WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CAN...AND CANNOT EXCOMMUNICATE GOVERNOR LLG

By Tim Rohr

Catholic Church Law (Canon Law) addresses abortion only once.  And from 1983, when the revised code was first promulgated, until Dec. 8, 2021, the code at Can. 1398 stated: 

A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.

The Latin phrase "latae sententiae" means "a sentence already passed," or more popularly: "automatic," i.e. an automatic excommunication due to the act itself without any further action by ecclesial authority. 

In other words, no letter from your bishop is necessary. 

Can. 1398 does not address politicians who support abortion or anyone else involved in the abortion. It only addresses the person who directly procured the abortion. 

So where does the idea that pro-abortion politicians should be excommunicated come from since it appears only the mother can willfully "procure" an abortion?

Up until Dec. 8, 2021 (and we will discuss what changed in 2021 in a bit) it came from a combination of the afore-referenced Can. 1398 and another canon which does not mention abortion but sets forth a familiar legal principle:

Can. 1329 §2. Accomplices who are not named in a law or precept incur a latae sententiae penalty attached to a delict if without their assistance the delict would not have been committed, and the penalty is of such a nature that it can affect them; otherwise, they can be punished by ferendae sententiae* penalties.

*"sentence to be passed"

This should be familiar because accomplices to a crime under most secular law systems are just as guilty as the actual perpetrator. (Remember the word "actual" for later.)

The question is whether or not a pro-abortion politician is an accomplice to the crime of abortion - as said crime is defined by the Catholic Church - and should said pro-abortion politician, if Catholic, be excommunicated?

The answer - at least until 2021 - was a pretty hard "yes." 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict one year later, and as then-Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, weighed in definitively on this matter when a pro-abortion Catholic, John Kerry, became the Democratic nominee for the office of U.S. President.

Said Ratzinger:

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person's formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church's teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

Bringing the matter closer to home (Guam), there is a question of whether or not Governor Lou Leon Guerrero can or should be excommunicated for vetoing the Heartbeat Act. 

The answer, in this writer's opinion, and pursuant to Ratzinger's instruction,  is "no." 

Vetoing a bill is not "campaigning and voting for (a) permissive abortion... law." In fact, vetoing a bill that still permits the killing of unborn children up until a fetal heartbeat is detected could be construed as functionally a "pro-life" act - that is, of course, if you didn't know Lou Leon Guerrero. 

LLG's real excommunicable act - in this writer's opinion - is her very public use of the governor's office - not to mention our tax dollars - to solicit, recruit, and procure abortion doctors to come to Guam to perform abortions after the last abortion clinic in Guam closed in 2018 - which happened to coincide with LLG's first election as governor. 

While it could be argued that said efforts by Gov. LLG (via the Bureau of Woman Affairs and her abortion-lieutenant, Jayne Flores) is neither "campaigning" nor "voting for...permissive abortion laws," it can JUST AS JUSTLY be argued that LLG is using the full force of her public office to promote and provide abortions. 

However, no one, to my knowledge, has objected - from the Catholic pulpit - about LLG's hard abortion advocacy...even though LLG's virulent advocacy for abortion has not only been obvious since her elevation to the office of Governor, but has been very public since at least 1990, when LLG backed Atty. Anita Arriola, in attacking and successfully suing the Government of Guam for enacting "Belle's Bill." 

However...and this is a big HOWEVER, the real reason we may not have heard anything from the pulpit may be due to Pope Francis, in 2021, adding a single word to Can. 1398 (which he renumbered as Can. 1397 §2. )

That canon now reads:

A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.

Compare the 2021 canon to the original 1983 canon:

A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.

The addition of the word "actually" changes things a bit...or a lot. Before proceeding, copied here is a short commentary on the change:

The Vatican’s English translation of the new norms deviates from the currently approved English translation of the canon on abortions and excommunication. The translation change is likely to be appreciated for emphasizing directly the person to whom a latae sententiae excommunication for abortion actually applies.

The old translation of canon 1398 said that “a person who procures a completed abortion” incurs such a penalty.

