In the article Que Sera Sera I discussed the need for Christians and Christian churches to have and set moral standards on abortion.
The Catholic Church established guidelines which do exactly that.
The American Life League posted the guidelines at http://www.all.org/hp5.htm.
Titled "Catholic Leadership Conference Statement on political action", moral guidelines are presented. The topic of abortion is addressed with the following statements:
# The first obligation of government is the protection of innocent human life from conception[2] to natural death. The Church teaches that justice requires this protection. This truth can also be known through reason unaided by revelation. On the specific "life issues" in law and public policy – direct abortion[3], euthanasia, and the killing of unborn life for medical research, Catholic teaching is unequivocal; the defense of innocent human life is an imperative.# Catholic voters must first make decisions about their votes based on the moral issues that are non-negotiable. First among these are the life issues.[4]# A similar distinction was made by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, to the American bishops when he stated: “There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”[5]
# Catholic priests and bishops first and foremost are shepherds of souls. The role of these shepherds is to instruct and to remind voters, candidates and public officials of the moral obligations and social principles that should guide their political action.
No ambiguity there. The big question is, what will the church do with those who refuse to accept these guidelines?
John Kerry and many other Catholics are openly pro-abortion and believe that it is the right of a woman to choose what to do with human life. If women decide to kill their children, they are okay with that.
So what is the Catholic Church going to do with these openly pro-abortion individuals?
Should they excommunicate their parishioners?
From Encyclopedia.com
In Christianity the Roman Catholic Church especially retains excommunication; the church maintains that the spiritual separation of the offender from the body of the faithful takes place by the nature of the act when the offense is committed, and the decree of excommunication (or anathema ) is a warning and formal proclamation of exclusion from Christian society. Those who die excommunicate are not publicly prayed for; but excommunication is not equivalent to damnation. Excommunications vary in gravity, and in grave cases readmission may be possible only by action of the Holy See. Excommunicates are always free to return to the church on repentance. Protestant churches have generally abandoned excommunication
Refuse communion perhaps?
We're not talking about a pornography problem here, we're talking about the killing of innocent human beings. What should happen to people who sanction the killing of innocent human beings?
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