Claire McCaskill and the Church

This is from an article in yesterday's Post-Dispatch:

In an interview, McCaskill, a Roman Catholic and a supporter of abortion rights, was asked about directives by bishops that public officials should adhere publicly to church teachings against abortion. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has criticized the abortion-rights stand of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and said that if Kerry were to stand in his Communion line, he wouldn't give him the sacrament.

Last week, Archbishop James P. Keleher of the Kansas City, Kan., Diocese wrote Catholic institutions to say abortion-rights activists and politicians should not be invited to speak at those institutions.

McCaskill said she was disappointed that the church hierarchy had singled out one issue.

Some will say that the defense of innocent life is only one issue among many, that it is important but not fundamental. They are wrong. In the natural moral law, the good of life is the most fundamental good and the condition for the enjoyment of all other goods (cf. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics [November 1998], n. 5).*

"There's a lot of subject matter out there - birth control, the death penalty, euthanasia, social justice, and when you begin picking one topic and not talking about the other topics, I think that there is an issue of fairness in terms of the Catholic doctrine and how public officials are getting called to task," said McCaskill. "I'm hopeful that they pray about it, and I'm going to pray about it, and I hope that I still feel welcome in my church."

Catholics therefore cannot legitimately believe that, if they support programs for the poor and marginalized, this “makes up” for not being consistently prolife. “Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing and health care.... But being ‘right’ in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life. Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the ‘rightness’ of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community” (Living the Gospel of Life, n. 23).*

McCaskill is a member of St. Gerard Majella parish in Kirkwood. Asked if she could still go to Communion if she got a letter from Archbishop Burke on abortion, McCaskill said, "I'll be candid. I do not participate in Communion now because I have remarried and did not want to go through what I considered a less-than-honest process of annulling my previous marriage.

"I wasn't comfortable in saying things to get an annulment that I had to say because they weren't true. I participate at my parish and do not take Communion at the present time. So it doesn't impact me other than it's hurtful."

At least on the point of refraining from Holy Communion, I can agree with her. It is a sacrilege and a mortal sin, objectively speaking, to receive Holy Communion while in an adulterous relationship, which is what her situation is, and which she seems to understand, at least in principle. Living in adultery precludes one from receiving the Sacraments.

However, one should not lie or fabricate stories and conditions when applying for an annulment. If she received advice that lying is required in order to secure a decree of nullity, she has been misinformed and, hopefully, this person is not a representative of the Church.

* A Pastoral Letter to Christs's Faithful of the Diocese of LaCrosse
On the Dignity of Human Life and Civic Responsibility
The Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, Bishop of LaCrosse
November 23, 2003