While canonists have emphasized in recent years that “procurement” refers to a person undergoing, funding directly, or performing an abortion, numerous popular commentators have at times argued that canon 1398 could also apply to politicians supporting legal protection or state funding for abortion, given that they might be considered to have remote moral participation in particular abortions.

The new Vatican translation of the norm, which in the official Latin edition remains the same, makes an effort to thwart that argument, and to state more clearly the intended meaning of the canon: Renumbered as canon 1397 §2, the canon’s translation adds a crucial word: “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.” 

Incredibly, Pope Francis - despite his demonstrable liberal sympathies for women - with his amending and renumbering of Can. 1398, functionally relieves all accomplices to abortion - including politicians - and lays the blame completely on the person who "actually procures an abortion," which could only be the mother (if said mother proceeded under complete free will). 

As an aside, the word "completed" was deleted from the now-renumbered Canon 1398. 

This may be one of the "pro's" to the amendment of the subject canon since - on its face - the previous wording inadvertently allowed for the still full communion of anyone who formally or materially participated in the intentional death of a defenseless, innocent human being - a baby - in the event that said "baby" survived" a failed abortion, i.e. not "completed."

No matter. LLG would want that child dead anyway. 

HISSING SOUNDS ONLY

As we now well know, current Bank of Guam president and Democratic nominee for governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, opposes normal medical care for children who survive a failed abortion. She infamously opposed it at a legislative hearing in 2013 (Bill 195-13), and, unless she says otherwise, she apparently still opposes NORMAL medical care for children who survive a failed abortion. CONTINUED

SAD TO SAY...

AnonymousJune 17, 2016 at 1:00 PM

Senator, you are doing the right thing! Now, if only Hon up on the hill can do likewise and come forward to help the victims. Thank you Senator Aguon.

On: PDN: SEN. AGUON ADVOCATES TO PROTECT SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS

*****

Back in 2010, some may remember that I was in a vicious public fight with Senator Frank Aguon over the status of pro-life legislation that was languishing in his committee. I was as relentless at hammering on this senator then as I am as relentless at hammering on Apuron now. 

Even after Senator Aguon later publicly apologized for his role in not advancing that legislation, I continued to publicly hammer him, even calling him a LIAR, challenging him to put up or shut up. 

Senator Aguon was able in the end to actually shut ME up - because he PUT up. He reintroduced the bill I had criticized him for holding up, fought against several members of his own party to pass it, and ultimately saw its passage and enactment into law despite the withering criticism of some major pro-abortion Democratic party players, including this one. 

Go here to review the history of Bill 195-32 and Senator Aguon's championing of legislation we should not have had to fight for: a law mandating normal medical care for newborn babies who survive failed abortions and lie writhing on the delivery table. (Before this law, it was legal to kill these born-alive children.)

I state this to show that I am no political party hack. I'll fight for or against anyone based on what they fight for or against, not because of their family name, party, or connections. 

And it is with gratitude that I personally thank Senator Aguon for being the first public figure to PERSONALLY reach out to Apuron's victims and offer to help (not just pray for them). Sad to say, it should have been the new Apostolic Administrator. 

PROPPING UP APURON...AGAIN

So here's an interesting aside to the Cathedral Repair Scam - which I intend to disclose more about shortly.

SO WHO VOTED TO KILL THE BABIES?

Bill 195-32, signed into law as P.L. 32-090, mandates normal medical care for a child who survives a failed abortion. Children who survive failed abortions are drowned, beheaded, have their spines snipped in half, or are left to die in the clinic trash. "Yea" means save the baby. "Nay" means kill the baby. Remember in November.

NOTE: The two marks in the Nay column next to Senator Muna Barnes's name means she passed twice (didn't vote). You can ask her yourself why she did this instead of immediately voting Yea.

Ph.: (671) 472-3455/6, e-mail: senator@tinamunabarnes.com 

ESPERANSA NEWS: WE COULD NOT HAVE PLANNED IT BETTER!

During the discussion of the INFANT CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIFE ACT (Bill 195-32), Senator Mike San Nicolas gives an impassioned pro-life speech. Immediately behind him, and through the window, sits Anita Arriola, one of Guam's most famous abortion champions.

