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Friday, August 5, 2011

Holy Communion is for the faithful

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
 – 1 John 3:1

Back in April, American Life League came out with the following video that stated that the Catholic Church should excommunicate politicians who support abortion giant Planned Parenthood in defiance of the Church's teachings on the sanctity of life. It caused quite a stir.



Now the pro-Life organization has gained a stunning endorsement for their campaign from high ranking Vatican officials.  Judie Brown, the President of American Life League reports that Cardinal Raymond Burke told her to be “persistent” in her campaign to have Canon 915 enforced.

Here's more on this story from LifeSiteNews.
Canon 915 states: “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

Brown also noted that Burke encouraged her to make use of the numerous articles he himself has written on the subject.

“He encouraged us to be persistent, to use his articles and not to back down from our position which is the same as his,” she said. “It’s not arbitrary it’s a matter of the law of the church which needs to be enforced.”

Cardinal Burke, she noted, spoke of applying the sanction called for in canon 915 as “therapeutic” in terms of helping people come back in line with the church.

The fact that many bishops are “not comfortable” about it, said Brown, doesn’t matter.
The "not comfortable" comment is significant because this has been the response on the part of the American Bishops in the past when confronted with this issue. For instance National Catholic Register recently wrote "the bishops of New York have signaled their discomfort" with denying Communion to Catholic lawmakers that supported "homosexual marriage".

And as I have reported previously, Canon Lawyer Ed Peters has already made the case for denying Holy Communion to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. As one commenter at LifeSiteNews said, why does the Church have Canon Laws if they are not going to be enforced? And I think it's obvious that this applies equally to all the life issues, but at this time the key battles that are being fought in legislative bodies are over abortion and marriage.

Related articles:
Too many to list all of them but I'll just single out this one: Is Cuomo Catholic? You can do a search in the box in the upper right hand corner for "marriage" to get a complete list of related articles.

6 comments:

  1. God bless Cardinal Burke! And the ALL!

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  2. M. American Life League is one of the best out there. They know exactly what it is they are fighting against.

    I've watched that complete video of Sanger being interviewed by Mike Wallace. It was a 1950s infomercial for Planned Parenthood disguised as a probing interview. Wallace gave Sanger the national TV platform that she needed to promote her views. Making her views appear controversial but not utterly contemptible was the goal of this piece of propaganda and it achieved was 100% successful.

    Mike Wallace played his part perfectly. At the end of the interview Sanger is so pleased with the results that she laughs as she promises to start smoking Philipp Morris cigarettes. They were the sponsors of the show. This was the final tipoff to me that the whole thing was staged.

    The best place to watch the complete interview is at the Univ of Texas site because it contains all the Philip Morris ads. The CSPAN site cuts out the ads but provides a transcript.
    CSPAN: Mike Wallace Interview with Margaret Sanger
    UTexas: Mike Wallace Interview with Margaret Sanger

    The ads are important for various reasons. One is that they are shocking from our current cultural perspective. Isn't it interesting that we have traded in the vice of tobacco for the vice of contraception. Which is worse?

    Another reason is that it shows that contraception was promoted by big corporations. Many people will disagree and say that Wallace confronted Sanger and that this was not a promotion. I say that they don't understand how publicity campaigns work. If you have a subject that is taboo like birth control was in the 1950s then you have to start by lowering the bar and making it acceptable to talk about in polite society. This is done through exposure and presenting the topic as "controversial". This is how contraception was introduced to Americans in the 1950s.

    Notice that Wallace questioned Sanger about her second marriage. But he did not raise the fact that Sanger was a known advocate of "free sex". She promoted homosexuality and was against marriage as an institution. He deliberately whitewashed her image to give her a veneer of controversiality that was within the bounds that were acceptable to the society of that time.

    The concluding remarks by Wallace are a case study in how the "dictatorship of relativism" is created. He says "in the eyes of some she is a heroine, in the eyes of others a destructive force". This is the very definition of moral relativism. It all just depends on your point of view. There is no good, there is no evil. We shouldn't condemn others.

