In response to the Texas Heartbeat Act becoming law on Sept. 1 and the subsequent backlash it's received from Democrat lawmakers, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's home diocese in San Francisco, California, wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post outlining excommunication as an option for abortion-supporting Catholic politicians.
"As a faith leader in the Catholic community, I find it especially disturbing that so many of the politicians on the wrong side of the preeminent human rights issue of our time are self-professed Catholics," wrote Cordileone.
Pointing to the uproar earlier this summer caused by discussions surrounding whether or not "public officials who support abortion should receive the sacrament of the Eucharist," Cordileone wrote, "We were accused of inappropriately injecting religion into politics, of butting in where we didn't belong."
"I see matters differently," the archbishop continued. "When considering what duties Catholic bishops have with respect to prominent laymen in public life who openly oppose church teachings on abortion, I look to this country's last great human rights movement — still within my living memory — for inspiration on how we should respond."
Cordileone used the example of New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel, who took action against pro-segregation Catholics in his archdiocese and "courageously confronted the evils of racism."
"Unlike several other bishops throughout this country's history, he did not prioritize keeping parishioners and the public happy above advancing racial justice. Instead, he began a long, patient campaign of moral suasion to change the opinions of pro-segregation White Catholics," Cordileone wrote.
The archbishop wrote about Rummel's actions, which included desegregating his church, closing down a church that refused a black priest, and ending segregation in New Orleans Catholic schools.
"Many White Catholics were furious at this disruption of the long-entrenched segregationist status quo. They staged protests and boycotts. Rummel patiently sent letters urging a conversion of heart, but he was also willing to threaten opponents of desegregation with excommunication," wrote Cordileone.
The archbishop noted that Rummel followed through with the excommunications of three churchgoers. "Two of the three later repented and died Catholics in good standing," Cordileone wrote. "Was that wrong? Was that weaponizing the Eucharist? No. Rummel recognized that prominent, high-profile public advocacy for racism was scandalous: It violated core Catholic teachings and basic principles of justice, and also led others to sin," the archbishop wrote.
Moving to the present, Cordileone noted that abortion is "most pressing human rights challenge of our time."
"In our own time, what could be a more egregious 'denial of the unity and solidarity of the human race' than abortion? Abortion kills a unique, irreplaceable human being growing in his or her mother’s womb. Everyone who advocates for abortion, in public or private life, who funds it or who presents it as a legitimate choice participates in a great moral evil," Cordileone wrote.
"Can we pastors speak softly when the blood of 60 million innocent American children cries out for justice? When their mothers are condemned to silence, secretly suffering the injuries of the culture of 'choice?'" he continued.
Cordileone wrote that the Texas law providing "new and generous options for women facing crisis pregnancies" is the right thing to do. "The state is investing $100 million to help mothers by funding pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes and providing free services including counseling, parenting help, diapers, formula and job training to mothers who want to keep their babies."
Cordileone ended on a stern note, stating that one cannot be "a good Catholic" while also supporting abortion.
"You cannot be a good Catholic and support expanding a government-approved right to kill innocent human beings. The answer to crisis pregnancies is not violence but love, for both mother and child," he wrote. "This is hardly inappropriate for a pastor to say. If anything, Catholic political leaders’ response to the situation in Texas highlights the need for us to say it all the louder."
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