At the beginning of San Nicolas' speech, she is speaking with someone else. At about 3:38 into the speech she apparently notices that San Nicholas isn't keeping with the script. 

As a Democrat and a former employee of Guam's other most famous abortion champion, Bank of Guam President, Lou Leon Guerrero, we're sure they expected San Nicholas to at least keep his mouth shut if he had any pro-life leanings. 

However, San Nicolas gives one of the strongest pro-life statements in recent memory on the Session Floor. And Arriola is clearly not amused.

The juxtaposition of one of the strongest ever pro-life speeches on the Session Floor against the backdrop of the face (and facial expressions) of Guam's most prolific pro-abortion champion is, well…"we could not have planned it better." 

Enjoy. 

And thank you Senator San Nicolas. We look forward to your continued advocacy in all matters of protecting our most innocent and defenseless brothers and sisters, both born and unborn.

ESPERANSA NEWS: BILL 193 & 195 PASS. TROUBLE AHEAD.

From The Esperansa Project November 13, 2013

Dear Friends of the Unborn...and Born Alive:    Yesterday, the Legislature passed both Bill 193 and 195. Bill 195, which requires medical treatment for children who survive an abortion procedure passed 10 to 5 in its original form despite attempts to amend it. Bill 193 did not survive the "Floor" intact. Let's see what that means. Bill 193 was introduced to facilitate the implementation of Bill 52-31 which was signed into law over one year ago. Bill 52 required that a woman seeking an abortion be informed about the abortion procedure and her rights and alternatives.

ESPERANSA NEWS: THE INCREDIBLE SPEAKER WON PAT

This is an incredible statement…even for Won Pat. 

In arguing AGAINST the INFANT CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIFE ACT (Bill 195), Won Pat laments the loss of doctors who will perform abortions:

BILL 193 AND 195 ON THE SESSION AGENDA

The Legislature goes into session today, Tuesday, October 29. On the session are two abortion-related bills.

Bill 193 would permit the implementation of the informed consent law to move forward without the printed materials having to be submitted to the "rule-making process." The following senators have committed in writing to supporting this amendment:

1. Tony Ada (R)
2. Chris Duenas (R)
3. Michael Limtiaco (R)
4. Brant McCreadie (R)
5. Tommy Morrison (R)
6. Rory Respicio (D)
7. Dennis Rodriguez, Jr. (D)

One more is needed for passage. We assume that will be Senator Aguon since he introduced a similar measure.

Bill 195 would require "medically appropriate" treatment for children who survive an abortion procedure and would deem them human beings under Guam law.

In addition to praying for the passage of these bills we encourage you to keep an eye on the proceedings as per the TV channels noted on the press release which you can view here. 

The bills are listed as nos. 32 and 34 on the agenda. It is not possible at this point to speculate when the legislature will get to them, but keep on eye on this blog for updates.

ESPERANSA NEWS: A HAUNTING QUESTION FROM THE LATE SENATOR ELIZABETH ARRIOLA

Dear Friends of the Unborn...and Born Alive:  

Today, Monday, October 28, at 2pm, the Rules Committee will vote on whether or not to place Bill 195-32 on the agenda for the legislative session which begins tomorrow.

To review:

• Bill 195-32 would declare infants who survive an abortion procedure legal human beings under Guam law, and would mandate medically appropriate treatment for those infants.
• 25 states have a similar law.
• Even though there is a federal born-alive law, that law only applies to bureaus and agencies under federal control, not private abortion clinics.
• As 25 other states have found, such an law is necessary to address a gray area in the law as to whether a born-alive infant, previously sentenced to death by abortion, can be considered a legal person and deserving of the legal protections of other human beings.

As mentioned previously, it is difficult to oppose such a bill. The reality that is abortion becomes grotesquely clear when the child lays writing on the delivery table in full view. 

BILL 195-32: SAD COMMITTEE REPORT

Bill 195-32 would outlaw the killing of an infant who survives an abortion and would mandate "medically appropriate" treatment for the child.

