US Catholic Bishops expected to advise denying communion to pro-abortion politicians crossmap.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from crossmap.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In accordance with existing USCCB policy, it would still leave decisions on withholding Communion up to individual bishops. In Biden’s case, the top prelates of the jurisdictions where he frequently worships Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Delaware, and Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C. have made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches they oversee.
The document-in-the-works results from a decision in November by the USCCB’s president, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, to form a working group to address the “complex and difficult situation” posed by Biden’s stances on abortion and other issues that differ from official church teaching. Before disbanding, the group proposed the drafting of a new document addressing the issue of Communion a project assigned to the doctrine committee.
Bishops may press Biden to stop taking Communion
Only the second Catholic president, he is the first to publicly support abortion rights.
By DAVID CRARYAssociated Press
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When U.S. Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June, they’ll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don’t receive Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights.
At issue is a document that will be prepared for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by its Committee on Doctrine, with the aim of clarifying the church’s stance on an issue that has repeatedly vexed the bishops in recent decades. It’s taken on new urgency now, in the eyes of many bishops, because Biden – only the second Catholic president – is the first to hold that office while espousing clear-cut support for abortion rights.
These comments have been edited for length, style and clarity.
If Biden publicly supported and signed legislation that directly supported slavery, I hope we wouldn’t still be having this conversation, that there would be unanimous outcry supporting withholding Communion. Yet if we’re “only” talking about abortion, somehow “it’s the bishops’ fault” for weaponizing the Eucharist.
Biden (presumably) knows what the church has believed and taught for millennia, yet insists on presenting himself anyway. This is Biden’s provocation.
Honestly, Biden is the one to weaponize it. He (presumably) knows what the church has believed and taught for millennia, yet insists on presenting himself anyway. This is Biden’s provocation. If he doesn’t want to abide by the Catholic faith and morals, there are plenty of Protestant denominations that will readily take him in and allow him to believe and practice whatever he so chooses.
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When U.S. Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June, they ll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don t receive Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights.
At issue is a document that will be prepared for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by its Committee on Doctrine, with the aim of clarifying the church s stance on an issue that has repeatedly vexed the bishops in recent decades. It s taken on new urgency now, in the eyes of many bishops, because Biden, only the second Catholic president, is the first to hold that office while espousing clear-cut support for abortion rights.