By threatening pro-choice Catholic politicians with the possibility of excommunication, O’Connor went farther than his brother bishops in addressing the abortion issue. Indeed, when O’Connor submitted a similar document last March to the Administrative Board of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, he did not mention excommunication as a sanction against government figures who disagree with the church. O’Connor eventually withdrew the paper after several other prelates argued that it might be counterproductive. Instead, they voted to hire a public-relations firm to make their case.
Apart from the excommunication threat, O’Connor’s discourse is a reasoned explanation of why the church considers abortion a sin, and shows considerable empathy for women faced with unwanted pregnancies. In a bold break with other conservative Catholics, the cardinal accepts legislation that limits abortion to rape or incest cases when outlawing it altogether is politically impossible, and raises legitimate questions about the fairness of the New York press in providing equal access to proponents–apart from himself– of pro-life positions.
O’Connor clearly feels that his is a lonely voice crying in the wilderness of New York’s liberal politics. His main concern is to dispel the confusion “ordinary Catholics” may have when they “see a prominent individual ignore the Church’s teaching and go unpunished by the Church.” He is particularly critical of the position that Cuomo and many other Catholic politicians have taken in professing to be personally opposed to abortion while supporting a woman’s right to choose. Such an approach, he points out, “serves the agenda of those who actively favor abortion.”
Cuomo “upset’ But in rattling the sheathed sword of excommunication, O’Connor only antagonized–and probably enhanced– those politicians he set out to warn. Cuomo, warmed by a recent Democratic focus group which showed that his greatest appeal is his willingness to stand up to the cardinal, said he found O’Connor’s statements “upsetting” and reaffirmed his commitment to “people having the choice in our democracy. " “Intimidating and threatening people is not the sensitive and churchly thing to do,” said Rep. Charles Rangel, a pro-choice Democrat from New York City.
In fact, O’Connor’s words were far less threatening than they sounded. While church law clearly states that anyone who procures or abets an abortion is automatically excommunicated, the relevant canon has never been applied to public officials who legislate or administer laws permitting abortion. A bishop can, under a catchall canon, excommunicate a Catholic if he senses an “urgent need to preclude or repair scandal.” But, says Father James Provost, chairman of the canon law department at the Catholic University of America, “it would be difficult to prove that the positions adopted by Catholic politicians are in violation of a church law when the difference with their bishop is primarily over political tactics to be adopted.” In any case, Cardinal O’Connor could not excommunicate Cuomo since the governor is subject to another bishop, and if he took action against politicians from his own archdiocese, it would entail a lengthy legal process including a right of appeal to Rome.
The cardinal seemed surprised by the uproar over his lengthy missive. “I don’t have a hit list.” he protested. But if he is unprepared to follow through on his implied threat, why did he mention it at all, especially when his brother bishops have been reluctant to do so? Apart from reassuring the ordinary faithful that the church is not happy with Catholic politicians who ignore its teachings, the cardinal succeeded only in stiffening the necks of New Yorkers who find his style abrasive and consider his speaking out on abortion politically intrusive. Among politicians, only O’Connor’s friend and coauthor, former mayor Ed Koch, defended the cardinal’s action. “That’s his job,” said Koch, who as a Jew has no fear of excommunication.
The political truth is that few politicians, especially Democrats, can survive in New York without embracing a pro-choice position. O’Connor seems to acknowlege this when he calls on Catholic officeholders to make their public stands congruent with their private convictions, and “even to accept political defeat, should such be the result, rather than sacrifice human life.” That’s noble. It’s also easy for O’Connor to say. He wasn’t elected archbishop.
