OPINION | This article contains opinion. This site is licensed to publish this content.
Catholic Bishops will vote in June regarding whether or not high-profile pro-abortion Catholics such as Joe Biden will be allowed or denied taking part in communion, according to The Western Journal.
Catholic Bishops are concerned that public figures defy Catholic teachings yet pose as devout Catholics.
Bishop John Stowe said, “If a politician is targeted as a negative example by his own church, that sets a sad context in which the church can deal with this Catholic president.”
“It contributes to the polarization of the church and of society.”
Bishop Robert McElroy said, “I do not see how depriving the president or other political leaders of the Eucharist based on their public policy stance can be interpreted in our society as anything other than a weaponization of the Eucharist … to pummel them into submission.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said, “They need to understand the scandal that is caused when they say they are faithfully Catholic and yet oppose the church on such a basic concept.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann stated, “Because President Biden is Catholic, it presents a unique problem for us.”
“It can create confusion. … How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?”
“He doesn’t have the authority to teach what it means to be Catholic — that’s our responsibility as bishops,” Naumann continued.
“Whether intentional or not, he’s trying to usurp our authority.”
Archbishop Charles Chaput stated, “Public figures who identify as Catholic give scandal to the faithful when receiving Communion by creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional.”
“By his actions during the course of his public life, Mr. Biden has demonstrated that he is not in full communion with the Catholic Church.”
Rev. Jerry Pokorsky said Biden has “magnified and institutionalized countless major violations of the Ten Commandments. The hypocrisy rivals that of the chief priests and Pharisees and is worthy of the same condemnation.”
“Biden is the most aggressively anti-Catholic president in history.”
From The Western Journal:
After months of rumblings by some Catholic leaders that President Joe Biden’s embrace of abortion flouts Catholic doctrine, American bishops will vote in June on a document clarifying whether high-profile pro-abortion Catholics such as Biden should be denied Communion.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will face divergent views, with some leaders saying the church needs to send a message to public figures that they cannot defy Catholic teachings yet pose as faithful Catholics, while others say denying Communion due to differences on abortion is too harsh a step, according to The Associated Press.
He said he hopes what the bishops decide will impact Catholic political leaders who support abortion.
Naumann said three recent decisions have added urgency to the need for the Church to respond: the end of a federal ban on funding research that uses the tissue from aborted babies; a reversal of a rule that barred groups who refer women for abortions from getting certain federal grants; and federal actions making it easier for women to obtain an abortion pill.
The bishops are expected to decide whether to continue working on a document that would call upon pro-abortion Catholics not to seek Communion, but would allow each bishop to decide the policy for each diocese.
That means as a practical matter, the decision would have little impact on Biden, as Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Delaware, and Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C. have said Biden can receive Communion on their turf.
