Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights . . .
UPDATE 11/24/09: Two Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidates slam Catholic Church as hypocritic
-- From "Bishop confirms banning Kennedy from receiving communion" by John Moroney, NECN 11/22/09
Bishop Thomas Tobin say he made his request public after Kennedy revealed it to the Providence Journal. Tobin released a letter he wrote to Kennedy in 2007. The letter read in part:
"In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so."
The bishop said he did not want to make this issue public, but felt he was forced to by Kennedy's actions.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Kennedy: Barred from Communion" by John E. Mulligan, The Providence Journal Washington Bureau 11/22/09
“The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion,” Kennedy said in a telephone interview.
Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him “that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I’ve taken as a public official,” particularly on abortion. He declined to say when or how Bishop Tobin told him not to take the sacrament. And he declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop’s injunction.
Their dispute comes against the backdrop of the national debate about whether U.S. taxpayers should subsidize abortions in the new health-care system that President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have labored for months to create.
Because every bishop has wide latitude in his own diocese, the controversy between Kennedy and Bishop Tobin is likely to be greeted with silence from other bishops — even if most would disagree with action to deny Communion to a Catholic legislator, according to Father Reese.
Orders by bishops to deny Communion to Catholic public officials are very unusual but not unprecedented. In 2003, another prominent Catholic Democrat with a mixed voting record on abortion, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, was admonished not to take Communion in his congressional district by Bishop Raymond Burke of LaCrosse.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Showing posts with label Kennedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kennedy. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Bishop Tobin Preaches Catholicism to Kennedy
Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island was to meet Thursday with Thomas J. Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, and perhaps start healing a bitter rift over whether health care legislation now before Congress should restrict abortion coverage.
-- From "Patrick Kennedy clashes with outspoken RI bishop" by Ray Henry, Associated Press 11/12/09
Their feud over a proposal expanding the nation's health insurance system has escalated to the point where Tobin has publicly questioned Kennedy's faith and membership in the church and said he should not receive communion, the central sacrament in Catholic worship.
Patrick Kennedy is among several Catholic politicians to clash with their bishops over abortion, which the church considers a paramount moral evil not open for negotiation. Fewer than 20 of the roughly 200 bishops overseeing U.S. dioceses have threatened to deny communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion, [said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a church observer and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.]
"I don't think you'll find widespread support among Catholics for this," he said. [Oh really? Check out these statements.]
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., has said that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking communion until she changes her stance.
Former Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has said he would withhold communion from politicians who support abortion, such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican who also ran afoul of the church because he is divorced.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Verbally, bishop isn’t turning cheek" by Noah Bierman, Boston Globe Staff 11/12/09
The bishop from America’s most Catholic state, and increasingly one of the church’s most provocative prelates, has provided a rather concise explanation for his willingness to clash with politicians: Christians are not supposed to be nice, at least not all the time.
"In confronting moral evil, Jesus wasn’t nice, kind, gentle, and sweet," Thomas J. Tobin, the bishop of Providence, wrote in his diocesan newspaper column earlier this year. "He lived in a rough and tumble world and He took His message to the streets."
Tobin has followed his interpretation of Jesus’ demeanor most devoutly, and he is quickly positioning himself at the national forefront of a renewed debate over the role of Catholic orthodoxy in the public square, most recently in a very personal feud with Representative Patrick Kennedy. As the abortion issue has taken on prominence in the national health care debate, Tobin has insisted Catholics get involved in the rough world of politics - even if it means tangling with prochoice Catholic legislators. And he has led by example.
Tobin wrote [to Patrick Kennedy], "Your position is unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the church."
Earlier, Kennedy had questioned why church leaders would oppose the opportunity to insure millions of poor Americans because the bill could possibly provide coverage for abortions.
"You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people life-saving health care?" Kennedy told the Catholic News Service last month. A health care bill was passed by the US House of Representatives over the weekend, with a controversial amendment restricting federal funding for abortion - considered a major victory for the nation’s Catholic bishops and other abortion opponents. Kennedy voted against the amendment but supported the final bill.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Rep. Kennedy and Bishop in Bitter Rift on Abortion" by Abby Goodnough, New York Times 11/12/09
. . . Bishop Tobin stepped up his public rebuke of Mr. Kennedy, accusing him Wednesday of “false advertising” for describing himself as a Catholic and saying he should not receive holy communion because he supports using taxpayer money for abortions.
