Priest Says He Wrote Obama Column Too Hastily

By E. Richard Walton / The Greenville News
More than 50 people demonstrated outside St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Greenville on Saturday afternoon in support of the priest who told parishioners that those who voted for Barack Obama shouldn't receive Holy Communion until they've done penance because of Obama's abortion stance. A short time later, during a mass inside the church, the Rev. Jay Scott Newman spoke to the congregation about the national controversy stirred by his comments on the church Web site. "I don't know what kind of week you had, but I've had a pretty interesting week," Newman said during the 5 p.m. mass.
Click Here For The Full Story......

Related:
S.C. Diocese Critical of Greenville Priest's Obama Comments
By Eric Connor / The Greenville News
South Carolina’s Charleston-based Roman Catholic Diocese said Friday that it doesn’t believe parishioners who voted for Barack Obama should have to seek penance before partaking Holy Communion, a condition a Greenville priest suggested this week because of Obama’s stance on abortion. The priest, Father Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, couldn’t be reached for comment late Friday. "As administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, let me state with clarity that Father Newman’s statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church’s teachings," Monsignor Martin T. Laughlin said Friday in a posting on the diocese’s Web site. "Any comments or statements to the contrary are repudiated."

Priest Advises Penance For Obama Vote
By Ben Szobody / The Greenville News
The priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Greenville has told parishioners that those who voted for Barack Obama placed themselves under divine judgment because of his stance on abortion and shouldn't receive Holy Communion until they've done penance. The Rev. Jay Scott Newman told The Greenville News on Wednesday that church teaching doesn't allow him to refuse Holy Communion to anyone based on political choices, but that he'll continue to deliver the church's strong teaching on the "intrinsic and grave evil of abortion" as a hidden form of murder.

Posted by Editor at November 17, 2008 07:12 AM