Repent!

Last week Father Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina, has asked his parishioners who voted for Obama to repent before receiving communion. Those who don't, he says, risk their souls. There's nothing more fun than when religion jumps into politics, is there. Nothing more fun with the person who is disagreeing with you basically condemning you to hell because you disagree with him politically. Whether it's Jerry Falwell or Jeremy Wright, it just doesn't turn out well.

Newman told his flock:

Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. 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.

Fortunately for those in Newman's church who voted for Obama, they do have the out of repenting for that "sin" instead of carrying such evil on their souls until the end of time. And while it appears that Newman has apologized for his remarks, he's still asking folks who voted for Obama to repent. Msgr. Martin Laughlin, administrator of the Charleston Diocese, repudiated Newman's remarks, saying:

This past week, the Catholic Church’s clear, moral teaching on the evil of abortion has been pulled into the partisan political arena. The recent comments of Father Jay Scott Newman, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C., have diverted the focus from the Church’s clear position against abortion. As Administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, let me state with clarity that Father Newman’s statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church’s teachings … Christ gives us freedom to explore our own conscience and to make our own decisions while adhering to the law of God and the teachings of the faith. Therefore, 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.

Laughlin followed that up with comments to bring the issue back to the basics (is it any wonder that Newman felt free to say what he said?) ‘The pulpit is reserved for the Word of God. Sometimes God’s truth, as is the Church’s teaching on abortion, is unpopular."

Makes you wonder if God's truth has been present in Newman's church during the Bush reign. Did he ask his flock to repent if they voted for Bush whose policies have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Nah, silly me. Of course not. Bush had the right answer on abortion!