Kennedy dispute reveals a Catholic divide

[DearAbby]

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A bitter dispute over abortion that prompted Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop to ask Rep. Patrick Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties.

Bishop Thomas Tobin on Sunday said he made the request because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights. The news prompted debate among Catholics around the country and within Rhode Island, the nation's most Catholic state, about whether it was right for Tobin to publicly shame Kennedy for breaking with the church on what its leaders consider a paramount moral issue.

Angel Madera, 20, a Marine visiting his home in Providence for Thanksgiving, said before attending Sunday evening Mass that Tobin was wrong to assail Kennedy's faith.

More at Link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34116639/ns/us_news-faith/?ocid=twitter

[Taverner]

1. Yes, its the divide between reason and make believe

As in, if you agree with the Bishop you MAKE BELIEVE REALITY

[DearAbby]

2. A step back into the Middle Ages.

for some time there it appeared the church was making advances into at least the 20th century...today, with four steps back into the 15th Century.

[alsame]

3. I was raised Catholic and have yet to hear the clergy make an issue

of someone's support for the death penalty.

[quiller4]

7. In my parish you would hear that. You would also hear a strong

anti-war message. Now that is at the parish level. You won't hear much of anything coming from the Archbishop who is retiring in less than a month.

[alsame]

9. Good to know - I'm glad they aren't all

inconsistent and hypocritical about what 'life' means.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. With all due respect to the Catholic Church, but...

Why aren't they focusing on the recent, widespread, covered-up scandals of pedophilia inside the church? You would think that with pedophilia widespread in the Church, so much so that it's bankrupted many Archdioceses, and they're finger pointing. Interesting, huh?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. Roe v. Wade is the law of the land

If Kennedy stated in his private life that he would urge the womenfolk in his family to seek abortions, that's one thing. But merely supporting existing law is not a religious issue, it's one of representing his constituents who support abortion rights. I assume he represents many non-Catholics and that he's not a representative of the Catholic Church. I would bet that the Catholic Church would not want to know how many of its adherents privately support Roe v. Wade.

[Warpy]

6. Somebody needs to remind Tobin about rendering unto Caesar

that which is Caesar's, a pretty good illustration of the separation of church and state. Trying to force a politician to intrude church doctrine into civil law should bring a visit from the IRS, if nothing else.

That Bishop is treading on quicksand. He needs to reconsider because I really don't think the church wants its books opened. There were too many payoffs before the pedophilia scandal broke.

[Angry Dragon]

8. The Roman Catholic Church is afraid

They are so afraid of people attacking it, they scream that they are being persecuted.

They claim to have a god that is all powerful and yet they scream when someone talks negative about them. If I had a most powerful god coving my back I would not be afraid of anything. It only becomes a problem when the foundation of the Catholic Church is built of sand instead of bedrock. They preach, but do not live their faith. Their church is failing and dying and they are so afraid.

When it comes to abortion they claim it is killing yet they have killed for 2000 years. I find the church has no soul.

However they are correct in this stance on denying to give communion to Kennedy. That is within their power. I would would ask Rep. Kennedy if this is the church that best serves his soul's needs.