Pope will pull the strings on the Supreme Court : Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Concord Monitor (NH)

Will pope decide what is lawful?

though I do not think a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court should be doled out on the basis of religious orientation, I also do not think a religion should automatically excommunicate a member of the U.S. Senate for voting to uphold a law deemed constitutional in several Supreme Court tests.

I did not pick this fight. The Roman Catholic Church made it a necessary consideration by the decision the Vatican handed down during the 2004 election cycle.

In 2004, Marc Balestrieri, a Roman Catholic canon lawyer from Los Angeles, sued John Kerry for heresy in ecclesiastical court. The basis of the suit was Kerry's support of a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy under U.S. law.

In October 2004, Balestrieri received his answer from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The congregation wrote that any Catholic politician who says he personally opposes abortion but supports a woman's right to choose incurs automatic excommunication.

Neither the pope nor any other high Catholic authority has disagreed with or denounced the decision. In fact, the person who headed the congregation at the time is now pope. That would seem to cement this decision by the church to dictate the actions of its adherents within the U.S. government.

The problem arises when there is an accepted, constitutional law that provides for a woman certain lawful access to terminating a pregnancy through a personal decision. The church is saying that not only Catholic women but also all women in the United States cannot have that lawful access.

We have never had a Roman Catholic majority on the Supreme Court. Justice Roberts was the fourth Catholic on the court. If Judge Alito is confirmed, it will be a Catholic majority. That means five Catholics could overrule any decision before the court. The final arbiters of a woman's right to choose will be five Catholics, each of whom will be automatically excommunicated if he, as they are all men, chooses to uphold a woman's right to choose.

Chris Baker-Salmon, Antrim

Just one problem, Chris, with this theory: Kerry was not excommunicated. In fact, he was not even denied Holy Communion. I don't think any Catholic politician by name has been actually been denied Holy Communion, much less excommunicated, for supporting the killing by choice of the unborn.

As for Marc Balestrieri, his last press release was in January 2005.

No action has been taken on his complaint.