I was trying to hunt down this story this morning when Sean kindly emailed me a more direct source.
Consequently, if a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Can. 751 of the Code. Provided that the presumptions of knowledge of the law and penalty (Can. 15, § 2) and imputability (Can. 1321, § 3) are not rebutted in the external forum, one is automatically excommunicated according to Can. 1364, § 1.
Moves have been afoot this year to excommunicate John Kerry for his belief in abortion which directly opposes the belief of the Catholic Church. This is the first direct response from the Vatican than says such politicians should be “automatically” excommunicated.
I personally believe abortion is wrong. I may not be 100% convinced that an embryo is yet a human life, but I believe that it might be a human life and we owe the unborn every right available to them since they can’t speak for themselves. Most Christian churches in the U.S. have similar beliefs regarding abortion.
For the Catholic Church, abortion is a mortal sin. The Church does not permit any other belief; a mortal sin must be recanted, and a member is ineligible to receive the Sacraments of the Church. (And you left-wingers don’t try to tell me this is unfair; any organization has the right to set rules for their own members. Do you think PETA would allow you to be a member if you like your steaks medium-rare?)
John Kerry wants to be a member of the Catholic Church without holding onto the Church’s core beliefs. A Catholic in name only. He wants the support of both religious Catholics and anti-religious abortionists. It’s hypocrisy – if you firmly, deep in your soul, believe according to Catholic faith that abortion is murder, then you cannot support abortion. If you do not believe abortion is murder, then you cannot be a Catholic. You can’t have it both ways.
Kerry’s position recently has been, “I believe abortion is wrong, but I don’t believe I should impose my faith on others.” The Catholic Church still says this is wrong; a pro-choice Catholic politician who says he is “personally opposed to the act of abortion still commits heresy by publicly supporting the civil right to choose abortion.
John Kerry is being told by the Catholic Church to make a choice: be a Catholic, or be a supporter of abortion. Kerry cannot be both; the Church does not permit it.
Chasing the Wind 
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