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Severity of Scandal of Pro-Abortion Politicians and Communion Highlighted by Top Vatican Cardinal

Cardinal Ratzinger Describes Unworthy Reception of Communion as Christ's Greatest Suffering

ROME, March 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The struggle between local bishops and Vatican authorities on forbidding Catholic politicians who support abortion and same sex marriage from receiving Communion was put in focus last week as a top Vatican Cardinal described unworthy reception of Communion by Catholics as Christ's greatest suffering.

The Triduum is the Catholic Church's most sacred season of the liturgical calendar. In it, the Good Friday commemoration of the suffering and death of Christ holds a prominent part. This year, with the Pope's health precarious, the duties of the Triduum liturgies fell to the small group of high level officials in whose hands the day to day governance of the Church is entrusted.

It is the custom in Rome to observe the Stations of the Cross - the commemoration of the 14 events from the condemnation of Christ by Pontius Pilate to the Crucifixion, to the laying of Jesus' body in the tomb - in the Colliseum. This year the meditations, or reflections, for the Stations were written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Faith, the Vatican's highest doctrinal authority.

Some of the Cardinal's meditations reflect the warnings he has been making recently on the loss of Christian identity in Europe and in the Catholic Church. In surprisingly strong language, Ratzinger reflects, at the fifth station, "Jesus Falls a Second Time," on "a Christianity which has grown weary of faith has abandoned the Lord."

Referring to the Culture of Death that now predominates in the formerly Christian West, Ratzinger writes of "the great ideologies, and the banal existence of those who, no longer believing in anything, simply drift through life, have built a new and worse paganism, which in its attempt to do away with God once and for all, have ended up doing away with man."

In the prayer that follows, the Cardinal asks Christ to remove from modern man the "heart of stone." "Give us a heart of flesh, a heart capable of seeing. Lay low the power of ideologies, so that all may see that they are a web of lies. Do not let the wall of materialism become unsurmountable."

For the ninth station, "Jesus Falls a Third Time," Cardinal Ratzinger refers again to the massive loss of faith within Catholic Church. "We have considered the fall of man in general, and the falling of many Christians away from Christ and into a godless secularism. Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in his own Church?"

He writes, in probably reference to the reception of the Eucharist by pro-abortion politicians and others opposed to Catholic teachings, and the destruction of the ancient traditions of the Catholic liturgy. "How often is the holy sacrament of his Presence abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there!"

"How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! …His betrayal by his disciples, their unworthy reception of his Body and Blood, is certainly the greatest suffering endured by the Redeemer; it pierces his heart." In the prayer that follows, Ratzinger talks about the 'fall of the Church' and includes what can only be described as a desperate plea, "Have mercy on your Church… Save and sanctify your Church. Save and sanctify us all."

To read all of Cardinal Ratzinger's meditations:
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/documents/n...

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Vatican Cardinal Ends Debate: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians or Rainbow Sashers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05021603.html

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