Ite ad Thomam Institute: Priest-confessors at WYD have authority to lift excommunication for abortion

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Priest-confessors at WYD have authority to lift excommunication for abortion

Link to: Catholic Culture: Priest-confessors at World Youth Day given authority to lift excommunication for abortion

3 comments:

Geremia said...: "Ordinarily only a limited number of priests in each diocese have the authority to remove the excommunication that is the automatic penalty for participating in an abortion."

Why not just bishops?

In my diocese of about 1 million people, there are at least 10 abortions per day, so 3,650 per year. If only 20% of our population is Catholic, this means there are two Catholic women everyday getting abortions. Two confessions per day is too much for a bishop?

This does seem to represent a lessing of the Code of Canon Law's directive of latæ sententiæ excommunication of those who are involved with abortions, no?; 10:20 PM
DANIEL OFFUTT said...: You are assuming that the rate at which Catholic women have abortions in your diocese of 1 million people is the same as the rate at which non-Catholic women have abortions there, aren't you?

Maybe the idea is that more women will be put into the state of grace in the confessional there? But what will happen in that regard and to the men as a result of everything else? In past years there were claims by traditionalist attendees of biker types swigging down Sacred Hosts with cans of beer, and Sacred Hosts offered help-yourself-style out of "boxes" passed around in the crowd.

Daniel Offutt; 3:42 PM
DANIEL OFFUTT said...: Dear Francisco,

I mentioned to one of the ladies at ALL today that a traditional Catholic once told me that the pro-life movement has the right conclusions but the reasoning behind those conclusions is not correct. Can you expand upon that? She wanted me to give specific examples.

One problem, at least, is that the pro-life movement should be directed towards the salvation of souls, with the saving of bodily life subordinate to that goal. Thomistic/Scholastic philosophy is missing. There is also the matter of LIMBO and the effect of denying its existence upon some Catholic women considering abortion. But more generally how is the reasoning of those in the pro-life movement reasoning incorrect?

Daniel Offutt; 3:48 PM

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