Sebelius Fishes for Pity Rather Than Repenting

The reason I say she is looking for pity is the fact that she refuses to acknowledge the sinful public scandal she has created by her actions. She might want to look at what the Church teaches about the duties of public officials to live out their faith & not leave it at the door. & if she can't do that then she shouldn't be in public office. I suspect that if it were really painful in the way she claims she would be changing her tune. The only thing painful about it for her is the inconvenience it creates for her by making her sneak arround to be able to blasphemously receive communion. She would rather make that obscene gesture publicly.

The reality is, she prefers power to pleasing God. She is not a pro-choice Catholic. There is no such thing as a real Catholic being pro-choice. She is an abbortion supporter claiming to be Catholic while being anything but.

I would love to know how she plans on answering all those unborn souls murdered by abortionists like her buddy Tiller because she refused to do the right thing in protecting the unborn while governor. As Bishop Naumann's response points out, she is misrepresenting the truth. Gee, isn't that bearing falsa witness. But what are a few lies when you have the blood of so many unborn on your hands.

I applaud Bishop Naumann for his actions. I also applaud LifeSiteNews for providing an accurate representation of her actions. The WaPo has shown its bias by not getting a response from Bishop Naumann. They are abetting in her attempts to make her appear as a victim not a rebellious sinner as she is. & as Fr. Euteneuer points out, her receiving Communion is more painful to us faithful Catholics than the inconvenience she is being put through is to her.

Her actions are a scandal. As it was pointed out in the homily I heard last Sunday, the Catholic Church teaches causing scandal is a sin against the 5th Commandment (just like abortion). It is thus a "respect life" issue. It is listed under the 5th Commandment because of the eternal spiritual harm those actions could cause to innocent souls. Since last Sunday's Gospel was Mark's take on the millstone arround the neck (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48), that gives me an idea. Fr. Euteneuer, may I nominate her for a special Human Life International "Millstone Award"?

Catholic HHS Secretary Sebelius Says Being Prohibited from Communion "Painful" - Archbishop Naumann Responds

Archbishop tells LifeSiteNews Sibelius "misrepresents issue" during Washington Post interview

By Peter J. Smith and Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Over a year after Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann publicly prohibited the pro-abortion U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from receiving Communion, Sebelius has broken her silence on the matter. Appealing to the "separation of church and state," Sebelius said the episcopal order was "one of the most painful things I have ever experienced" and implied that her pro-abortion position was part and parcel of upholding the rights of an inter-faith constituency. In a response given to LifeSiteNews.com, Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City said the secretary's argument "misrepresents the issue" to make it appear that "she was the victim of merely upholding the law."
Former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius proved her bona fides to the pro-abortion movement time and again through close associations with now-slain abortionist George Tiller and Planned Parenthood, and through numerous vetoes of pro-life legislation and common-sense regulations on the abortion-industry.
But the former governor described by the late-columnist Bob Novak "the national pro-choice poster girl" is far from being a Catholic in good-standing with the Catholic Church - a status that rankles the HHS Secretary and for good reason: Sebelius has the distinction of being one of the highest ranking Catholics in the Obama Administration, who is forbidden to receive Holy Communion - a Church sacrament that also symbolizes spiritual unity with the rest of the Church's members.
Back in May 2008, Archbishop Naumann publicly directed Sebelius to refrain from presenting herself for Holy Communion until she takes "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 admonished Sebelius publicly,as the leader of the Catholic Church in Kansas, after he discovered that Sebelius had deliberately flouted his private plea to refrain from Holy Communion.
Last week, the Washington Post interviewed Sebelius about Naumann's corrective action, and the HHS Secretary indicated that the Archbishop's action was personally "painful" - but she remained coy about whether she was still continuing to receive Holy Communion in Washington, D.C. (See video of interview)
Excerpts From interview Dialogue

WaPo: You are also a pro-choice Catholic, and I was reading some stories out of your home state recently where one of the bishops took an action. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Sebelius: Well, the Archbishop in the Kansas City area did not approve of my conduct as a public official and asked that I not present myself for communion.
WaPo: What did you think about that?
Sebelius: Well, it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life, and I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, and I feel that my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official and that the people who elected me in Kansas had a right to expect me to uphold their rights and their beliefs even if they did not have the same religious beliefs that I had. And that's what I did: I took an oath of office and I have taken an oath of office in this job and will uphold the law.
WaPo: Do you continue to take communion?
Sebelius: I really would prefer not to discuss that with you. That's really a personal-thank you.
Arcbhishop Naumann Responds to LifeSiteNews
However the Catholic Church views abortion and as first and foremost a moral issue - not a religious or faith issue - because the sacredness of human life pertains to the natural law, which reveals the intrinsic rightness or wrongness of human acts through reason.
In response to Sebelius' statements to the Post, Archbishop Nauman told LifeSiteNews.com that he issued the request "to motivate her to recognize the serious error of her past support and advocacy for legalized abortion, and to protect other Catholics from being misled by the Governor's actions into thinking that abortion is not a grave moral evil." "Secretary Sebelius misrepresents the issue by her attempt to invoke separation of church and state," wrote Naumann. "At no time did I ask her not to execute her oath of office.
"Secretary Sebelius makes it appear that she was asked not to receive Holy Communion because she was the victim of merely upholding the law. In reality, Secretary Sebelius opposed even such modest restrictions on abortion as parental notification of minors, required waiting periods before an abortion, as well as meaningful regulation of abortion clinics to protect, at least, the mother's health."
Naumann said it was "very painful" to ask Sebelius not to receive Communion. "However, I had exhausted every reasonable means to convince her to change her position," he said. "I also had a serious obligation to uphold the integrity of the Eucharist and to protect other Catholics from being misled by the former Governor's support for legalized abortion.
"I continue to pray for Secretary Sebelius that she will accept the grace to acknowledge the grave evil in which she has been involved and will have the courage to take the necessary steps to correct the scandal created by her past actions."
For years Sebelius maintained a cozy relationship with the recently-slain late-term abortionist George R. Tiller, who funnelled large amounts of campaign contributions to Sebelius through his ProKanDo PAC. In return, Sebelius held a party for Tiller in the governor's mansion.
During her tenure as Kansas's governor, Sebelius vetoed many pro-life bills that included widely-regarded "common-sense" regulations and health-standards on an out-of-control abortion industry documented to have facilities operating in sub-standard medical conditions. Such vetoes thwarted the Kansas legislature's attempts to provide parental notification and informed consent laws, greater abortion waiting periods, the right to see an ultrasound before choosing an abortion, and the legal right to a patient, spouse, or family member to sue an abortion provider over a suspected unlawful late-term abortion.
But Sebelius's most egregious offense to faithful Catholics and Church leaders may have been citing her faith to defend a veto of a bill that would have strengthened the state's ban on late-term abortion.
"It's really hard not to feel ill when one reads such a response from Sebelius who is so unabashedly and vociferously dead-set against the teaching of our Church," Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, told LifeSiteNews.com. "She seems to think that this public-private dichotomy of her person is a virtue. In medical terms it's called schizophrenia."
"She said that the denial of Communion was painful to her," Euteneuer continued. "I can assure you, her receiving Communion as if she were a real Catholic is eminently more painful to us."
See previous related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Commentary: The Trial of Kathleen Sebelius
Obama Nominates Extreme Pro-Abortion Gov. Sebelius as Health Secretary
Archbishop Publicly Tells Pro-Abortion Kansas Governor Not to Receive Communion
Sebelius Issues "Laughable" Defense of Secret Party at Governor's Mansion Honoring Abortionist Tiller