Task Force Report

From a Report by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for the "Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians" issued today.

Now that the election is over, we have an important opportunity to come together around our common commitment to protect human life and dignity and advance the common good. As Catholics, we all have a preeminent obligation to protect the lives of unborn children, to oppose euthanasia, and to defend marriage. Our tradition also clearly calls us to stand up for those who are poor and to promote justice and peace. These are not options for us, but obligations of our faith. In the coming months, we must all work together to advance all these values. We do not believe that our commitment to human life and dignity and our pursuit of justice and peace are competing causes. While we do not believe that all issues have equal moral claims, we will work to protect those whose lives are destroyed by abortion and those who are dying of hunger, we will strive to protect human life from the moment of conception until the moment God calls us home and we will strive to pursue peace. We will work for human life and dignity, for justice and peace. This is who we are and what we believe.

... So now, on behalf of the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians, I would like to outline several steps that will be taken in our Conference during the coming months to fulfill the commitments we made in Denver.

1. The Committee on Doctrine, with assistance from the Committee on Pastoral Practices, has agreed to take up the matter of Church teaching on the proper disposition to receive Holy Communion,not only for politicians, but for all of us.
   
2. There will be continuing consultation on the complex theological and canonical aspects of these matters within our Conference and with the Holy See.
   
3. The Task Force is developing resources and tools to help the bishops follow through on the commitments we made, namely:
   
   
   1. We must keep our pledge to "teach more clearly." The Task Force is developing a "Reader on Catholics in Public Life" with excerpts from Papal, Conciliar and USCCB statements on the responsibilities of Catholics in public life. This "reader" would be made available to bishops to be used as the basis for teaching, dialogue and persuasion.
      
   2. We pledged to do more "to persuade" all people that human life is precious and human dignity must be defended, and to help Catholics act on our principles in public life. To help us do this, we will share with each other examples of how bishops have undertaken efforts to engage, persuade, and mobilize the Catholic community.
      
   3. We made a commitment to maintain communication with public officials who make decisions every day that touch issues of human life and dignity. We will continue to reach out to leaders in public life to explain our principles and to dialogue with them.
      
   4. We affirmed that the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should "not honor" those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. The Task Force plans to consult with leaders in Catholic education, Catholic health care, and Catholic social services to discuss how we can together best carry out this guidance.

We welcome and affirm the discussion of the "culture of life" in the campaign, and the focus on "moral values" in the exit polls. We can only hope that this will lead to real action to protect unborn children, defend marriage, protect the lives and dignity of all those who are poor and vulnerable and promote peace in a violent world. The treatment of the "least of these," beginning with unborn children and including all those who suffer in our nation and world, are at the heart of our mission in public life.

Just in time now that the election is over they can get back to business of committees meeting committees to try to determine an action in regards to receiving Communion. Do we really need more committees to determine "proper disposition to receive Holy Communion, not only for politicians, but for all of us"? I can save them a lot of time and effort since the teaching is already quite clear. If you are not in union with the Church or are not in a state of grace you should not be receiving Communion. Why do they have to worry about the guidelines for everybody? For those whose sin or support of sinful behavior is not a public matter then there is no sanction that can be leveled. It is only for public sinners that a determination for appropriate sanctions is required. This will probably end up with another document to "teach" and to just leave it up to the individual to determine their actions.

Cardinal McCarrick was able to determine that it was not appropriate for John Kerry to attend the Al Smith Dinner yet still can not provide the leadership to determine the sanctions for those receiving Christ in the Eucharist by those supporting the culture of death. Pro-abortion speakers are banned from being honored by Catholic institutions, but they can still go receive the source and summit or our faith. With the business as usual elections at the Bishops recent meeting I am sure that we can expect a business as usual final report on this matter.