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Kansas Liberty: 16 May 2008
Archbishop says excommunication is an option
Sebelius again warned away from Communion
The archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., reiterated this week his request that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius refrain from taking Communion because of her support for abortion. He said several options, including excommunication, were available to him if Sebelius continued to receive the sacrament.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann issued the rare public admonition after learning that Sebelius has received Communion after vetoing an abortion reform bill and despite have been requested to refrain from presenting herself for Communion.
Sebelius vetoed the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act that would have allowed family members to seek a court order to prevent a woman from having an illegal late-term abortion, provided more information to women contemplating an abortion and protected women from being coerced into unwanted abortions.
The governor’s office has indicated that Sebelius intends to address the issue in a letter to the archbishop. As of Friday, no letter had been received, said Carroll Macke of the Archdiocese Communication and Planning Office.
The archbishop said other options available to him included instructing Archdiocese priests to refuse to offer Communion to the governor.
In a column published in The Leaven, the diocesan newspaper, Naumann said he had met with Sebelius several times to discuss the abortion issue. He indicated he had written Sebelius last August, asking her to refrain from taking communion.
“I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion,” Naumann wrote.
“The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor, as well as many other high profile Catholics in public life, has been in effect: ‘The church’s teaching on abortion is optional!’"
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