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Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said a California canon lawyer seeking a formal decree of her esy against Sen. John F Kerry of Massachusetts, Democratic presidential nominee, has misrepresented his contact with the Vatican office. "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has had no contact with M r (Marc) Balestrieri," said Dominican Father Augustine DiNoia, undersec retary of the congregation.
Balestrieri is the head of De Fide, described on its Web site as an organ ization created "to deal with the burgeoning scandal of Catholic politic ians supporting the 'right to choose' murder." Father DiNoia denied that Father Cole, a theologian who resides in Washin gton, was delegated in any way to address the questions on behalf of the congregation. Father Cole's letter to Balestrieri, also posted on De Fide's Web site, b egins by saying he had been asked by Father DiNoia "to respond unofficia lly" to Balestrieri's questions. The priest concluded that "if a Catholic publicly and obstinately support s the civil right to abortion, knowing that the church teaches officiall y against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Canon 751 of the Code" of Canon Law. "You can incur excommunication 'latae sententiae' (automatically) only if you procure or perform an abortion," one said. In Washington, Father Cole told CNS the Holy See "gets these requests ... tons of them," and that Father DiNoia asked him to respond to Balestrie ri in a private capacity. "I have no relationship to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ... and the letter that I wrote to Balestrieri was purely private," he told CNS Oct. "I wrote it as a private theologian, not with any auth ority. One Vatican official contacted by CNS said no church official had serious ly approached the point of declaring Kerry a heretic. "There are three distinct questions involved" in the current US discuss ion about support for legalized abortion and the worthiness of Catholic politicians and voters to receive Communion, he said. Is Kerry an 'obst inate sinner' because of his support for legalized abortion? Even if one answered "yes" to the second question, he said, it would not mean the senator is a heretic, nor would it oblige Catholic voters in al l situations to vote against him. The questions Balestrieri wrote in Latin and sent to the congregation ask ed whether the church's condemnation of abortion is a matter of Catholic faith and dogma for which opposition would constitute heresy. When he wrote to the congregation, Balestrieri did not identify himself a s the head of De Fide, he did not mention Kerry or politicians in genera l and he said he did not inform the congregation that he was trying to f ormally sue Kerry for heresy in the Archdiocese of Boston. The doctrinal congregation, like other Vatican offices, receives dozens o f letters and questions each day. Those from bishops are handled formall y The tone of letters from lay people dictates how they are handled, a Vati can official said Oct. Most letter writers are encouraged to discuss their concerns with their parish priest. When a letter appears to be from a serious student, the writer may be ref erred to a book or published article, or he or she may be referred to a theologian or canon lawyer who could be able to provide direction.
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