Bishop Olmsted condemns “false patience”
Urges all Catholics to read Archbishop Cordileone’s letter on Communion and abortion

2021-05-10T07:34:23-07:00May 10th, 2021|Bishops and church leaders|

“Woe to us bishops if we do not speak clearly about the grave evil of abortion, and the consequences of any Catholic who participates in the act or publicly supports it by word or action,” Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix said in a May 6 statement.

He responded to a May 1 letter by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco on “the Human Dignity of the Unborn, Holy Communion, and Catholics in Public Life.” Olmsted called it “a powerful defense of the Church’s teaching on the dignity of all human life.”

Referring to bishops who do not clearly denounce the evil of abortion and of Catholics supporting it, Olmsted condemned “a false patience and pastoral concern that, year after year, stays silent or speaks in abstractions while the slaughter continues with the full endorsement of Catholic politicians under our spiritual care as bishops.”

The bishop warned that reluctance to speak out in such cases is a pastoral failure, rather than a charitable politeness.

“Such ‘patience’ is false because it is bereft of love and truth, and thus unmasks rather a deadly apathy towards one who professes the Catholic faith but whose public embrace of abortion puts his or her eternal soul at risk of damnation, and risks dragging untold numbers into hell by their example,” he said.

Archbishop Cordileone wrote in a May 1 pastoral letter that any Catholic cooperating with the evil of abortion should refrain from receiving the Eucharist. In his letter, he included a section on Catholic public officials who advocate for abortion….

In his own apostolic letter from early April, Olmsted wrote that Catholic teaching sees the Eucharist as Christ’s transformative sacrifice on the cross, and that Holy Communion must only be received worthily. The Church teaches that to receive Communion, baptized Catholics must not be conscious of having committed serious sin since their last confession.

This teaching is not “partisan,” Olmsted wrote, adding that it certainly applies to political leaders who back evils such as abortion and euthanasia….

Olmsted recommended that all Catholics read Cordileone’s letter, as well as “all people of good will who desire to know why the Church cannot and will not change her traditional defense of motherhood and the most vulnerable in the womb….”

The above comes from a May 7 story on the site of the Catholic News Agency.

 

 

 

17 Comments

  1. Moms Care May 10, 2021 at 9:32 am - Reply

    Another act of courage sparked by Archbishop Cordileone’s letter. Pray that it be followed by many more.

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  2. Rev John Higgins May 10, 2021 at 9:33 am - Reply

    I’ve posted Bishop Cordileone letter on social media and am probably going to put it in our Parish Bulletin.

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    • Silent Observer May 10, 2021 at 12:35 pm - Reply

      I commend you, Fr. Higgins.

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    • Moms Care May 10, 2021 at 1:41 pm - Reply

      Post it Rev Higgins, your flock needs truth.

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  3. Kevin T May 10, 2021 at 10:15 am - Reply

    Archbishop Gomez has yet to weigh in…

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    • Rick W May 10, 2021 at 3:41 pm - Reply

      Are you surprised ? the mahoney needs to give approval first.

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      • Steve Seitz May 10, 2021 at 7:21 pm - Reply

        Rick,
        I agree. Archbishop Gomez is a defacto coadjutor bishop until he rids the chancery of anyone who answers to Mahoney. Only then will he become the Archbishop of Los Angeles.

  4. Tom Byrne May 10, 2021 at 12:16 pm - Reply

    “False patience” or tacit agreement hiding under a pretense of delay?

  5. Martin May 10, 2021 at 4:00 pm - Reply

    Like the wildly popular gathering song says, “All are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” They don’t sing that at the TLM because they know what the song says isn’t true there. And all surely are welcome in the Lord’s house and at the Lord’s supper, even pro-aborts should be welcome. Every sinner should be gathered, welcomed and loved. “All are welcome in this place, behold Love’s amazing grace!” But modern-day Pharisees want to strain the knot and don’t see the log in their own eyes. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me… do not shut them out.” We are all God’s children. Let us not shut anyone out. That’s the Gospel. For everyone.

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    • bohemond May 10, 2021 at 8:13 pm - Reply

      Tolerant liberals would welcome all unrepentant sinners, while scolding those who uphold the Faith. Sorry, we are not all God’s children; most of humanity rejects Christ. There were huge crowds when He fed the multitudes but the crowds got very small as they approach the cross, and they still do.

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  6. Kevin T May 10, 2021 at 6:54 pm - Reply

    Some influential and prominent priests and bishops in Germany have just blessed same-sex couples in the name of the church in a directly intended and publicized act of defiance towards Rome. What’s Pope Francis going to do about it? I suspect he’s going to do as much about it as the US bishops are going to do about Biden and Pelosi, who act in direct defiance of Catholic doctrine. The bishops are all talk, no action. They can say the faith is true, they can say it matters, they can say it’s important to act in accord with doctrine, they can issue statements and pastoral letters, but if they don’t or won’t enforce compliance when challenged directly and flagrantly as by Biden, Pelosi and by the German clergy, then their talk is empty and respect for them erodes. They are, at best, hoping the issue will go away all by itself. Guess what? It won’t. It will get worse the longer they resist acting like shepherds and fathers who need to impose discipline.

    Where are you God? Look at what’s happening to your church. Look at what’s happening in the world.

    • Anonymous May 11, 2021 at 1:51 am - Reply

      I have not seen any report that any bishops did this. The head of the German Bishop’s Conference condemned it. It happened on May 10 so let’s wait and see what the reaction from Rome will be.

  7. Steve Seitz May 10, 2021 at 7:38 pm - Reply

    I must say that one of my favorite spiritual reads is Bishop Olmstead’s Apostolic Exhortation to Catholic Men. It’s a well written document that appeals to the masculine psyche to call Catholic men to act like men. I believe that it’s a “must read” for all Catholic men regardless of spiritual maturity. The document can be found at:

    http://kofc.org/en/resources/cis/cis340.pdf

    • Anon. May 10, 2021 at 10:43 pm - Reply

      Steve Seitz– Yes, Bishop Olmsted’s “Apostolic Exhortation to Catholic Men” is excellent. Bishop Olmsted is a very fine bishop.

      • Anonymous May 11, 2021 at 8:25 am - Reply

        Anon.,
        I agree. I wish there were more like him.

        • Anon. May 11, 2021 at 9:45 am - Reply

          Anonymous– Me, too!

      • Anonymous May 12, 2021 at 3:20 am - Reply

        There are.

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