We shouldn't however be surprised since Cuomo has already said that all Catholics are unwelcome in New York and that they should leave and the Bishops took no substantial action about that.
In 2014 Cuomo said:
"Right-to-life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay — if that's who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that's not who New Yorkers are,"
But all Catholics, if they actually believe what the Church teaches, must be pro-life hence Cuomo said that true Catholics should leave New York.
Contrary to the lies told by Nancy Pelosi, another "catholic" who is a big fan of the mass murder of the unborn, the Church has condemned abortion since the time of Christ.
In the Didache, the teaching of the twelve Apostles, written in the 1st century it says:
""Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery"; thou shalt not commit sodomy; thou shalt not commit fornication; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not use magic; thou shalt not use philtres; thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide; "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods"; "
If Governor Cuomo had passed, and celebrated, a law that legalized the killing of Jews would the Catholic Bishops of New York only issue sternly worded statements? It's unlikely.
Cardinal Dolan of NYC has given reasons why he feels that Cuomo shouldn't be excommunicated:
1) Excommunication should not be used as a weapon: What does that mean? The purpose of excommunication is to tell the sinner that he is going to hell unless he repents so that he will repent; i.e. the intent of excommunication isn't to punish but to bring the person to repentance. So given that Cuomo is pushing what his Church has taught is mass murder how can reminding him that he's on a path to Hell, just as surely as any concentration camp guard, be a bad thing?
2)Notable Canon Lawyers have said that excommunication is not an appropriate response to legislators who support laws advancing abortion: This is really strange. The Church teaches that the intentional murder of innocents is objectively wrong; that's why the Holocaust was wrong, that's why killing gays for being gay is wrong. So what these Canon lawyers are saying is that if Cuomo had supported a bill legalizing the killing of gays for being gay or Jews for being Jews it would be "inappropriate" to excommunicate him for his support of mass murder? Really? That makes no sense. It's not like Cuomo was supporting some position where people of good faith could disagree, like how to deal with poverty or what to do about illegal immigration. Cuomo is using all of his political power to ensure that innocent people are murdered.
What makes this claim even more interesting is that Canon lawyers agree that anyone who successfully procures an abortion is automatically excommunicated. Further any Catholic who helps procure an abortion--by performing it, by paying for it, by encouraging it,etc--is automatically excommunicated.
But since Cuomo is using his power to get the state to pay for abortions it would seem he's already excommunicated. Further isn't making abortion legal encouraging it? After all if a woman wanted an abortion but it was illegal she'd be discouraged to have it hence making it legal is encouraging abortion by having the state, and society, say that abortion is a ok. We know that Jesse Jackson's mother almost aborted him and that he's said that if abortion had been legal the odds of her choosing to abort him would have increased.
As one woman who had an abortion commented on Catholic radio she was excommunicated but Cuomo who encourages, pays for, and legalizes hundreds of thousands of abortions isn't seems a bit odd.
3) The Bishop's duty is to address grave issues individually with the person: Well Cuomo has been for abortion for a very long time and we can assume that his Bishop has been talking to him in a pastoral manner. Yet nothing has happened. Further note that the Bishops have been willing to publicly condemn Cuomo for his actions so it's not like they refuse to make public comments on Cuomo's public sin. But so long as they refuse to excommunicate Cuomo it's quite possible that Cuomo thinks they don't believe that his offense is that serious which of course would be a major road block in their attempt to pastorally help Cuomo.
4)Excommunication would be worn as a badge of courage by Cuomo: So? That doing the right think might help an evil man is no reason not to do what is right. Would anyone suggest that Jews shouldn't have condemned Hitler for the Holocaust because Hitler would have used that as a plus when talking to his Nazi supporters? But while Cuomo would boast of his standing up to the Church how many low information Catholic voters who reflexively vote Democrat--Cardinal Dolan has said his father told him to never vote Republican--would suddenly stop and reconsider how they vote if the Church were to officially and publicly declare that Cuomo was on the road to Hell? Dolan can't know the answer to that.
Further a key objective of excommunication in this context is to end scandal. As it stands many Americans, and many Catholics, are unclear as to how seriously the Church opposes abortion. No amount of talk or appearances at the March for Life can counteract the fact that many Catholic politicians, including Cuomo, push for abortion for any reason at any point in the pregnancy and are allowed to act as though they are good Catholics. Is it any surprise that Catholics keep voting for Cuomo given the message the Church is sending?
It's clear that these Bishops need to find a way to publicly counteract the public sins of people like Cuomo. Allowing Cuomo to attend Mass and act as though he's a good Catholic is hurting the Church and the faithful and pretending that it's not only helps Satan advance his abortion project.
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