    We have seen a similar progression in the area of homosexuality. A well orchestrated publicity campaign was created to gradually shift public opinion. First it was portrayed as controversial, now it is portrayed as mainstream. And those who criticize homosexuality are labeled as 'bigots'.

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  3. Wonderful insight. I just want to share that what happened in the 1950s in America is happening in our country with regards to the Reproductive Health Bill. The mass media is heavily biased for it even though majority of Filipinos are Catholic. To cut a long story shot here is some info from the HLI website: http://www.hliworldwatch.org/?p=599 . Also, you are spot on with regards to homosexuality. In a few years homosexuality was no longer confined to adult programs like L Word or Queer As Folk as we can see in "family" oriented shows like "GLEE." And we haven't even talked about public schools.

    I just want to add: I was filled with indignation after seeing the mockery of the Blessed Virgin on a poster in the video. It made me remember something I read about Cure: "...the most heinous crime in the eyes of this saint, the one that made him weep whenever he heard it or spoke against it, was the taking of the most Holy Name of Jesus in vain. He used to say that it was an astounding miracle that people who did this were not struck dead on the spot. But he warned them, "If the sin of blasphemy is rampant in your home, it will surely perish." I want to emphasize the last part. Surely, it can be said about Planned Parenthood's future? :)

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  4. M. I'm delighted to know you are from the Philippines. Can I come visit. :)

    You remind me that I have been negligent in not writing about the battle there over "reproductive rights" -- i.e. contraception and abortion. I have been well aware of this for the past year. I have started writing articles a few times on the Philippines, but never published them. One was about the tetanus vaccination program of young women that was actually a covert sterilization program. The other was about the announcement by champion boxer Manny Pacquiao that he is firmly against the RH bill and supports the pro-Life teachings of the Catholic Church.

    Each time I think that as I learned more about what was happening I just got overwhelmed by it. The Philippines has been in the crosshairs of the eugenics/population control/abortion/contraception movement from day one. It is truly a miracle and a testament to the heroic Catholic faith of the Filipino people that you have been able to resist this onslaught.

    From what I have seen, there are no people on the planet that are more pro-Life and pro-Family than the Filipinos. I was born in Puerto Rico and I can tell you that Puertorican Catholic culture and society was totally swamped by the forces of "family planning". Few people know that the original human tests of the Pill were done in Puerto Rico. The island was used as a laboratory and our women were treated like guinea pigs. This was done without knowledge or consent. In our culture at that time (1950s) trust in the medical profession was absolute. Our own doctors and social workers were the ones that deceived the people. God have mercy on them.

    I know that there is tremendous pressure on politicians in the Philippines to pass these contraception laws. All international funding is tied to them being passed. The United Nations is pushing these eugenics programs through many of their agencies. The US State Dept is constantly applying pressure. Pray for the politicians. May God give them strength. (Be very cautious of any "women's rights" campaigns because these are often tied to the abortion movement.)

    Finally, I had to turn away when I saw the part about the Virgin. In this country the attacks on Our Lady are increasing. Lately, I have seen increasing news reports of statues of the Virgin Mary being desecrated or stolen.

    Our Lady of Fatima promises: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

    Today is the first Saturday, on which Our Lady of Fatima asked that we receive Holy Communion and consecrate it to her Immaculate Heart.

    Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

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  5. Absolutely. If you ever do come, I'd love to show you around. :)

    Yes, please pray for us. Though majority of Filipinos are against it (a rally in March drew half a million people) and the bishops have been united in opposing it, the Government is hell-bent on implementing it. You're right, the women's rights card has been played already.

    Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the unborn, pray for us!

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  6. Thank you for your offer. I would love to go to the Philippines someday.

    I know that there are many people in the pro-Life movement around the world that are praying for the Philippines. Here in the US, we need to pray and also elect a President that will put a stop to US promotion of abortion and contraception abroad.

    God bless you.

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