Another Confused Post-Dispatcher Reader

Today's Post-Dispatch has more letters to the editor regarding Abp. Burke's statement that he would deny Sen. Kerry Holy Communion. Here is the letter of the confused writer.

Archbishop Raymond Burke has said he would not administer communion to Catholic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. This was in response to our pope's call to protect the unborn. Pope John Paul II also has denounced the death penalty. So why doesn't the archbishop go a step further and refuse communion to those who support the death penalty?

And let's not forget that the pope also opposed the United States going to war with Iraq. Maybe we should also refuse communion to pro-war people?

I am upset that the archbishop has made this a political issue. I am a Catholic. I am pro-life. Pro-life means anti-death penalty as well as anti-abortion. It is hard for me to be totally Democratic or totally Republican. That is why our church should not be jumping into this fray.

If our church is going to denounce Kerry on the abortion issue, it also needs to denounce President George W. Bush for his support of the death penalty and for taking us into a pre-emptive war in Iraq.

Jenny Smith
Jefferson City

This letter sounds as if it came straight from the pages of the National Catholic Reporter from a couple of days ago...?

Poor Jenny Smith is so confused...unable to understand that there are those things which are intrinsically evil and always morally wrong. Perhaps her pastor or her bishop in Jefferson City can clarify the problems for her. This would be a great act of charity.

It is correct that the Holy Father has stated that the use of the death penalty should not be used if other means are availbable to protect society, however the Church grants, as she always has, that the prudential judgement of imposing punishment is a right and power of lawful temporal authority. Abortion is MURDER, Capital Punishment is not! The two are not morally equivalent, except perhaps in the mind of one who is confused.

Secondly, the statement that Archbishop Burke has made this a political issue is false. The refusal of the Sacrament of Holy Communion is not political. The refusal of Catholics to abide by and promote the natural moral law can be political, especially when unjust laws are promoted or defended.

The defense of innocent life is the most fundamental issue we face in this country. All other rights or issues are meaningless if the 'right' to life is really of no importance. It is impossible to enjoy other rights and privileges if one has been denied the most fundamental right to life. It is this fundamental right to life which accords all of us the subsequent ability to enjoy and participate in other rights, duties, pleasures, etc.

All of us have a duty to help those who are blinded and cannot see the truth. All of us can find ourselves in this situation - none of us are immune. However, when we understand and believe what the Church teaches, we must share that truth with others as an act of charity. We must practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. And we must pray the our Lord will enlighten the minds of those who are so confused and are unable to understand.

Our good Archbishop is trying to open the hearts of those who have refused the grace of God and persist in public scandal and who, by their own actions and speech, continue to lead others away from Christ and His Church. He follows the lead of the good shepherd. Please pray for him also as he endures these attacks.