The Tough Love Memo to All U.S. Catholic Bishops

The Tough Love Memo to All U.S. Catholic Bishops

The relentless pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com – Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012

From Bishop Samuel Aquila in North Dakota

“Therefore anyone who seeks an office in the Church must know that he thereby declares himself for a greater share of the Cross … a shepherd who seeks nothing but approval, who would be content to do only what is required of him, would certainly not be taking his place where the Master has taken his.” Jan. 3rd Meditation by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in “Co-Workers of the Truth” Ignatius Press, 1992:

Boot Pro-Abortion Politicians from Church: Washington, D.C. (Life-News) by S. Ertelt, the Wanderer/7-25-11 –“In an interview with Catholic World Report, A Catholic bishop up in North Dakota has given some of the strongest comments yet from a Catholic Church leader on the thorny question of what to do about Catholic politicians who support abortion.

“Bishop Samuel Aquila made it crystal clear he thinks there is a process by which Catholic officials should confront pro-abortion politicians and that they should be “expelled” from the Church if they don’t back down from supporting abortion. Responding to the question “How should the Church respond to Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion?” Bishop Aquila said:

“Their particular bishops can use the process of correction that is given to us in Sacred Scripture, and especially in Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord tells us to speak to the person and then two or three others with us if he does not change.” “If he still does not change the Church can speak to him, which is done through the bishop. {The bishop} exercises the authority of Christ. Christ then says that if that person is still obstinate and will not change, treat him as a tax collector or Gentile. Expel him.” Far from delighting in throwing people out of the Catholic Church, Aquila says:

“We do this out of love for the person, seeking his conversion. He needs to understand that the salvation of his soul is in jeopardy because of the position he is taking.” “Catholics are called to defend life, particularly that of the unborn. The Church’s teaching is clear. If we don’t challenge public officials who reject this teaching, we will leave them in their sins and confuse the faithful.”

“Thomas Peters of CatholicVote.org applauded Bishop Aquila in an August 15 blog post responding to the interview. “Strong words, yes. But if we do not believe in and speak this strongly about protecting innocent life, how can we speak strongly about other important issues?” [same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research] he said, adding that Aquila is “unambiguous about what the rules for disobedient Catholic politicians ought to be.”…

“It bothers me if any politician, Catholic or not, is for abortion,” Archbishop Dolan has said, “Because in my mind, we’re talking about a civil right, we’re not talking about a matter of Catholic Church discipline. We can’t allow the noble pro-life cause to be reduced to a denominational issue.” In 2008, Dolan took House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden to task for misrepresenting Catholic pro-life teachings… “Does the baby alive in the womb (a biological, not doctrinal, fact) deserve the full protection of the law or not.” “We cannot be mute on this premier civil rights issue of our day,” now Cardinal Timothy Dolan said.

George H. Kubeck, The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral during a moral crisis.