Vatican Warns U.S. Bishops About Denying Communion To Biden, Other Catholic Pro-Abortion Politicians

[marke]

Vatican Warns U.S. Bishops About Denying Communion To Biden And Other Catholic Pro-Abortion Politicians​

A letter from the Vatican's office of doctrine is urging U.S. Catholic bishops who say politicians who support abortion should be denied communion to move very cautiously in the matter.

The strong warning came in a letter from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

There is division among the bishops, with some pressing for Joe Biden, and other Catholic public figures like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be excluded from Communion over their abortion stance. Other bishops warn that such a move would be politically polarizing.

Ladaria's letter said any new policy "requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions." It also laid out guidance that could hinder any tough repercussions for politicians who push abortion.

For one, Ladaria said any new statement should not be limited to Catholic political leaders but broadened to encompass all churchgoing Catholics in regard to their worthiness to receive Communion.

In an interesting take on the abortion issue, he also questioned the USCCB policy identifying abortion as "the preeminent" moral issue, saying it would be misleading if any new document "were to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest accountability on the part of Catholics."

Further, he said that if the U.S. bishops pursue a new policy, they should confer with bishops' conferences in other countries "both to learn from one another and to preserve unity in the universal church."

And finally, he said any new policy could not override the authority of individual bishops to make decisions on who can receive Communion in their dioceses.

In the past as a senator, Biden supported the Hyde Amendment that for years stood as a bulwark against using federal tax dollars for abortion. But since becoming president, Biden has backed away from that position. He recently signed a stimulus bill that did not include Hyde amendment protections and that directed some $50 million to Planned Parenthood.

As CBN News reported in January, one of Biden's very first executive orders once taking office reversed the Mexico City policy, which had prohibited U.S. aid money from funding nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion overseas. And in his choice of radical pro-abortion nominee Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Biden signaled his determination to overturn President Trump's policies that protected the religious freedom and conscience rights of health workers and doctors opposed to abortion.

Biden's apparent full-throttle push for all things abortion has made many Catholics uncomfortable with a politician who always said he was "personally opposed to abortion" but didn't want to force his religious views on anyone else.

Matthew Bunson, the Washington bureau chief at EWTN, the global Catholic network, recently told CBN News that America's second Catholic president is a "self-professed" Catholic, whose actions are contrary to the teachings of the church.

Bunson said, "To have a Catholic who is presenting himself or herself for communion while publicly in open dissent of the teachings of the church. This is a source of confusion for people, and for the bishops, this is a teaching moment. It's an important teaching moment."

Among the leaders of the campaign to rebuke Biden is Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who recently issued a pastoral letter arguing that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should not receive Communion. A few days later, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego published an essay opposing that, saying such an initiative "will bring tremendously destructive consequences."

Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit Catholic priest and senior analyst at the Religion News Service, told CBN News the bishops are very unhappy with President Biden's position on abortion, but the whole communion question is something else entirely.

"The bishops' conference that meets in June has absolutely no authority to tell President Biden that he cannot go to Communion," Reese said. "Under canon law, they do not have that authority."

"The only person that has authority over who goes to communion in his diocese is the local bishop," Reese explained. "So for Washington, D.C., that is Cardinal Wilton Gregory who has made clear that he is going to allow President Biden to go to Communion."

The question of just how flagrant public figures can be in pushing the abortion agenda and still be considered Catholics in good standing may find some resolution when the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meets on June 16. The USCCB plans to vote on drafting a document on the Communion issue.

It's considered unlikely that Biden would heed any call to forgo Communion, but a USCCB document urging him to do so would be a remarkable rebuke nonetheless.

The Vatican has a history of siding with the devil and is not to be considered a true representative of Christ. They do well to oppose abortion but they do wickedly to support other things God opposes, like homosexuality and idolatry.

 

[annabenedetti]

The Vatican has a history of siding with the devil and is not to be considered a true representative of Christ. They do well to oppose abortion but they do wickedly to support other things God opposes, like homosexuality and idolatry.

See, I know you're not the only one who believes this, which is why I find it so fascinating, your concerning yourself with internal Church matters, and what the bishops said, and what the pope said, and so on. Truly fascinating.

 

[marke]

See, I know you're not the only one who believes this, which is why I find it so fascinating, your concerning yourself with internal Church matters, and what the bishops said, and what the pope said, and so on. Truly fascinating.

If Catholics want their matters to remain internal then they should stay out of politics and political discussions. If they seek to mold public opinion then they must accept public criticism for their bad policies and judgments.

 

[annabenedetti]

If Catholics want their matters to remain internal then they should stay out of politics and political discussions. If they seek to mold public opinion then they must accept public criticism for their bad policies and judgments.

Even more interesting! I say I'm fascinated by your interest, but you go right for the control factor: "they should stay out of politics and political discussions." It's all about control for you. Control of everyone in every aspect of their lives.

