Post #11 |
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No wish to trivialise an important debate but yesterday I was driving sedately along the main road when a green car ( Ford like mine I think) came hurtling out of a side street causing me and those behind me to brake urgently. Nearest I've come to a crash in a while. I was then behind it for 200 yards and was amused to see it was what seemed to be an official SPUC car with slogans proclaiming that all life was sacred. It pulled in as I went past I could see that its door panels had professionally painted quotations about preserving human life. I thought of stopping and telling the driver that some quotations from the Highway Code might be more appropriate for him but of course I didn't. John |
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| Derekap | Tuesday, 9. September 2008, 20:42 Post #12 |
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If one of your passengers was a pregnant woman you could well have pointed out to the driver the irony of the carelessness. On the other hand could the car have been stolen? |
| Derekap | |
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5:30 PM Nov 23