“If you freely choose to be a Catholic, it means you believe certain things, you do certain things,” Bishop Tobin said on WPRO, a Providence radio station. “If you cannot do all that in conscience, then you should perhaps feel free to go somewhere else.”
“It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church,” he wrote, “redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic ‘profile in courage,’ especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has lobbied forcefully against including federal financing for abortion in the health care legislation, and Bishop Tobin, who has led the Catholic Church in Rhode Island since 2005, has been a vocal participant.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Patrick Kennedy clashes with outspoken RI bishop" by Ray Henry, Associated Press 11/12/09
Their feud over a proposal expanding the nation's health insurance system has escalated to the point where Tobin has publicly questioned Kennedy's faith and membership in the church and said he should not receive communion, the central sacrament in Catholic worship.
Patrick Kennedy is among several Catholic politicians to clash with their bishops over abortion, which the church considers a paramount moral evil not open for negotiation. Fewer than 20 of the roughly 200 bishops overseeing U.S. dioceses have threatened to deny communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion, [said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a church observer and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.]
"I don't think you'll find widespread support among Catholics for this," he said. [Oh really? Check out these statements.]
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., has said that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking communion until she changes her stance.
Former Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has said he would withhold communion from politicians who support abortion, such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican who also ran afoul of the church because he is divorced.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Verbally, bishop isn’t turning cheek" by Noah Bierman, Boston Globe Staff 11/12/09
The bishop from America’s most Catholic state, and increasingly one of the church’s most provocative prelates, has provided a rather concise explanation for his willingness to clash with politicians: Christians are not supposed to be nice, at least not all the time.
"In confronting moral evil, Jesus wasn’t nice, kind, gentle, and sweet," Thomas J. Tobin, the bishop of Providence, wrote in his diocesan newspaper column earlier this year. "He lived in a rough and tumble world and He took His message to the streets."
Tobin has followed his interpretation of Jesus’ demeanor most devoutly, and he is quickly positioning himself at the national forefront of a renewed debate over the role of Catholic orthodoxy in the public square, most recently in a very personal feud with Representative Patrick Kennedy. As the abortion issue has taken on prominence in the national health care debate, Tobin has insisted Catholics get involved in the rough world of politics - even if it means tangling with prochoice Catholic legislators. And he has led by example.
Tobin wrote [to Patrick Kennedy], "Your position is unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the church."
Earlier, Kennedy had questioned why church leaders would oppose the opportunity to insure millions of poor Americans because the bill could possibly provide coverage for abortions.
"You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people life-saving health care?" Kennedy told the Catholic News Service last month. A health care bill was passed by the US House of Representatives over the weekend, with a controversial amendment restricting federal funding for abortion - considered a major victory for the nation’s Catholic bishops and other abortion opponents. Kennedy voted against the amendment but supported the final bill.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Rep. Kennedy and Bishop in Bitter Rift on Abortion" by Abby Goodnough, New York Times 11/12/09
. . . Bishop Tobin stepped up his public rebuke of Mr. Kennedy, accusing him Wednesday of “false advertising” for describing himself as a Catholic and saying he should not receive holy communion because he supports using taxpayer money for abortions.
“If you freely choose to be a Catholic, it means you believe certain things, you do certain things,” Bishop Tobin said on WPRO, a Providence radio station. “If you cannot do all that in conscience, then you should perhaps feel free to go somewhere else.”
“It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church,” he wrote, “redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic ‘profile in courage,’ especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has lobbied forcefully against including federal financing for abortion in the health care legislation, and Bishop Tobin, who has led the Catholic Church in Rhode Island since 2005, has been a vocal participant.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Bishop Says Kennedy Ignorant on Health Care Legislation
In strong rhetoric, US Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of the Providence Diocese have exchanged nasty comments over abortion and proposals for a health care overhaul . . .
This follows the White House calling Catholic bishops ignorant on abortion funding legislation.
-- From "Kennedy spars with church on abortion" by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe Staff 10/24/09
In a statement released yesterday, Tobin lashed out at Kennedy, a son of one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic families, for incendiary remarks the congressman made in an interview about abortion.
Kennedy, speaking in support of a public option for a proposed universal health care plan, told Catholic News Service in an article posted Thursday that he found it perplexing that the church would oppose the health insurance plan.
