Catholics Demand Governor Cuomo’s Excommunication Over NY Abortion Law

[Swordsmyth]

Catholic lay leaders demanded that Cardinal Timothy Dolan excommunicate New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for signing legislation that codified abortion as a woman’s right.


The lay leaders made their demand in response to an open letter in which New York’s Catholic bishops decried the new law, called the Reproductive Health Act (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/23/abortion-roe-v-wade-new-york/), rejecting Cuomo’s claim that the law is “progress.” Prominent Catholic laymen like author John Zmirak and editor of First Things magazine Matthew Schmitz argued the letter didn’t go far enough and that Cuomo should be denied Holy Communion (https://dailycaller.com/2018/06/13/tucson-bishop-penalties-border-families/).

“This is not progress. Progress will be achieved when our laws and our culture once again value and respect each unrepeatable gift of human life, from the first moment of creation to natural death,” the bishops’ letter said, according to Life Site News (https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-leaders-excommunicate-gov.-cuomo-over-nys-extreme-abortion-law).

If we Catholics really believe what we say when we talk about heaven, hell, and the dignity of the unborn, @CardinalDolan (https://twitter.com/CardinalDolan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) should, after exhausting all other means of correction, excommunicate @andrewcuomo (https://twitter.com/andrewcuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).https://t.co/5wRgaEHbYY
— Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz) January 23, 2019 (https://twitter.com/matthewschmitz/status/1088124752693288966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
A chorus of agreement with Schmitz arose from other prominent Catholics on Twitter, including journalists, academics, and activists, in light of Cuomo’s history of overt support for expanding abortion access (https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/08/andrew-cuomo-abortion-access/).

@CardinalDolan (https://twitter.com/CardinalDolan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) needs to excommunicate these murderous Catholics in accord with Scripture and the current Canon law. Will he?: https://t.co/LssOn0z3d8
— Dr Taylor Marshall (@TaylorRMarshall) January 23, 2019 (https://twitter.com/TaylorRMarshall/status/1088131595901513728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)


I agree wholeheartedly. Now is the time for our shepherds to be bold in the faith. https://t.co/PxWDyNp6Mb
— Daniel Mattson (@DanielCMattson) January 23, 2019 (https://twitter.com/DanielCMattson/status/1088134495478444033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Gov.@Cuomo (https://twitter.com/cuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) has, I understand, refrained from Communion since the concubinage controversy of 2011; now, his blatant promotion of New York’s murderous abortion law would, by itself, suffice to conclude he must not be admitted to the Sacrament per Canon 915. https://t.co/SRL1QmyGYI
— Edward Peters (@canonlaw) January 23, 2019 (https://twitter.com/canonlaw/status/1088150421099692037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

If Andrew Cuomo remains a "Catholic in good standing" after signing this abortion bill then the Church's institutional witness to life simply has zero teeth and the US bishops have completely abdicated their responsibilities as shepherd of souls. No other way to square it, folks.
— Thomas Peters (@AmericanPapist) January 23, 2019 (https://twitter.com/AmericanPapist/status/1088122666387681281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
The law expands New York women’s access to abortion (https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/16/roe-v-wade-abortion-law-ban/) up to the point of fetal viability — a point that is vaguely defined and contested among medical experts. The law also stipulates that women may abort babies after 24 weeks of development in cases where “there is an absence of fetal viability, or at any time when necessary to protect a patient’s life or health.”
“We mourn the unborn infants who will lose their lives, and the many mothers and fathers who will suffer remorse and heartbreak as a result,” the bishops’ letter added.

https://www.infowars.com/catholics-demand-governor-cuomos-excommunication-over-ny-abortion-law/

[r3volution 3.0]

I demand excommunication for anyone who runs for the office in the first place.

...or any other elected office, for that matter.

[TheCount]

Is the Catholic church a publisher or a platform?

