Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 23, 1990 TAG: 9006260392
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Catholic canon law automatically excommunicates any Catholic who "formally participates" in an abortion, knowing of the church sanctions against the procedure. But this is the first time such a high church official has suggested excommunication for Catholic politicians who refuse to make abortions illegal.
At first, this may appear to be an unwise intrusion of the church on the state. But Cardinal O'Connor is limiting his threat to a basic moral teaching, and is calling on Catholic politicians to choose between God and the state.
John F. Kennedy said that if faced with an issue that forced him to choose between the church and his duties as president, he would resign the presidency. That is the attitude Cardinal O'Connor is seeking to restore.
Former Sen. Harold Hughes, D-Iowa, an evangelical Protestant, confronted a similar dilemma during the 1972 presidential race. He said he could not reconcile the possibility that as president, he might have to retaliate against an enemy that launched a nuclear attack on America. Rather than compromise his faith, he withdrew from the race.
Writing on "The Limits of Dissent" in the June issue of "Crisis" magazine, a conservative Catholic publication, Bishop John J. Meyers of Peoria, Ill., says, "There is, and can be, no such thing as an authentic `pro-choice' Catholic . . . . The primary, general responsibilities of those in public authority are to do no injustices and, within the limits of their authority, to work for justice. Catholics who hold public office cannot legitimately support legislation or any public policy which deprives unborn children of their basic right to life. . . . Catholics who publicly dissent from the Church's teaching on the right to life of all unborn children should recognize that they have freely chosen by their own actions to separate themselves from what the Catholic Church believes and teaches." (Emphasis his.)
Though it is seldom practiced, there is ample precedent in Protestant and Catholic faiths for expelling people from churches if they go against central doctrines. The authority comes from Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."
It would appear that New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, the most prominent but by no means only offender in the "I'm personally opposed to abortion, but" category, already has chosen whom he will serve. Cuomo responded to Cardinal O'Connor's statement by saying that while "it is profoundly disconcerting . . . it is not going to change anything."
The Catholic Church is right to turn up the heat and to remind Catholic politicians and others that, as Bishop John Meyers says, "From the ethical point of view, there is no distinction between being `pro-choice' and being `pro-abortion.' "
Those who persist in theological error, in spite of acknowledging that what their church teaches is true, may continue to hold their political positions and their offices if the voters wish. What the Catholic Church says is that they may not simultaneously hold a position of good standing in the church if they put the state above God and pledge to the state their ultimate allegiance. Los Angeles Times Syndicate
by CNB