In addition to Sirena Mafnas, who gave oral testimony in support of Bill 195-32, as per the committee report, the following individuals submitted written testimonies in support of the bill:

1. Tim Rohr
2. Marjorie DeBenedictis, MD
3. Genevieve Leon-Guerrero-Garrett
4. Mary Lou Garcia-Pereda
5. Christy Alcantara
6. Sharon O'Mallan
7. Dona Mila Taitano
8. David Zieber (left off committee report)

This is quite sad. Senator Aguon's committee should have gotten hundreds of emails and letters in support of this bill. No wonder the pro-aborts think they can trample on us. We'll be watching for a call to action from "the Hill."

FACT: GUAM KILLS 8% OF ITS CHILDREN

One out of every 11.75 pregnancies in Guam ends in abortion. 

We are killing 8% of our children...and that's only of what's reported.

(2011 Guam statistical year book crude birth rate for 2008-2011 compared with Guam Medical Records Abortion reports for the same period.)

If you have the stomach for it, click here to view the slide show.

P.S. Are you banking with Guam's biggest supporter of abortion?

Watch the president of the Bank of Guam oppose a bill that would mandate normal medical care for infants who survive abortion.

ESPERANSA NEWS: "WE ARE NOT STUPID AND WON'T BE BULLIED!

Dear Friends of the Unborn...and Born-Alive:

As the bill which attempts to declare infants who survive abortion legal human beings under Guam law (Bill 195) makes its way from Committee to the Session Floor (we hope), it is CRITICAL that supporters of the bill and lawmakers understand the deception that was perpetrated by the five opponents of the bill at the public hearing. 

Opposing a bill outlawing the throwing of writhing, struggling infants into the abortion clinic trash is not an easy thing to do. So Guam's champions of abortion had to find another way. 

However, this "other way" assumes two things: 

1) we are stupid, and 

2) we can be bullied.

WE ARE NOT STUPID AND WE WON'T BE BULLIED! Though it remains to be seen what our senators will do.

To combat the absurdities , I wrote an op-ed which appears in today's edition of the Pacific Daily News. Please read it and share it. And email every senator and demand that they not be fooled or bullied by these people.

The op-ed appears here:

 http://www.guampdn.com/article/20131024/OPINION02/310240016/Testimony-Bill-195-lacked-facts

PUBLIC TESTIMONIES OF THOSE WHO OPPOSED THE BILL

The testimony of Drs. Bordallo and Bez here.

The testimony of Bank of Guam President, Lou Leon Guerrero, here.

The testimony of Executive Director of the Ayuda Foundation, Carlotta Leon Guerrero here.

The testimony of Attorney Anita Arriola here.

 

NOTE: Senator Frank Aguon, the sponsor of the bill, has confirmed as of 10/23/13 that the bill has been reported out of Committee and has promised to do his utmost to get it placed on the agenda. We will link to the committee report as soon as it is available on the Legislature's website. 

Senators' Email Addresses

aline4families@gmail.com

senatortonyada@guamlegislature.org

brantforguam@gmail.com

duenasenator@gmail.com

senatordrodriguez@gmail.com

aguon4guam@gmail.com

senatorsannicolas@gmail.com

mike@mikelimtiaco.com

roryforguam@gmail.com

senator@senatorbjcruz.com

speaker@judiwonpat.com

senator@tinamunabarnes.com

office@senatorada.org

tommy@senatormorrison.com

senbenp@guam.net

 

This newsletter may be read, shared, and commented on at www.junglewatch.info

WHY WOULD SO MANY INFANTS BE DYING AT THE HOSPITAL?

"...and that's where I would urge you to put your attention, your focus, and the budget purse strings...towards that, and NOT what's before you today." - C. Leon Guerrero

Former Senator Carlotta Leon Guerrero had a curious take on Bill 195-32. She used the occasion of the public hearing to draw attention to Guam’s infant mortality rate by opposing a bill which would outlaw the killing of infants who survive abortions. 

Watch it here, then read the comments below.

Ms. Leon Guerrero attributes Guam’s infant mortality rate, which she says is “twice that of the United States”, on “shaken baby syndrome”, on “kids in poor houses with violence”, on “elderly grandmothers with Alzheimers”, and on “young mothers leaving their kids and going out.”

