American Life League responds to 48 Catholic congressmen: "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion."

Washington D.C., May 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Judie Brown, President of American Life League (ALL,) issued a statement yesterday responding to the 48 Catholic members of the U.S. Congress who sent a letter warning Theodore Cardinal McCarrick about the political repercussions of withholding Communion from pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

In her statement, ALL's President called the letter  a "thinly veiled threat to the Church hierarchy," and claims that  it "makes it abundantly clear that these House Catholics lack a complete understanding of the very faith they proclaim. They warn that protecting Communion from known sacrilege 'would be counter-productive and would bring great harm to the Church.'"

"There is nothing more harmful to the Church than knowingly allowing the Body and Blood of Christ to be so desecrated and perpetuating the lie that you can be a Catholic in good standing and support abortion," the statement says.

The statement also explains that "the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion are very clear and have been unequivocal for the past 2,000 years: abortion is an 'intrinsic moral evil' that can never be supported. In April of 2003, Pope John Paul II reiterated, in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, that those who display unrepentant 'outward conduct which is...steadfastly contrary to the moral norm,' are not in full communion with the Church and must be denied the Eucharist. So it really does not matter what these members of Congress 'feel.' The Church's stance on the matter is very clear."

"You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion. The bishops have an obligation to uphold this truth," the statement concludes.