Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez needs to decide whether or not he’s a Catholic, because he cannot sponsor and support legislation to legalize assisted suicide and be a Catholic at the same time.
That may sound harsh to secular ears, but it is true nonetheless.
Nunez isn’t unique. American politics is replete with politicians — usually, but not always. liberal Democrats — who like to call themselves Catholics while they publicly and unashamedely flout core Church teachings.
The Assembly Speaker is in the news because Cardinal Roger Mahoney called him out for sponsoring AB 374 to legalize assisted suicide.
I’ve never been a fan of Cardinal Mahoney, and his condemnation of Nunez rings a bit hollow considering his tolerance for heterodoxy within the Los Angeles Archdiocese and how he has chummed it up with pro-choice, pro-gay "marriage" "Catholic" politicians for years — not to mention allowing the molestation scandal to fester in his last two bishoprics.
Though clearly a flawed vessel, the Cardinal is correct and his admonishment should be viewed as coming from his office, not the man who occupies it.
Nunez is certainly free to sponsor and vote for all manner of "culture of death" legislation. But he cannot do that and still present himself to the public and his constituents as a Catholic.
Catholic politicians like Nunez love to show up Church festivals for feast days like Our Lady Of Guadalupe and "be Catholic" for a while. But Catholicism isn’t an ethnicity — it is a profession of faith and a difficult one at that, which is why most of us spend our lives falling short.
But privately falling short of Church doctrines one knows to be true is one thing. Publicly blowing off Church doctrines while simultaneously and cynically donning the Catholic mantle for the consumption of their Catholic constituents. The latter can weaken the faith of other Catholics because they see their co-religionists in elected office ignoring Church doctrine without penalty or consequence. This leads at least some, naturally enough, to conclude that if Assemblyman So-and-So doesn’t have to follow Church teaching, why should they?
Pope Benedict XVI addressed this in his February apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritiatis:
In this regard, prelates Like Cardinal Mahoney share much of the blame. They rarely hold Catholic politicians to account for espousing legalized abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia or gay "marriage" or other policies that run directly counter to Catholic doctrines that one cannot dissent from and remain in full communion with the Church.
Mahoney should have been remonstrating Catholic elected officials like Nunez years ago and denying them communion if they persist in their defiance. Lecturing Nunez now makes Mahoney seem like the detached parent who routinely allows his children to misbehave and then explodes in anger when one of them breaks something valuable. Bishops to guide and teach their flocks continually — even when it uncomfortable and will incur harsh criticism from the secular world.
Mahoney’s lapses in moral leadership don’t translate into a free pass for Fabian Nunez. The Church is clear regarding suicide and assisting others in committing it.: voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Nunez’s can make one of two genuine responses to Cardinal Mahoney’s challenge regarding AB 374: he can renounce his sponsorship and support for AB 374 and assisted suicide. Or he can plunge ahead with the bill and stop calling himself a Catholic until such time as he reconciles himself to the Church doctrine. But he can’t be a proponent of assisted suicide and a faithful Catholic at the same time.