Outspoken priests and bishops don't seem to be in the limelight in California so it was wonderful to read this quote from Father Illo, formerly of St. Joseph's parish in Modesto, California. And, his bishop's response is typical and very sad.
During his time as pastor at St. Joseph’s, Fr. Illo has developed a reputation as a solidly orthodox priest not afraid to speak his mind. For example, following the Nov. 4, 2008 election of President Barack Obama, Fr. Illo told his parishioners that Catholics who knowingly voted for a pro-abortion candidate may need to go to confession before receiving the Blessed Sacrament.
Fr. Illo first made the observation at a Mass after the election, then followed up with a Nov. 21, 2008 letter to parishioners explaining his thinking. “If you are one of the 54% of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position, and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion,” wrote Fr. Illo. “Don’t risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously. I appeal to your conscience, grounded in Church teaching. To some degree we all have the blood of these children on our hands. I myself have confessed sacramentally, and I confess to you now, that I have not done enough to defend these children. Their blood is on my hands too. We will see them in the next life, and they will ask us why we let them die.”
Fr. Illo received no support for that view from Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire, who told the Bee Catholics are under no obligation to discuss how they voted with their priest and are free to consider many issues before deciding how to cast their vote. The only circumstance in which confession might be warranted, Bishop Blaire told the newspaper, is "if someone voted for a pro-abortion or pro-choice candidate -- if that's the reason you voted for them."
I wonder how Bishop Blaire can separate the abortion stance from the candidate? In the 2008 election, it was very clear that obama was in favor of abortion. His record in the Senate showed that he was a leader in the Illinois Senate in pushing for laws in favor of attitudes sponsoring a pro-death attitude. If a voter wasn't aware of what the then-candidate obama stood for, then they were not informed voters and that is a sad statement, too. I guess the bishop wasn't the only one who buried his head in the sand. I talked to one woman who denied that obama was pro-abort and said that rumor was just a myth. There are none so blind as those who will not see . . .
You can read the full article at:
http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=2c43e338-3078-4cbb-af63-14bb87a1349b
No comments:
Post a Comment