Obviously, from her pile of statistics, which she waves around in front of the senators, she didn’t bother to get the actual statistics for the reason so many infants die on Guam. 

So here, we'll provide it.

At the public hearing for Bill No. 62-32, now P.L. 32-030, Dr. Aurelio Espinola testified that of the 44 deaths of children in 2011 under one year of age, he had examined 34 of the bodies and determined that the primary cause of death was “due to prematurity”. 

This means that they probably died before they ever left the hospital (and not at the hands of "grandmothers with Alzheimers"), since doctors normally do not send premature infants in danger of dying home with the parents. Now why would that be? Why would so many infants be dying at the hospital?

Stay tuned. 

SHE STOOD ALONE...BUT SHE STOOD

Bill 195-32, the INFANT CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIFE ACT would mandate normal medical care for a child who survives an abortion procedure. The bill does NOT require the doctor to save the child, but only to acknowledge that once expelled from the mother, the child is a legal human being under the laws of Guam, and is not to be treated as medical waste. Four of the Five women below opposed the bill. Only one supported it.

STAND AGAINST CHAMORRO GENOCIDE

On October 10, 2013, a 20 year old Chamorro girl stood alone against some of this island's most powerful Chamorro women leaders, women who saw fit to finish the death sentence of abortion even if that child should survive the procedure and lay gasping for life in a bucket of medical waste, women who have famously promoted abortion on Guam for more than two decades.

Sirena Mafnas ends her message with a threat these women have no answer for: "I am the future!" For she and others like her will outlive the pro-abortion generation that continues to preserve Guam as the easiest place in the nation to procure an abortion despite the dominance of the Catholic Church on the island. The abortion-preserving generation of Guam will die and Sirena's generation will replace it. Maybe then - as Sirena hopes - Chamorros will stop their self-genocide. Share this message far and wide.

"Since the end of World War II, the Guam native population, who are mostly Roman Catholics, has undergone one of the most dramatic socioeconomic developments ever recorded. They have rapidly become incorporated into the dominant American culture and economy. This accelerated process of modernization has been accompanied by a very sharp fertility decline. One reason for this decline has been the increasing defection of Guam Roman Catholic women from the traditional teaching of their Church on the subject of birth control. This trend of fertility decline, although at higher levels, resembles that of East Asian countries with rapid fertility decline." 

- Journal of Biosocial Science (1984), 16:231-239 Cambridge University Press.

A GUAM ABORTION STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING

In my testimony in support of Bill 195-32 of October 13, 2013, I wrote that I could give the name of a happy adoptive father of a child who survived an abortion on Guam. Former Guam resident, Mike Carey, is the name of the “happy adoptive father” and he has given me permission to share the following. 

ESPERANSA NEWS: TIM ROHR TESTIMONY ON INFANT CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIFE ACT (BILL 195-32)

Tim Rohr

PO Box 9001, Agat, GU 96928

timrohr.guam@gmail.com

October 13, 2013

Honorable Frank B. Aguon, Jr. 

Suite, 104 

155 Hesler St.

Hagåtña, Guam  96910             

Chairman, Committee on the Guam US Military Relocation, Homeland Security, Veteran’s Affairs and Judiciary

RE: TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF BILL 195-32

Dear Senator Aguon:

I write in support of Bill 195-32 and urge its prompt passage. 

I also want to address the erroneous claims by Lou Leon Guerrero and Anita Arriola made at the recent public hearing.

Lou Leon Guerrero was reported as saying: “I am aware that there is always (sic) federal legislation that addresses the issue at hand, thus making this legislation unnecessary.”  And Anita Arriola reportedly claimed that the measure is "unnecessary since Guam and federal law already protect born alive infants, whether or not they are born alive as a result of an abortion.” ¹

Both statements are incorrect. Section (a) of the federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) 1 USC § 8 reads:

In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the words “person”, “human being”, “child”, and “individual”, shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.

As is clearly evident, the law only applies to acts, rulings, regulations and interpretations  to bureaus and agencies under federal control. Also, the law goes on to only define the term “born-alive” and does not mandate medical care nor impose a penalty for not doing so as does Bill 195-32. (See attached copy of the complete statute.)