Wednesday, May 05, 2004

A lack of courage

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms: it means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." (G.K. CHesterton)

Patrick Leahy has no need to fear being denied Holy Communion by his bishop, despite the fact that he is a supporter of a woman's 'right' to choose to murder her unborn child and despite the fact that he is a member of American Life League's "Deadly Dozen".
Vermont's Bishop Kenneth Angell said this week that he wants to "establish and maintain open lines of communication" with politicians who may hold positions that differ with the church's.

He also said he is awaiting a review by a task force of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops about how the church should deal with Catholic elected officials who have dissenting views. The panel's chairman, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., also opposes withholding communion from those officials.

Leahy said, "Religion is very, very meaningful to me and (his wife) Marcelle, but I have always kept it separate," he said in an interview. "I have no problem with the church stating its views and preaching to its members, but it has to understand that in the United States we have a separation of church and state. No religion is allowed to dictate the policies of the United States."
Article here.

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