Group Claims Collins Excommunicated
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2004 – The head of a conservative Catholic group in California is contending that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is Catholic, has been automatically excommunicated because of her views on abortion, which he says amounts to “heresy” within the church.
So far, however, the Diocese of Portland does not agree that Collins has excommunicated herself or would ever be formally declared by a bishop to be denied communion and other church rites.
Marc Balestrieri, the executive director of De Fide, which is based in Santa Monica, has concentrated his efforts on getting Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry declared a “heretic” because he supports abortion rights but is also targeting other Catholic politicians like Collins with similar views.
“She has a choice to be Catholic or not,” Balestrieri said in a phone call from California on Wednesday. “How many Catholics have been led into error by those who profess the right to abortion?”
Besides Collins and Kerry, Balestrieri is also making similar suggestions about former New York Governor Mario Cuomo as well as Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
Formal excommunication is considered to be an “extreme” form of censure within the Catholic Church wherein a person cannot participate in worship, or receive communion. However people can also informally excommunicate themselves through their own actions.
Balestrieri said that on Monday he filed a formal “denunciation and complaint” against Collins; the church has 30 days to respond.
Sue Bernard, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Portland, said that Bishop Richard J. Malone does not believe Collins’ views on abortion have led to an excommunication. She also said the Diocese has not formally excommunicated anyone since the 1920s.
“This Diocese checked with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and officials there agree this is not an accepted interpretation of heresy,” Bernard said, adding that the Vatican also recently disagreed with Balestrieri.
Collins said in a statement that the abortion issue is of great importance to her but that there are times when she must distinguish between her personal views and those that she advocates as a member of the U.S .Senate.
“As a practicing Catholic, I respect the church’s view that abortion is wrong. As a United States Senator, however, I will not make criminals of those women who do not agree with the Catholic Church’s position on this difficult issue,” she said.
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