Catholic Fire

February 11, 2013. (Romereports.com) The Pope is unable to continue. He made the announcement today to the cardinals gathered in Rome. On February 28 at 8 p.m. Benedict XVI will no longer be Pope. That date will kick off the sede vacante, or vacant seat. According to canon law, within 20 days the cardinals must meet in conclave to elect the new Pope. In the Vatican statement the Pope read in Latin to his cardinals, he explained that, “In order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.” His resignation is a rare occasion for the Catholic Church, as only three other Popes have resigned in their time, Celestine V, Clement I and Gregory XII. Starting at 8 p.m. on the last day of February, all posts within the Vatican will remain vacant until a new Pop...

By Judie Brown According to recent news stories on the Obama administration’s effort to investigate the Bush administration's authorization of certain interrogation techniques, Attorney General Eric Holder and other Obama administration officials have said that no one is above the law . Regardless of your view of CIA operations, the truth is that there should not be a question about anybody being above the law. Without a proper regard for the law, chaos would reign. Carry this a step further but in a slightly different direction. If we consider the Code of Canon Law , which is the body of laws governing the Catholic Church, we have to ask if these laws are subject to personal interpretation or are they in fact laws that should be uniformly interpreted and obeyed? Click here to read the rest.

Canon lawyer Pete Vere has written an excellent article in The Washington Times about the debate over the denial of Communion to pro-choice Roman Catholic politicians, which was rekindled last month when Bishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, told Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to refrain from partaking in the sacrament . Vere's article gives the history of this debate as well as the consensus emerging among pastors and canonists. An excerpt: As Bishop Naumann joins the chorus of American bishops refusing Communion to wayward politicians, a new consensus is emerging among canon lawyers on the topic, which reached a boiling point four years ago surrounding Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry . Mrs. Sebelius, a Democrat, has been the subject of much speculation as a potential vice-presidential pick for Sen. Barack Obama. "Eight or 10 years ago, when people first started advocating on this, they were voices crying in the wilderness," says the Rev. Francis G. Mor...

You cannot possibly imagine how grateful I am to God for the most recent comments endorsing enforcement of Catholic Church laws that are designed to protect Christ from sacrilege. I am writing, of course, about Canon Law 915, a Church law stating: Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or the declaration of a penalty as well as others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion. We all know there are Catholics in public life these days who flaunt their pro-abortion advocacy while at the same time defying Church officials to deny them Holy Communion. And sadly, many Eucharistic ministers, deacons, priests and yes, even bishops, prefer not to deny the Sacrament but rather to entrust that decision to the conscience of the pro-abortion Catholic! MORE from Judie Brown's blog.