If they ban Cuomo, they're moderating Catholics, which makes them a publisher and means that they are legally liable for all things that all other unbanned Catholics do.

[Swordsmyth]

Is the Catholic church a publisher or a platform?

If they ban Cuomo, they're moderating Catholics, which makes them a publisher and means that they are legally liable for all things that all other unbanned Catholics do.
Apples and ball bearings.

[jkr]

Apples and ball bearings.

BOTH ROUND(ish)!

[r3volution 3.0]

Napoleon set a bad precedent.

...the church has never really recovered from that shock.

[Swordsmyth]

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is refusing to excommunicate Governor Andrew Cuomo from the Catholic Church despite the fact he just enshrined into state law one of the most radical abortion measures in United States history, ensuring that women have a "fundamental right" to kill their babies at any time throughout the pregnancy if an authorized abortionist determines in "good faith" that it would "protect the patient's life or health." Under the new law, a woman in New York can literally abort her baby at any time up to the moment of its birth.


After New York enacted the abortion law, Catholics across the country immediately demanded (https://www.dailywire.com/news/42627/catholics-want-cuomo-excommunicated-church-after-amanda-prestigiacomo) that Cardinal Timothy Dolan excommunicate Cuomo from the Catholic Church, arguing his actions were too egregious to be met with a simple statement of condemnation. Two of Cardinal Dolan's colleagues, Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, were emphatic in their calls for the excommunication of Cuomo.
"Someone asked me today if I would issue an excommunication of a Catholic Governor under my jurisdiction if the Governor did the same as in New York," Stika tweeted (https://twitter.com/BishopStika/status/1088577159948570624) Thursday afternoon, LifeSiteNews (https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-new-york-cardinal-excommunicating-pro-abortion-politicians-not-an) reports. "I think I might do it for any Catholic legislator under my jurisdiction who voted for the bill as well as the Governor."
"Enough is enough,” continued Stika. "Excommunication is to be not a punishment but to bring the person back into the Church. It's like medicine for them. But this vote is so hideous and vile that it warrants the act. But thankfully I am not in that position. Very sad."


Bishop Strickland supported Stika's call for Cuomo's excommunication, saying the new law amounts to little more than legalized "infanticide."


"I’m with Bishop Stika," he said (https://twitter.com/Bishopoftyler/status/1088746848909697024). "I’m not in a position to take action regarding legislation in New York but I implore bishops who are to speak out forcefully. In any sane society this is called INFANTICIDE!!!!!!!!!!"
In a statement released on Friday by Cardinal Dolan's spokesman, the New York prelate said that excommunication "should not be used as a weapon" and that the people calling for Cuomo's ouster are only doing so out of "anger and frustration."

I will not discuss any individual. Anything that follows is a statement of some general principles, and should not be considered to be a comment on any specific person.
First, excommunication should not be used as a weapon. Too often, I fear, those who call for someone's excommunication do so out of anger or frustration.
Second, notable canon lawyers have said that, under canon law, excommunication is not an appropriate response to a politician who supports or votes for legislation advancing abortion.
Third, from a pastoral perspective, if a pastor - and a bishop is certainly a pastor of a diocese - knows of a grave situation involving a parishioner, it is his duty to address that issue personally and directly with the parishioner. That was the approach of Cardinal O'Connor and Cardinal Egan (both of whom I served), and it is Cardinal Dolan's approach as well.
Fourth, and finally, from a strategic perspective, I do not believe that excommunication would be effective as many politicians would welcome it as a sign of their refusal to be "bullied by the Church", thinking it would therefore give them a political advantage. (See, for example, the case of Bishop Leo Maher and Lucy Killea).
According to Catholic Canon Law (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CANONLAW/burkcompol.HTM), politicians who publicly oppose the Church on matters of grave sin should not even receive Holy Communion at Mass.


https://www.dailywire.com/news/42657/ny-cardinal-refuses-excommunicate-gov-cuomo-over-paul-bois