Fighting for the soul of Joe Biden
Biden persists in grave sin by supporting and campaigning in favor of abortion
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Question of the Day
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
In June 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was trying to work out what to do about Catholic politicians who were receiving Holy Communion while obstinately persisting in grave sin by supporting and campaigning in favor of abortion.
Most prominently at the time it was John Kerry who was running for president. To help the USCCB, then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a memo giving direction on the question. The solution was contained in a single sentence in the Code of Canon Law, number 915: “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.”