Quotes and news

Fr Jay Scott Newman believes those who voted for the Barack Obama placed themselves "outside of the full communion of Christ's church and under the judgment of divine law".

Following the election, he wrote in the bulletin of his parish, St Mary's in Gleenville, that: "Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the sacrament of penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."

Obama yes. Communion yes

Mgr Martin T. Laughlin, the administrator of the diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, which includes Fr Newman's parish, issued a public statement that Fr Newman's views do not reflect Church teaching.

Mgr Laughlin said that Fr Newman's comments "diverted the Church's clear teaching on abortion. If a person has formed his or her conscience well, he or she should not be denied Communion, nor be told to go to confession before receiving Communion."

Timely clarification

Fr Newman then clarified his position:

"What I wrote last week has to be read in light of the teaching of the American bishops on 'Faithful Citizenship'. From that document and the teaching of the Church's Magisterium, we must conclude that a vote for a pro-abortion candidate can be a mortal sin if the intent is to support abortion, that abortion is not merely one among other important issues, and that no Catholic should endorse a pro-abortion politician if a plausible pro-life alternative is available."

Inflatable churches

A German diocese has come up with an innovative idea to attract young people: inflatable churches. The churches are taken wherever young people are, including schools, shopping malls, etc., and inflated to serve as places for meditation, spiritual counselling and discussion.

Withholding nutrition is killing

People in a persistent vegetative state should not be deprived of nutrition and hydration, said two Vatican prelates in reaction to the decision of an Italian court to allow such action, which they equated to killing the person.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the Vatican's 'Minister of Health', said that while the Catholic Church does not insist that extraordinary measures be taken to keep a dying person alive, nutrition and hydration "are not extraordinary therapies that can be suspended. Interrupting them is equivalent to killing her."