Public Catholics

Of all the things I could write about today, I find myself blogging about Kerry. Sigh.

Anyway, I've found myself reading this, which is mostly a quote of this.

Now I don't know if the Pointies at Boots'n'Sabres are Catholics or not, but if they are, they've forgotten a major part of going to mass. First off: at the beginning you make an examination of conscience, and you pray for forgiveness. Now, this is not a substitute for confession, but rather an opportunity to reflect upon whether or not you should go to communion. If you find you have serious sin on your soul, you don't go.

(For the record: I have refused myself communion once on these grounds.)

The only way I can conceive of someone else publicly making this decision for you is if your confessor tells you not to receive communion and then you happen to line up in front of him. (Incidentally folks, we don't receive the Eucharist 'at the rail' anymore. High Church Anglicans do, Roman Cs haven't done this for many moons.)

I think the real quotable from Buckley (dear God forgive me, I'm quoting William Buckley) is this:

The difference between giving communion to John Kerry, presidential candidate, and giving communion to John Doe, who voted for a local abortion law, is that Kerry is a public figure, and therefore a transgressor whose transgression is a public act, inviting reprisal, like the protester who draws attention to himself by proclaiming his defiance. To upbraid a bishop for denying communion to a public figure who espouses permissive abortion laws is to upbraid him for upholding the doctrine of the separation of church and state.

John Kerry is not an abortion doctor, nor does he have a uterus. The only entity that can really straighten out whether or not advocating for abortion rights is a sin is God. Having an abortion? Well, a lot of people think it is. And if a woman feels it is, has one, and then confesses, I would hope that her priest would be very sympathetic and offer her heartfelt absolution. In a more enlightened church, the priest might offer then woman solace on her lost pregnancy, counsel her that difficult decisions are not necessarily sinful, and share a story about her own family.

Unfortunately, we don't yet have priests with uterusses, so that last bit is a moot point.