Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: One of the most notorious defenders of abortion is former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She is so fanatical about it that she refuses even to acknowledge the humanity of the unborn child. (We wonder what she told friends that she was carrying prior to the birth of her own children.)
During the recent debate on a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks because the child can feel pain, Pelosi was asked by a reporter, “Is the unborn child 20 weeks into pregnancy a human being?” Pelosi replied: “What we’re talking about on the floor of the House is something that says politicians should determine what affects the health of a woman, her life, her health, and the rest. I don’t think it’s up to politicians to do that.”
Responding to Pelosi was her bishop in San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who said:
“It is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception. This has been established in medical science for over 100 years. Catholic moral teaching acknowledges this scientific fact, and has always affirmed the grave moral evil of taking an innocent human life. This has been the consistent teaching of the Church from the very beginning, a teaching already discernible in the natural moral law, and so a teaching from which no Catholic can dissent in good conscience.”
Q. When I was a child, we learned six Precepts of the Church. Now I find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that there are only five. What happened to the sixth precept? — A.C., Florida.
A. You are correct that in the Baltimore Catechism, six Precepts were listed. They were: 1) To assist at Mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation. 2) To fast and abstain on the days appointed. 3) To confess our sins at least once a year. 4) To receive Holy Communion during the Easter time. 5) To contribute to the support of the Church. 6) To observe the laws of the Church concerning marriage.
When the Catechism of the Catholic Church came out in English in 1994, here is how it described the Precepts (cf. nn. 2042-2043):
“The first precept (‘You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor’) requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.
“The second precept (‘You shall confess your sins at least once a year’) ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.
“The third precept (‘You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season’) guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.
“The fourth precept (‘You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church’) ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.
“The fifth precept (‘You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church’) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.”
Why is the precept about observing the marriage laws of the Church missing? Perhaps because the Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes a whole section (nn. 1601-1666) to the Sacrament of Matrimony, spelling out in great detail its nature and purposes.
For example, paragraph 1660 says that “the marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children.” Paragraph 1664 says that “unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage.”
Q. I committed many sexual sins during a long life, including adultery, and I have confessed all the ones that I can remember. No one knows about these sins except God. I hope all my sins are forgiven. — Name and State Withheld.
A. If you have to the best of your recollection truly confessed all your sins against the Sixth Commandment that you can remember, if you have expressed sorrow for them, and if you have sincerely carried out the penances imposed by the priest, then your sins are forgiven. Since the priest told you that he was absolving you of all your sins, there is no need for you to agonize over these forgiven sins. Have confidence in the love and mercy of Christ. Remember the words of God in the Book of Isaiah: “Come now, let us set things right,/ says the Lord:/ Though your sins be like scarlet,/ they may become white as snow;/ Though they be crimson red,/ they may become white as wool” (1:18).
Q. One of the readings at Mass today was about Jonah going to the city of Nineveh to call upon the people to repent. What are we to believe about him being in the belly of a whale for three days before he went to Nineveh? — T.K., California.
A. In the Catholic Bible Dictionary for which he served as general editor, Scott Hahn offered this commentary on the Book of Jonah:
“Jonah anticipated Christianity’s message of salvation for all men in Jesus Christ. Jesus refers to the preaching of Jonah to contrast the repentance of the Ninevites with the unbelief of many Israelites (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32), and he refers to Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish as a type of his own burial and Resurrection (cf. Matt. 12:39-40, 16:4; Luke 11:29-31).
“Is the book historical? Scholars vigorously debate that question. Some say that the book is a factual account of events that took place in the eighth century B.C. Others say that the book is a parable, the same sort of parable that Jesus himself often used to teach about God and his ways. Either way, the lesson is the same: God’s mercy is for all — even our worst enemies — and our mission is to bring that message to the world” (p. 467).
Q. My sister, who was raised Catholic, married a Protestant man. Now she has asked me to be godmother for her child, who is being baptized in the Protestant church. What should I do? — C.G., Massachusetts.
A. The fact that you are asking the question indicates that you have doubts about this, and you should. In the Catholic tradition, the point of having godparents is so they will assist the parents in making sure that the child is raised in the Catholic faith and follows the teachings of the Church faithfully. Canon 874 says that to be a godparent, one must have completed the 16th year and “be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist and leads a life in harmony with the faith and the role to be undertaken.”
Paragraph 2 of the same canon says that a non-Catholic Christian may be admitted as a witness to Baptism, provided there is also a Catholic godparent.
We don’t know what the standard is for godparents in your brother-in-law’s Protestant church, but we assume that the godparent is to model what it means to be a faithful Protestant. You can hardly fill that role since you are a Catholic and, presumably, see a marked difference between the two communities. We would advise against agreeing to be a godparent in this situation.
