Of *mild* interest ...

Consequently, if a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Churches teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy evisoned by Canon 751 para 1 of the Code. Provided that the presumptions of knoowledge of the law and penalty (Can 15 para 2) and imputability (Can 1321 para 3) are not rebutted in the public forum, one is autmatically excommunicated according to Canon 1364, para 1.

For details on the heresy case raised against Kerry, see Defide.

Considering that this seems to be a rather unofficial response from the Vatican, I am starting to wonder whether or not this case will be taken further or if this is an attempt to kind of deflect controversy. In other words, I feel, in a way, like the proponents of this case are like the guy who gets really excited because his company of choice sent him a post card indicating that they will keep his resume on file for six months. Of course we all eventually learn that means the file cabinet that shreds resumes into tiny pieces ...

On to the case ... Without much understanding of Canon law, I must admit having to fall back on what I have read concerning this matter. Many I have read say that the case suffers from flaws. Others say that it is rock solid and that the Church should respond to the allegations of heresy raised against Senator Kerry.

Also, I would like to see somone raise a similar case against a Catholic Republican who strongly favors the death penalty. It would be good to see how the Vatican handles the two issues differently as I feel they would handle the two differently. It would be nice to get a clarification on the rift between those holding to the Seamless Garmet method used to determine who to vote for (Kerry) vs. The Five Non-negotiable method of determining who to vote for (Bush) ...

UPDATE 10/18/2004 - Catholic Exchange article