St. John Neumann Catholic Church

Home
Up
Stewardship
Community (Family Life)
Word (Education)
Service
Evangelization
Worship (Liturgy)
Administration

**********************
You can contact
the Parish Office
via e-mail at
 sjncc@bellsouth.net.

If you would like to comment
or make e-file submissions for
the website, you can e-mail
jps4x4@earthlink.net.

**********************
SJN staff and volunteers will
attempt to update this site as
often as possible. Please advise
us of any changes that may be
required. Thank you and God Bless.

SJN's Service Commission
Chairperson(s):  open (interim contact Tricia & Eric Wagner)

"The Saint John Neumann Service Commission works to identify community needs, to develop and implement community outreach programs. The commission encourages parishioners to participate."

Ministry contacts............ 

SJN's Respect Life Committee invites you to view pro-life information websites listed in the Web Links media section of SJN's webiste. 

From the RESPECT LIFE Committee --  a note on current news events....

A note from the Bishops' Statements on Catholics in Political Life released June 21st, 2003

Late Friday afternoon, June 18, a bishops' statement on "Catholics in Political

Life" was released by the bishops' conference. The statement was adopted

183-6 during the bishops' meeting in Denver last week.

The statement calls on Catholics in public life to protect the lives of unborn

children and to oppose abortion, "lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil

and in sinning against the common good." The bishops also highlight:

-- the need to continue to teach clearly; calls for the Church's teaching on

human life to be reflected in all parishes and all "educational, health care and

human service ministries;"

-- the need to persuade all that human life is precious and human dignity must

be defended;

-- the need for Catholics to "act in support of these principles in public

life"

-- that Catholics/Catholic institutions should not honor those "who act in

defiance of our fundamental moral principles" with awards, honors, or "platforms

which would suggest support for their actions."

On the issue of Holy Communion, the bishops said that "given the wide range of

circumstances involved at arriving at a prudential judgement" on this serious

matter, they recognize that "such decisions rest with the individual bishop in

accord with established canonical and pastoral principles."

A copy of the text is attached. It can also be found at www.usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoliticallife.htm.

Catholics in Political Life

We speak as bishops, as teachers of the Catholic faith and of the moral law. We

have the duty to teach about human life and dignity, marriage and family, war

and peace, the needs of the poor and the demands of justice. Today we continue

our efforts to teach on a uniquely important matter that has recently been a

source of concern for Catholics and others.

    It is the teaching of the Catholic Church from the very beginning, founded on

her understanding of her Lord's own witness to the sacredness of human life,

that the killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be

justified. If those who perform an abortion and those who cooperate willingly

in the action are fully aware of the objective evil of what they do, they are

guilty of grave sin and thereby separate themselves from God's grace. This is the

constant and received teaching of the Church. It is, as well, the conviction of

many other people of good will.
    To make such intrinsically evil actions legal is itself wrong. This is the

point most recently highlighted in official Catholic teaching. The legal system as

such can be said to cooperate in evil when it fails to protect the lives of

those who have no protection except the law. In the United States of America,

abortion on demand has been made a constitutional right by a decision of the

Supreme Court. Failing to protect the lives of innocent and defenseless members of

the human race is to sin against justice. Those who formulate law therefore have

an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws,

lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common

good.
    As our conference has insisted in Faithful Citizenship, Catholics who bring

their moral convictions into public life do not threaten democracy or pluralism

but enrich them and the nation. The separation of church and state does not

require division between belief and public action, between moral principles and

political choices, but protects the right of believers and religious groups to

practice their faith and act on their values in public life.
    Our obligation as bishops at this time is to teach clearly. It is with pastoral

solicitude for everyone involved in the political process that we will also

counsel Catholic public officials that their acting consistently to support

abortion on demand risks making them cooperators in evil in a public manner. We will

persist in this duty to counsel, in the hope that the scandal of their

cooperating in evil can be resolved by the proper formation of their consciences.
    Having received an extensive interim report from the Task Force on Catholic

Bishops and Catholic Politicians, and looking forward to the full report, we

highlight several points from the interim report that suggest some directions for

our efforts:

    · We need to continue to teach clearly and help other Catholic leaders to teach

clearly on our unequivocal commitment to the legal protection of human life

from the moment of conception until natural death. Our teaching on human life and

dignity should be reflected in our parishes and our educational, health care

and human service ministries.
    · We need to do more to persuade all people that human life is precious and

human dignity must be defended. This requires more effective dialogue and

engagement with all public officials, especially Catholic public officials. We welcome

conversation initiated by political leaders themselves.
    · Catholics need to act in support of these principles and policies in public

life. It is the particular vocation of the laity to transform the world. We have

to encourage this vocation and do more to bring all believers to this mission.

As bishops, we do not endorse or oppose candidates. Rather, we seek to form the

consciences of our people so that they can examine the positions of candidates

and make choices based on Catholic moral and social teaching.
    · The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who

act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given

awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.
    · We commit ourselves to maintain communication with public officials who make

decisions every day that touch issues of human life and dignity.

    The Eucharist is the source and summit of Catholic life. Therefore, like every

Catholic generation before us, we must be guided by the words of St. Paul,

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy

manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:27).

This means that all must examine their consciences as to their worthiness to

receive the Body and Blood of our Lord. This examination includes fidelity to the

moral teaching of the Church in personal and public life.
    The question has been raised as to whether the denial of Holy Communion to some

Catholics in political life is necessary because of their public support for

abortion on demand. Given the wide range of circumstances involved in arriving at

a prudential judgment on a matter of this seriousness, we recognize that such

decisions rest with the individual bishop in accord with the established

canonical and pastoral principles. Bishops can legitimately make different judgments

on the most prudent course of pastoral action. Nevertheless, we all share an

unequivocal commitment to protect human life and dignity and to preach the Gospel

in difficult times.
    The polarizing tendencies of election-year politics can lead to circumstances

in which Catholic teaching and sacramental practice can be misused for political

ends. Respect for the Holy Eucharist, in particular, demands that it be

received worthily and that it be seen as the source for our common mission in the

world.

    June 18, 2004 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
    USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat