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Whoa before you hit the report button, this is a piece by Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin. I won't put up a survey because not everyone is Catholic in this forum (like yours truly).
A lot of words exchanged over the past week or so with Gov Cuomo gleefully signing a bill into Law expanding abortion to be a state constitutional right. We've seen the political threads and some Catholics calling for excommunication of Cuomo and pressure put on Cardinal Dolan.
Jimmy Akin addresses all of issues from a Catholic apologist perspective here is some of what he said in his titled piece "Are Bad Catholics Still Catholics?"
A lot of words exchanged over the past week or so with Gov Cuomo gleefully signing a bill into Law expanding abortion to be a state constitutional right. We've seen the political threads and some Catholics calling for excommunication of Cuomo and pressure put on Cardinal Dolan.
Jimmy Akin addresses all of issues from a Catholic apologist perspective here is some of what he said in his titled piece "Are Bad Catholics Still Catholics?"
So, are such people still Catholics? Let’s start with the statement that Cuomo-type figures aren’t Catholics and that it’s an insult to say that they are.
This sentiment expresses a truth. When a public figure uses his fame and influence to betray the Faith, he is acting in an un-Catholic or even anti-Catholic way. And the profound contradiction between what he is doing and what he should be doing as a Catholic generates an objective insult to God. It adds injury to insult, for it wounds the body of Christ.
However, it isn’t literally true to say he’s not a Catholic. That’s hyperbole.
“But wait,” someone might say. “If someone betrays the Faith in this way, how can he still be a Catholic?”
To answer this question, we need to look at the Church’s official documents. According to the Second Vatican Council:
By losing the gift of charity, a bad Catholic ceases to be a member of the Church “in his heart,” but he remains in it “bodily.”
The Church thus recognizes that there is a sense in which a bad Catholic ceases to be truly or fully Catholic, but there is another sense in which he still is Catholic.
This sentiment expresses a truth. When a public figure uses his fame and influence to betray the Faith, he is acting in an un-Catholic or even anti-Catholic way. And the profound contradiction between what he is doing and what he should be doing as a Catholic generates an objective insult to God. It adds injury to insult, for it wounds the body of Christ.
However, it isn’t literally true to say he’s not a Catholic. That’s hyperbole.
“But wait,” someone might say. “If someone betrays the Faith in this way, how can he still be a Catholic?”
To answer this question, we need to look at the Church’s official documents. According to the Second Vatican Council:
He is not saved . . . who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a “bodily” manner and not “in his heart” (Lumen Gentium 14).
By losing the gift of charity, a bad Catholic ceases to be a member of the Church “in his heart,” but he remains in it “bodily.”
The Church thus recognizes that there is a sense in which a bad Catholic ceases to be truly or fully Catholic, but there is another sense in which he still is Catholic.
So Jimmy is making a distinction here citing Vatican II between a 'bodily' manner and "in his heart' manner.
He continues:
Are there ways to lose that status altogether? Here the Code of Canon Law becomes relevant. According to it:
Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those who have been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, possess the efficient use of reason, and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, have completed seven years of age (can. 11).
By being baptized in the Church—or by being received into it after being baptized elsewhere—one becomes subject to the laws of the Church, and these obligations remain even when one betrays the Faith in fundamental ways. This even applies in cases where one has committed heresy, apostasy, or schism, which the Code defines as follows:
There are penalties for committing these crimes, including excommunication (can. 1364 §1). However, even excommunication does not mean that one ceases to be a member of the Church. Instead, as the Catechism explains, excommunication is “the most severe ecclesiastical penalty.” It “impedes the reception of the sacraments and the exercise of certain ecclesiastical acts” (CCC 1463).
This is verified by the Code’s explanation of the effects of excommunication (can. 1331), which lists the inability to participate in the sacraments and the inability to exercise ecclesiastical offices, ministries, functions, etc. However, the canon does not list ceasing to be a Catholic or being released from the Church’s laws as a result.
A person who has committed heresy, apostasy, or schism may no longer identify himself as a Catholic, but he’s still bound by the Church’s laws—including, for example, the obligation to attend Mass every Sunday (without receiving Holy Communion, of course).
This brings to mind the old saying, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” There’s a sense in which that’s true, since the legal obligations we acquire upon being baptized or received into the Church continue to exist even if we renounce the Faith and no longer regard ourselves as Catholic.
It is even more clear that someone who still professes to be Catholic—even unfaithfully—remains so, even if it is purely in a “bodily” way and not “in his heart.”
Although there is no doubt that public figures—as well as private individuals—gravely compromise their communion with the Church when they reject key Catholic teachings and values, this doesn’t mean that they literally cease to be Catholics.
Bad Catholics are still Catholics. And that just makes their betrayal of the Faith worse.
Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those who have been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, possess the efficient use of reason, and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, have completed seven years of age (can. 11).
By being baptized in the Church—or by being received into it after being baptized elsewhere—one becomes subject to the laws of the Church, and these obligations remain even when one betrays the Faith in fundamental ways. This even applies in cases where one has committed heresy, apostasy, or schism, which the Code defines as follows:
Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him (can. 751).
There are penalties for committing these crimes, including excommunication (can. 1364 §1). However, even excommunication does not mean that one ceases to be a member of the Church. Instead, as the Catechism explains, excommunication is “the most severe ecclesiastical penalty.” It “impedes the reception of the sacraments and the exercise of certain ecclesiastical acts” (CCC 1463).
This is verified by the Code’s explanation of the effects of excommunication (can. 1331), which lists the inability to participate in the sacraments and the inability to exercise ecclesiastical offices, ministries, functions, etc. However, the canon does not list ceasing to be a Catholic or being released from the Church’s laws as a result.
A person who has committed heresy, apostasy, or schism may no longer identify himself as a Catholic, but he’s still bound by the Church’s laws—including, for example, the obligation to attend Mass every Sunday (without receiving Holy Communion, of course).
This brings to mind the old saying, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” There’s a sense in which that’s true, since the legal obligations we acquire upon being baptized or received into the Church continue to exist even if we renounce the Faith and no longer regard ourselves as Catholic.
It is even more clear that someone who still professes to be Catholic—even unfaithfully—remains so, even if it is purely in a “bodily” way and not “in his heart.”
Although there is no doubt that public figures—as well as private individuals—gravely compromise their communion with the Church when they reject key Catholic teachings and values, this doesn’t mean that they literally cease to be Catholics.
Bad Catholics are still Catholics. And that just makes their betrayal of the Faith worse.
Jimmy Akin source link: Are Bad Catholics Still Catholics? | Catholic Answers
Don't know about you, but this second quoted area from Akin is not convincing. Considering in the history of the church (and as many Catholics argue here vigorously the church does not change her doctrines) we have this:
Don't know about you, but this second quoted area from Akin is not convincing. Considering in the history of the church (and as many Catholics argue here vigorously the church does not change her doctrines) we have this:
"The sacrosanct Roman Church...firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that..not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life but will depart into everlasting fire...unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that..no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.” — Pope Eugene IV and the Council of Florence (Seventeenth Ecumenical Council), Cantate Domino, Bull
Jimmy vs, Pope Eugene. Who is right here?
I would love to discuss this without flame wars because the problem set facing the Roman Catholic church is every Christian church's challenge. We ALL have Mario Cuomo's sitting in our pews, serving in government and even in the clergy and ministry.
So (1) Catholic thoughts on this and (2) Protestant/Evangelicals lets take the beam out of our eyes too as we 'know' this is our problem set too within the church.
God bless you all!
I’ll have to depend on love to cover that omission for me 
