...and this is why I am glad I am no longer a Catholic!

Democracy is not really a value that the Catholic church values much, but this is totally insane...

And on other proud Catholic news...

The Vatican confirms that girls have cooties!

Link

From the article it is clear that the priest in SC is doing this on the basis of Abortion, as in Obama is pro-choice. It is not clear to me what if anything the Vatican is going to do about it.

Now if they made that policy, I think you would see a lot of Catholics in the US leaving the Church. If they denounce the father, other more conservative Catholics will be angered and do things the church might not like. My take is they are planning on saying nothing publicly and telling him to shut the %$& up, and they hope the problem goes away.

More power to the other priest who was involved in the ordination of women.

It is no secret that the current Pope would like to take the church to the days before Vatican II. I doubt that they will tell the priest in the first story to back off. They may quietly egg him on.

Maybe.

On the other hand the Church is a business and they cannot afford to lose tithes and so on from one of the richest nations on earth, so I predict whatever they do, they will not openly support, or condemn him, but will encourage him to maintain a low profile if he is going to do that sort of stuff.

It up to the diocese to act upon this, not the Holy See, and act they did. Also, in other parts of the world (namely, Mexico and probably other places in Latin America), the church encourages voters to participate in every election and to do so after a conscientious and thorough examination of the candidates' policies. There was a bulletin that wasn't that different from the editorial published by Louis_XIV a month ago or so.

As for the excommunication of Rev. Bourgeois, it shouldn't be surprising, because there are numerous records of express prohibition to perform ordinations of women. If anything, I'm unsure whether attendance to such an act falls under the same category as taking active part in the ordination. I suppose if it's interpreted as "endorsement" the answer would be yes. I'll have to ask my Canonical Law professor whenever I see him, for an answer.

Finally, and just because I believe it helps clarify that there is no ill will towards President-elect Obama, Pope Benedict XVI did establish communication with the man, "congratulating him and offering his prayers for Obama and for all the people of the United States". Hardly something they would do if they considered him the anti-Christ, the root of mankind's doom or any other stupid shit like that.

Denying parishioner's the sacrament? Jesus Christ! Next thing you know they'll want to ban gay marriage. This topic should be cross listed in the Religion - Friend or Foe thread by the way.

I was denied communion in the holy flesh of Jesus as a boy when I attended Catholic school. It's a good thing I wasn't baptized or I'd have to kneel before a priest once a week just to receive the "Body of Christ".