Tobin had outlined his concerns in a Sept. 21 letter he sent to the Rhode Island congressional delegation, saying he could not support any legislation "that diminishes human dignity or threatens the right to life."
Yesterday, he was more direct, saying that Kennedy’s comments were "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts."
The bishop explained the church’s stance, saying that while the church supports health care overhaul, "we are adamantly opposed to health care legislation that threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals.
"Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church and to the citizens of the state of Rhode Island," the bishop said. "I believe the congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments. It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will find a way to provide morally responsible leadership for our state."
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
This follows the White House calling Catholic bishops ignorant on abortion funding legislation.
-- From "Kennedy spars with church on abortion" by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe Staff 10/24/09
In a statement released yesterday, Tobin lashed out at Kennedy, a son of one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic families, for incendiary remarks the congressman made in an interview about abortion.
Kennedy, speaking in support of a public option for a proposed universal health care plan, told Catholic News Service in an article posted Thursday that he found it perplexing that the church would oppose the health insurance plan.
Tobin had outlined his concerns in a Sept. 21 letter he sent to the Rhode Island congressional delegation, saying he could not support any legislation "that diminishes human dignity or threatens the right to life."
Yesterday, he was more direct, saying that Kennedy’s comments were "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts."
The bishop explained the church’s stance, saying that while the church supports health care overhaul, "we are adamantly opposed to health care legislation that threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals.
"Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church and to the citizens of the state of Rhode Island," the bishop said. "I believe the congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments. It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will find a way to provide morally responsible leadership for our state."
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Defunding the War: How Bad Could it Get?
Almost 37 years ago, long before Congress thought to pass non-binding resolutions as a first step to cut off funding in Iraq, the Senate passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. John Sherman Cooper (R.-Ky.) and Sen. Frank Church (D.-Idaho) to restrict funding for operations in Cambodia.
Senators Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) have said again and again that passage of a non-binding resolution against President Bush’s troop surge would be the first step to withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
How badly could this turn out?
The actions of their predecessors, who de-funded the Vietnam War, give us a big clue.
On June 30, 1970 58 senators voted in favor of Cooper-Church to handcuff President Nixon from sending more troops to Vietnam. The amendment limited the President’s war powers through the budgetary process with a trio of stipulations. First, it ended funding for U.S. troops and advisers in Cambodia and Laos after June 30. Secondly, it banned combat operations over Cambodian airspace to support Cambodian forces without prior congressional approval. Lastly, it cut funding to support Southern Vietnamese forces stationed outside of Vietnam.
Today, liberals have drawn many comparisons between Vietnam and the War in Iraq, but reliably omit the tragic killing fields of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam that were produced after American forces were forced by Congress to exit the region.
From a July 11, 1970 article
Senators Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) have said again and again that passage of a non-binding resolution against President Bush’s troop surge would be the first step to withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
How badly could this turn out?
The actions of their predecessors, who de-funded the Vietnam War, give us a big clue.
On June 30, 1970 58 senators voted in favor of Cooper-Church to handcuff President Nixon from sending more troops to Vietnam. The amendment limited the President’s war powers through the budgetary process with a trio of stipulations. First, it ended funding for U.S. troops and advisers in Cambodia and Laos after June 30. Secondly, it banned combat operations over Cambodian airspace to support Cambodian forces without prior congressional approval. Lastly, it cut funding to support Southern Vietnamese forces stationed outside of Vietnam.
Today, liberals have drawn many comparisons between Vietnam and the War in Iraq, but reliably omit the tragic killing fields of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam that were produced after American forces were forced by Congress to exit the region.
From a July 11, 1970 article
The Cooper-Church proposal does a number of things that can only cause exaltation and hand-clapping in Hanoi and Communist capitals elsewhere….The amendment also tells our Asian allies that they can go hang, for the U.S. Senate, at any rate, has no intention of helping out Asian victims of Red aggression.”
There is nothing really good that can be said of Cooper-Church, for it is aimed at crippling the power of the President at the very time he is successfully extricating us from Viet Nam precisely because he has not had a Cooper-Church amendment to contend with.
*Note: A few senators who voted for Church-Cooper are still in the Senate today. Those voting for it were: Daniel Inoye (D.-Hawaii), Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and Ted Stevens (R.-Ala.).
Read both articles at HumanEvents.com
Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times. -- Gustave Flaubert
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