Sorry in advance for the length, just read the bits under the headings you’re interested in… 

—————————————————————

Murder: (deliberate taking of an innocent life)

Some readers may have heard or seen this story last week…- man who drowned baby daughter jailed for at least 17 years. Reading about this I was saddened and horrified, as any New Zealander would be. Thankfully justice was served.

It did make me think about how this is not much different to a woman murdering her baby in her own womb, and how such justice should find those who murder in that way too. This one murdered his child in the waters of the bath, and others murder their children in the waters of the womb. Time being the only real difference.

Last year, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family said:

“Today people want to trivialise abortion with the claim that authorities must not penalise this abominable crime. It is not acceptable that this crime should remain unpunished.”

The Mexican Bishops have also just called abortion and infanticide “abominable crimes”, thus echoing the words of Vat II; and they also referred to the ideology of abortion as a “program of extermination”. For many reasons, the modern holocaust of abortion is actually far worse that the Jewish Holocaust during WWII, but yet its acceptacle to many, including some Catholics!

If captial punishment was still applicable, these grim-reaper-abortionists (callous pre-meditated multiple murder of the most innocent and defenceless) would certainly qualify.

This man who drowned his own daughter has been punished by human justice which should be a temporal arm of Divine Justice (if it’s authentic); but unless he repents to God for this act (it’s quite possible he has), he won’t escape Divine Justice. Let us pray for him and for the mother of the baby.

Don’t forget, everybody has the natural law inscribed on their heart, and knows it’s wrong to commit murder (as long as they are sane). These days people use crafty, but false sophistry, to intellectually, morally, or legally sidestep the crime. 

For those who commit and perpetrate abortion; they may escape human justice temporarily, but Divine Justice can’t be side-stepped so easily; unless they repent, and even then, there is still the temporal punishment for sin, which requires atonement through penance. Let us pray for them for that, with mercy, … – a sincere recognition and repentance of their sin; and a true desire to atone for such disrespect of the sacredness of life.

—————————————————————

Liberation Theology:

Also, I see that the vatican has issued a warning and condemnation against the teachings and writings of Fr Jon Sobrino, SJ, who was an active proponent of some serious errors, including elements of Liberation Theology: here, here , here and here.

—————————————————————

Sacramentum Caritatis:

Sacramentum Caritatis was released last week. This document is a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist from Pope Benedict XVI. It was at this Synod in 2005 that Archbishop John Dew requested that the Church change its doctrine on Communion so that…

(1.) …those Catholics who are immorally and illicitly “remarried” can receive Communion,

and also, so that…

(2.) …their non-Catholic Christian spouses can receive Communion.

Read what he said here.

The issue of immorally “remarried”  Catholics is clear. Church teaching on this is doctrinal because it is based on the indissolubility of marriage, which Jesus Himself taught, and because one must be in Communion with the Church (on Faith and morals) and in a state of grace to receive Communion. This is all doctrinal and had been re-affirmed by this Apostolic Exhortation from the Pope.

The problem with this second request is multiple:

The Archbishop seems to imply that because our separated brethren (non-Catholic Christians)…

(1.) …may have received a valid baptism -

…if they used the right form and matter and had the same intention as the Church. Since the 3rd centruy the Church has affirmed that heretics and others can validly baptise as long as they meet those fundamentals/requirements listed above; even though they may not even have the correct theology of baptism, but they still may receive it),

and..

(2.) …because they actually do receive the Sacrament of Marriage when marrying a Catholic -

…even non-Catholic Christians receive the Sacrament of Marriage extra-ordinarily, which is distinct from natural marriage, if they are both validly baptised, and fulfill the correct requirements for valid marriage; even though they may not even recognise correct theology of marriage, but they can still receive it…

…then, the Archbishop asks,…

Why can’t they also partake of the Bread of Life with us? Why can’t they also receive this Sacrament too?

St Paul teaches that to receive Communion one has to profess belief formally in what Holy Communion is (i.e., confess with the mind and lips the Faith of the Church and join the Catholic Church).

It is a sham, a false idea of unity, a lie expressed with the body, to go up to Communion (the reality of the Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul, and Divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine — trans-substantiation) and receive it while not believing in it. The Pope expressed this in the Exhortation – even Catholics must believe, or not receive.

Communion with Christ cannot be separated from communion with the Church. 

If one doesn’t believe in it, there isn’t any unity with the reality of the Sacrament (who is Christ in the case of the Eucharist), nor is there any unity of the person’s faith with the Faith of the Church; they aren’t in communion with the Church, so to go to Communion as a sign of that unity, is false, and almost hypocritical (depending on the circumstances), i.e., if one knows what the Church believes and requests, but goes up to Communion anyway without subscribing to that, it suggests a lack of moral integrity and conscience – a lack of intellectual honesty.

An anology is this: a person goes to his friend’s Church and wants to be baptized, but doesn’t actually believe in God, or Jesus Christ, or the salvific mission…should he be baptized and receive the sacrament? The answer is obvious. He must profess belief in what the sacrament offers in a fundamental way (we’re not talking about some of the effects or fruits of the sacrament).

And if these non-Catholic Christians believe in the Real Presense, which is a fundamental building block of our Faith, then by all means joins us and become Catholic and come to Communion.

It does seem strange that Archbishop Dew would ask for such a thing…maybe it suggests that he doesn’t know or submit to the doctrinal Faith of the Church; or that his own faith is out of step with the Faith of the Church…which he then tries to imprint on the Church at an Apostolic Synod – without much success.

The complete text of the Pope’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation  can be found here. A summary of the key points of the document is here.

—————————————————————

Refusal of Holy Communion:

Also, here is an answer from a priest, and Canon Law regarding the criteria for refusing Holy Communion to somebody – what the Church actually teaches.