Cuomo at Church
February 23, 2011
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is divorced, has been living with his girlfriend, the Food Network celebrity Sandra Lee. Under Catholic canon law, that makes him guilty of “public concubinage” and he is not entitled to take communion. While many thousands of Catholics appear to be unaware of canon law, Cuomo cannot plead ignorance. As reported in The New York Times, Edward N. Peters, a consultant to Vatican court, has publicly criticized the governor for continuing to receive communion and has called for denying him communion. This is a positive development.
By the way, Cuomo took his young daughters to the gay pride parade in Manhattan last fall. He is an exemplary Catholic all around.
— Comments —
Michael S. writes:
If anyone is denying Andrew Cuomo Holy Communion, it is Andrew Cuomo himself. As Dr. Phil says, “You choose the actions, you choose the consequences.” (Say what you want about Dr. Phil himself, you can’t argue with that principle.)
Anyway, there are at least a few priests in New York City with a backbone (more than a few, in my experience). This article is from 2007, but I have no reason to suppose that the substance has changed.
The second priest mentioned, Father Joseph Marabe, offered the Mass at which my wife and I married. We love Father Marabe. We asked him to officiate at our wedding because of the solemnity with which he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He is a serious priest.
Finally, the article I linked above could not possibly have been written by a serious Catholic. There is no “Our Lady Queen Mary’s Catholic Church in Forest Hills, Queens.” Seriously — “Our Lady Queen Mary”? What kind of title is that? The writer must be referring to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, which is a parish with a lovely building led by a solid pastor, Monsignor Funaro. I’ve assisted at Mass there many times.
The Faith lives in New York City, despite everything.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us. Amen.
