Fr. Newman and the Church's Stand

As you all can tell from my lack of posts, I do not have much time to spend here, but feel like this is too important to only link to from my Google Reader.
A scandal (my perception) has resulted from a South Carolinian priest's request (note that I had to use an external source since the Diocese has removed it from the parish's website) and the Administrator of the Diocese's reply.
Barbara Kralis does an excellent job of presenting Fr. Newman's justification for his announcement and causing us all to ask, "What in the world is this Administrator thinking". Her article is posted on RenewAmerica. You can find her entire article in two parts here1 and here2.

Some excerpts:

Solemn and Ordinary Magisterial Teachings

"The Church stresses that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.... John Paul II, continuing the constant teaching of the Church, has reiterated many times that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a 'grave and clear obligation to oppose' any law that attacks human life.

"For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them" [1]

"Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one's worthiness to do so, according to the Church's objective criteria, asking such questions as: 'Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty [e.g. excommunication, interdict] that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?' The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected." [2]

"If we tell ourselves that the Church ought not to interfere in such matters, we cannot but answer: are we not concerned with the human being? Do not believers, by virtue of the great culture of their faith, have the right to make a pronouncement on all this? Is it not our duty to raise our voices to defend the human being, that creature who, precisely in the inseparable unity of body and spirit, is the image of God?" [3]

"Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable" [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.58].

In treating the evil of procured abortion, Pope John Paul II concluded: "No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church" [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.62d].

"Laws, which authorize and promote abortion... [are] radically opposed not only to the good of the individual but also to the common good; as such they are completely lacking in authentic juridical validity. Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good. Consequently, a civil law authorizing abortion or euthanasia ceases by that very fact to be a true, morally binding civil law. [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.72].

"To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin'" Jn 8:34 [Pope John Paul II, 'Evangelium vitae,' n.20].

"The Church's custom shows that it is necessary for each person to examine himself at depth, and that anyone who is conscious of grave sin should not celebrate or receive the Body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession, except for grave reason when the possibility of confession is lacking; in this case he will remember that he is bound by the obligation of making an act of perfect contrition, which includes the intention to confess as soon as possible. Moreover, the Church has drawn up norms aimed at fostering the frequent and fruitful access of the faithful to the Eucharistic table and at determining the objective conditions under which Communion may not be given [Ecclesia de Eucharistia n. 42]. It is certainly best that all who are participating in the celebration of Holy Mass with the necessary dispositions should receive Communion. Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that Christ's faithful approach the altar as a group indiscriminately.

"It pertains to the Pastors prudently and firmly to correct such an abuse." [4]

"Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. From the very beginnings of the Church, the apostolic preaching reminded Christians of their duty to obey legitimately constituted public authorities [cf. Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-14], but at the same time it firmly warned that 'we must obey God rather than men' [Acts 5:29]. ... It is precisely from obedience to God -to whom alone is due that fear which is acknowledgment of his absolute sovereignty — that the strength and the courage to resist unjust human laws are born. It is the strength and the courage of those prepared even to be imprisoned or put to the sword, in the certainty that this is what makes for 'the endurance and faith of the saints' [Rev 13:10].