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Good Shepherd

Bishop Weigand Confronts Pro-Abort Politicians

By Eric Reslock

While marking the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision in January, Sacramento bishop William Weigand publicly reminded Governor Gray Davis at a morning Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament that for the governor to be eligible to receive Holy Communion, he must renounce his support for abortion.

At the Mass, Bishop Weigand said, "as your bishop, I have to say clearly that anyone -- politician or otherwise -- who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk, and is not in good standing with the Church. Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving Holy Communion until he has a change of heart."

Davis' spokesman, Russ Lopez, in a bizarre attack on Weigand, was quoted in the January 23 Sacramento Bee criticizing the bishop for "telling the faithful how to practice their faith." Lopez also wondered if Weigand's public dressing-down of the governor could result in no Catholics going to Mass.

Father Charles McDermott, Bishop Weigand's spokesman, said when told of Lopez' remarks, "I think he is seriously mistaken if he thinks most Catholics are pro-abortion." Asked what the response has been thus far to the bishop's remarks, McDermott said, "He's got quite a number of communiqués -- faxes, emails, and calls commending him in various ways. A small number differ, but I have not seen them."

Father McDermott insisted that the bishop's statement should not be construed as a personal attack on the governor, but rather, "a clarification of the Church's teaching going all the way back to St. Paul. The bishop was simply doing his ordinary duty as a pastor in his cathedra." McDermott referred to numerous translations of chapter 11, verses 27-30 in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Douay-Rheims version of the New Testament renders verse 27 thus: "therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord." Continuing, McDermott said, "Catholics are expected to be responsible adults. The pope, his bishops, and every priest must also examine their conscience before receiving Communion. This is simply a reminder of what we all must do. There was a danger that [the governor's] recent remarks could confuse the faithful."

In his homily on the Roe anniversary, Weigand praised Sacramento's Monsignor Kavanagh, who, a few days before Christmas, disinvited Davis from using children for a gift-giving photo op at Kavanagh's St. Patrick's Orphanage. Kavanagh has been at Sacramento's St. Rose Church since 1948 and oversees a staff of more than 100 people for the church and numerous charitable organizations, including the orphanage and a home for crisis pregnancies. Kavanagh was also singled out by Davis' flack in a January 11 Bee piece, in which Lopez said, "with all due respect, I think the monsignor needs to get a reality check."

The governor has been spotted at numerous Catholic churches around Sacramento receiving Communion, but claims Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills as his home parish. In the February issue of the Faith, the pastor of Good Shepherd, Father Colm O'Ryan said he was not bothered by Davis' support for abortion and called Davis, "a very faithful Catholic."

A Virgina-based pro-life organization announced they would be seeking to put additional pressure on those pro-abortion politicians who claim to be Catholic, through newspaper advertisements that identify these politicians and call on their bishops to deny them communion. The American Life League has already released the first of these advertisements, which features a list of U.S. Senators, including Ted Kennedy and Tom Daschle. The second phase of the campaign will target governors, including Davis.

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