Newzity

Of course it is. It has been this way through out history, from the time church was formed, from the day Jesus died, then why not now. The case in point is the Saturday Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict. Of all people, the twice divorced pro-abortion major of NY Rudy Giuliani took communion at the same Mass.

What happened to the no divorce rule? What about the faith in the sanctity of life? Only last year, Pope Benedict himself reaffirmed that divorced Catholics cannot receive Communion unless they never have sexual relations with the new partner. Rudy was there with his third wife — not second, but third. When asked how he felt about breaking the rules to take Communion, Rudy said he saw nothing wrong with it. Not to mention his support for abortion. Though he did not take the Communion from Pope himself, he took it during the same Mass.

But he was not alone. Last Thursday, when Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Eucharistic liturgy in Washington, pro-choice liberals such as Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry also took communion.

I guess the rules only apply to mere mortals like average church going Catholics. Rich and famous just have to show up when Pope is in town. They have a different set of rules to follow.

Most of the Americans don’t think so. More than two in three Catholics believe that they can be faithful without the trouble of going to church every Sunday.

The survey released on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI first visit to America found an overwhelming support for him: eight in ten Catholics are happy with the new pope. However, only one third of 64 million Catholics attend Sunday Mass. One in three goes to confession less than once a year, and almost half never do. People over 45 and younger than 25 are most faithful: observing Lent, abstaining from meat on Fridays, believing in devotion to saints. But everyone is excited in the papal visit: half a million tickets are already sold for the two city events during his six day visit. There is, of course, the unavoidable commercial aspect to it all: from hawking merchandise to scalping tickets on the eBay. Only for a few dollars, you can get Pope soap to clean your sins and have eternal fun with Pope bobblehead.

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