Kerry Excommunication Involves More Than We Think

Kevin Roeten

Sure, Kerry has been formally ‘excommunicated’ from the Catholic Church. Actual excommunication was likely long before we thought. But 2004 is when you heard from the Vatican that it was official. But the real question is, what about the rest of all the Catholics in public office? Unfortunately, there are many Catholics who refuse to believe and vote for Catholic principles. What should be done with them?

It’s true that 24% of the American population claim they’re Catholic. But it’s also true that voting for a politician who votes for policy in direct opposition to Catholic doctrine(i.e., the “non-negotiables”: 1)abortion, 2)euthanasia, 3)same sex marriage, 4)cloning, and 5)embryonic stem cell research), has committed a ‘serious sin’. In Catholic circles, that’s referred to as ‘mortal’. This is the kind that prevents you from gaining a happy eternal life.

Even though Catholic hierarchy rarely makes an excommunication ‘official’ when an alleged Catholic publicly professes the right to choose heresy, it was lately deemed necessary. For those believing that ‘heresy’ is somehow denoted as a ‘curse’ from God, Webster’s dictionary defines heresy as simply “a belief different from the accepted belief of the Church”. To Catholics, this seems fairly commonplace among certain politicians, and puts them in a state of ‘mortal’ sin. In that state with excommunication, they are ineligible to receive any of the seven sacraments until the error is recanted, and excommunication lifted. If the sin is persistent, Catholics hope that any public excommunication may be the only way to bring the offender back to the Faith.

Word from the Vatican in 2004, was that “Sen. Kerry and all ‘pro-choice’ Catholic politicians who publicly call themselves Catholic yet who blatantly violate Canon Law(Catholic law) by continuing to profess heresy, and receive Holy Communion, must publicly reject their abortion advocacy for the sake of their own souls, and the others they have scandalized. If not, then these people will have been excommunicated.” There it is—formal.

To get very specific, some other Catholic senators(none of which have recanted) that likely have already been ‘excommunicated’ are: Durbin, Kennedy, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Landrieu, Dodd, Reed, Biden, Cantwell, Voinovitch, Harkin, Murkowski, Domenici, and Sununu. And that doesn’t even count the 48 Catholic congressmen who wrote a letter in 2004 warning Catholic bishops to back off of the doctrine of the evils of abortion. The worst part about this is that these ‘representatives’ all claim Catholicism as their true Faith, and most have used it to further their political careers. The scary part--they have lied to us about something as personal as their Faith. What else will they lie about? If someone can be so callous and unscrupulous, what else is possible? To be sure, the vast majority is Democrat, but certainly not all. What part of fraud and scandal do they not understand?

It must be also said that any Catholic who publicly and obstinately supports, or votes for the right to an abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, commits the above heresy(envisioned by Canon #751). Why would any Catholic do this, and insist that they are still Catholic? Any voter who understands the latter, and still votes for the candidate who votes ‘for’ abortion, is likely automatically excommunicated(latae sententiae). Harsh words---that will raise the hackles on many backs. It may even fan the flames of anti-Catholicism. But even Christ, Himself, had very severe words for those that persisted in evil. Even secular organizations have rules for its members. If the members choose not to obey those rules, they can be removed from that organization.

Catholics sincerely wish, however, that any prodigal member will recant his sins, and come back into the Faith. It is their hope, as it is Christ’s, that all people will enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. But even Christ admitted that no matter how much he wanted everyone to enjoy Heaven, that there would be many that would choose otherwise per their own fruition. How short many of us look into the future…

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Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net.

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As a Chemical Engineer, I love politics, and am an orthodox Catholic. I am a "Guest Columnist"('Asheville Citizen-Times'), a regular columnist(North Carolina Conservative), and a contributor to the book "Americans on Politics, Policy, and Pop Culture". Politics are usually covered with a skew from a Catholic perspective.

roetenks@charter.net