The Baltimore Catechism states, "To love God, our neighbor, and ourselves we must keep the commandments of God and of the Church." The 5th Commandment is not nuanced, "Thou shalt not kill," and the laws of the Church sum up the abortion issue with, "God the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves, Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes."
The catechism also defines a heretic, "the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith."
Of course with so many of her fellow pew sitters voting the most pro-abortion candidate into the White House she has a lot of company.
California’s first lady, Maria Shriver considers herself "a Catholic in good standing" despite the fact that she openly advocates abortion. "I find I don't spend a lot of time trying to square my own daily life with the institutional Church," said Shriver. "I pick and choose."
Shriver called herself a "cafeteria Catholic," a term that is most often used in a derogatory manner, referring to individuals who only selectively submit to Church teaching and authority while still calling themselves Catholic.
On the disparity between Church teaching and her belief on abortion, Shriver told Quinn, "I often talk to my daughters at the dinner table about the difference between being pro-abortion and being pro-choice." She explained that she believes supporting the right to choose an abortion is different from supporting abortion.
The older kids were complaining the other evening about my refusal to let them play with the neighbor's girls after 7pm. "You go to bed at 8pm. Just because they let their kids stay awake until 10pm doesn't mean we start doing so. Their parents apparently don't believe in the 5th Commandment, (their Obama sign is STILL up in the yard)that doesn't mean we do the same."
2 comments:
Hehe, you might enjoy CMR's "proposal" here:
http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2008/11/down-with-catholics-in-name-only.html
Since Ms. Shriver lives in Los Angeles her "home bishop", Cardinal Mahoney, will most assuredly ignore these remarks and make no public correction. However, because they were published by the Washington Post which is in Archbishop Wuerl's diocese, he might be willing to speak out and correct the assertion that one can be a Catholic in good standing while rejecting fundamental Catholic teachings on divorce, homosexuality, an all-male priesthood, and abortion. I have sent him a letter imploring him to offer such correction. Anyone else who would like to send him such words of encouragement can email him at chancery@adw.org. Make sure you pray for him and for all our bishops.
Post a Comment