If You Voted Obama: Confession before Communion

I am no longer a ‘recovering Catholic’ with no symptoms of backsliding. I was over the Vatican and its rules long, long ago and I am always amazed by those who follow those seemingly whimsically destructive rules (most are in opposition to the teachings of Jesus) and this is a fine example:

MODESTO, Calif. - The Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Modesto, Calif., has told parishioners in a homily and in a follow-up letter that if they voted for Barack Obama, they should consider going to confession because of the president-elect's position on abortion.

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously," Illo wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21.

The letter was sent to more than 15,000 members of the St. Joseph's parish. It is one of 34 parishes in the Stockton Diocese, which has more than 200,000 members in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and four other counties in California.

Though Obama's support of abortion rights angered many Catholics nationally during the campaign, Illo's letter is believed to be the first in Central California from a priest to his parishioners on the topic.

The Most Rev. Stephen Blaire, bishop of the Stockton Diocese, disagrees with Illo. He said Catholics should not feel compelled to disclose how they voted to their priest.

Blaire said Catholics who carefully weighed many issues and settled on a candidate, such as Obama, who favored abortion rights, were not in need of confession. He said confession would be necessary "only if someone voted for a pro-abortion or pro-choice candidate - if that's the reason you voted for them."

My state of grace is not at risk and has nothing to do with how I vote.

When will ‘progressive Catholics’ (is that an oxymoron?) make the distinction between pro-abortion and pro-choice? There is a difference.

Read the whole disturbing article HERE.

And so it goes.

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