 

[marke]

Even more interesting! I say I'm fascinated by your interest, but you go right for the control factor: "they should stay out of politics and political discussions." It's all about control for you. Control of everyone in every aspect of their lives.

Are you unaware that democrats seek to control political thought in this country by banning sites and videos that expose democrat corruption for what it is?

 

[annabenedetti]

Are you unaware that democrats seek to control political thought in this country by banning sites and videos that expose democrat corruption for what it is?

How about you stick to the subject? How you want the pope to 'handle' President Biden on the one hand, though on the other hand you actually think the pope sides with the devil? How does that work out in your mind?

 

[marke]

How about you stick to the subject? How you want the pope to 'handle' President Biden on the one hand, though on the other hand you actually think the pope sides with the devil? How does that work out in your mind?

Easy. Read what the Bible says about spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

[Jefferson]

The Vatican has a history of siding with the devil and is not to be considered a true representative of Christ.

Case in point:

 

[annabenedetti]

Easy. Read what the Bible says about spiritual wickedness in high places.

Easy. You can't reconcile the two. You think the pope is under the sway of the devil - and yet you want the pope to 'handle' President Biden.

 

[annabenedetti]

Case in point:

So you're done with the whole excommunication thingie?

I knew it wouldn't last long, this strange, awkward attempt to juggle anti-Catholicism with wanting the pope to 'own the lib.'

 

[Jefferson]

So you're done with the whole excommunication thingie?

I knew it wouldn't last long, this strange, awkward attempt to juggle anti-Catholicism with wanting the pope to 'own the lib.'

Nope, just a different subtopic.

 

[JudgeRightly]

your concerning yourself with internal Church matters, and what the bishops said, and what the pope said, and so on. Truly fascinating.

It's called keeping people accountable for their actions.

Or as David puts it:

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. - Proverbs 27:17 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs27:17&version=NKJV

Of course, that only applies if the other person is iron to begin with...

 

[marke]

Easy. You can't reconcile the two. You think the pope is under the sway of the devil - and yet you want the pope to 'handle' President Biden.

I don't want the pope or Biden to handle anything unless it has to do with their resignation from public life.

 

[annabenedetti]

I don't want the pope or Biden to handle anything unless it has to do with their resignation from public life.

That "unless" there just kills the sentiment.

Don't forget your thread wherein you care what he does: "Biden: To hell with God and the Church. I'm taking communion."

Biden is one of the elite. He does as he pleases and no God, church leader, or American law is going to stop him.

Joe Biden defied the nation’s Catholic bishops this weekend by attending Mass just two days after they voted for a new document on communion that could be used to rebuke pro-abortion politicians like him.
After the bishops overwhelming voted for the document and despite numerous bishops speaking up about the importance of the Catholic Church’s opposition to killing babies in abortion, the supposedly “faithful Catholic” went to mass anyway.

 

[annabenedetti]

Nope, just a different subtopic.

Then you (a non-Catholic) have more to say about Catholic excommunication works, in the context of wanting the pope to own the president?

Do go on.

Whatever happened to the evangelical fear of the president doing the pope's bidding over the Constitution?

 

[annabenedetti]

It's called keeping people accountable for their actions.

Or as David puts it:

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. - Proverbs 27:17 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs27:17&version=NKJV

Of course, that only applies if the other person is iron to begin with...

If the other isn't also iron, then the verse falls flatly into irrelevance. You can't have it both ways.

I have no problem people exercising the freedom to talk about the Catholic Church, while I exercise my freedom to be fascinated and amazed by them having to juggle their anti-Catholicism with their desire for the pope to own the president. Amazing stuff!

 

[marke]

That "unless" there just kills the sentiment.

Don't forget your thread wherein you care what he does: "Biden: To hell with God and the Church. I'm taking communion."

How does Biden's rebellion against God and his church translate into some sort of concern on my part about what he does to himself?

 

[annabenedetti]

How does Biden's rebellion against God and his church translate into some sort of concern on my part about what he does to himself?

Read your words again and maybe it will come to you. If it doesn't, I can't help you.

Biden is one of the elite. He does as he pleases and no God, church leader, or American law is going to stop him.

Joe Biden defied the nation’s Catholic bishops this weekend by attending Mass just two days after they voted for a new document on communion that could be used to rebuke pro-abortion politicians like him.
After the bishops overwhelming voted for the document and despite numerous bishops speaking up about the importance of the Catholic Church’s opposition to killing babies in abortion, the supposedly “faithful Catholic” went to mass anyway.

 

[marke]

Read your words again ...

Biden is one of the elite. He does as he pleases and no God, church leader, or American law is going to stop him.

Joe Biden defied the nation’s Catholic bishops this weekend by attending Mass just two days after they voted for a new document on communion that could be used to rebuke pro-abortion politicians like him.
After the bishops overwhelming voted for the document and despite numerous bishops speaking up about the importance of the Catholic Church’s opposition to killing babies in abortion, the supposedly “faithful Catholic” went to mass anyway.

Good post.