A Call to Deny Communion to Cuomo
ALBANY — A consultant to the Vatican’s highest court is calling for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to be denied holy communion because he lives with his girlfriend without being married to her.
Edward N. Peters, a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, who last year was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a consultant to the Vatican court, the Apostolic Signatura, called the governor’s living situation “public concubinage” in his blog on Jan. 4, and said in a recent interview that Mr. Cuomo, who is Roman Catholic, must refrain from taking communion under canon law.
“The governor, with complete freedom, is publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the church,” Dr. Peters wrote in response to written questions from Cybercast News Service, a conservative Web site, which published his remarks Monday.
“His taking holy communion,” Dr. Peters wrote, “is objectively sacrilegious.”
“If he approaches for holy communion,” he added, “he should be denied the august sacrament.”
Mr. Cuomo’s marriage to Kerry Kennedy ended in a bitter, highly public divorce in 2003. When he is not staying at the Executive Mansion in Albany, Mr. Cuomo lives with Sandra Lee, a Food Network celebrity, at her home in Westchester County.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, Josh Vlasto, declined to comment.
In his written responses, Dr. Peters also criticized Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, who presided over the Mass that Mr. Cuomo attended with Ms. Lee and his three daughters on Jan. 2.
A spokesman for Bishop Hubbard could not be reached for comment.
Dr. Peters declined a request for an interview, but he wrote recently on his blog,canonlawblog.blogspot.com, that his remarks had been accurately characterized by Cybercast News Service.
His comments followed similar remarks made by Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a former archbishop of St. Louis and the head of the Vatican court. Cardinal Burke is known for his criticism of President Obama and of Catholic politicians who support abortion rights and same-sex marriage, who, he says, should be denied communion.
A version of this article appeared in print on February 23, 2011, on page A18 of the New York edition.
COMMENT: Let me see if I have this straight. The governor of New York by living with his girl friend is publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the church, but retired Philadelphia Cardinal Bevilacqua who allowed priests under his supervision to rape little boys goes unpunished. Maybe I should write Professor Peters and ask for clarification about what the fundamental moral expectations of the church are.
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