The announcement reads: 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 has 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.
Such a stance, by a public figure, is “a grave moral evil,” according to Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities and believes it is necessary to publicly rebuke Biden on the issue.
“Because President Biden is Catholic, it presents a unique problem for us,” Naumann told The Associated Press. “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?”
The document, if approved, would make clear the USCCB’s view that Biden and other Catholic public figures with similar viewpoints should not present themselves for Communion, Naumann said.
Providing a different perspective, Christopher White published in the National Catholic Reporter (March 18) this report:
More than 20,000 individuals have signed a petition calling for Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, to be removed from his post as chairman of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee following a series of comments signaling hostility towards President Joe Biden over his position on abortion.
The open letter, according to its authors, "highlights how the archbishop's culture-war attacks on the president's faith contrasts with the approach of Pope Francis, who has expressed his desire to find common ground with the administration."
The letter was published on March 18 by the advocacy groups Faith in Public Life and Faithful America. Signatories call for Naumann to be replaced by a bishop who will give attention to a range of pro-life concerns, stating that "Pope Francis reminds us that 'the lives of the poor' and 'those already born' are 'equally sacred.' " Among its signers are 400 priests and men and women religious.
"In questioning President Biden's faith and even claiming he should not receive Communion, Archbishop Naumann is choosing the culture wars over pastoral leadership," the letter states, referring to an interview where Naumann said Biden "should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic."
But some Catholics have criticized the Faith in Public Life letter. Stephen White of the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America, argued in a tweet that the letter reveals some Catholics are "less bothered by Biden's support for abortion than by the Catholic bishops who point it out."
Naumann has been among Biden's most vociferous critics on abortion, using his homily as pro-life chairman ahead of the annual March for Life in January to directly challenge the president.
"Sadly, President Biden is the perfect example of the religiously and ethically incoherent straddle: claiming to believe that human life begins at conception and personally opposing abortion, while doing everything within his power to promote and institutionalize abortion not only in the USA but also around the world," he said.
In a series of interviews in recent weeks, he has built upon that argument to call on the president, a regular Mass-goer, to stop receiving Communion.
"The president doesn't believe what we believe about the sacredness of human life, or he wouldn't be taking the actions that he is. And yet, he continues to receive the Eucharist," he told The Atlantic earlier this month. "We can't judge his heart. But we consider the action itself a grave moral evil."
…Biden's local bishop, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, has already made clear he does not intend to deny the president Communion. Similarly, Bishop Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Delaware, has previously stated, "I do not intend to get drawn into partisan politics nor do I intend to politicize the Eucharist as a way of communicating Catholic Church teaching." (my emphasis)
Both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI personally administered Communion and presided over public Masses in which pro-choice politicians received the sacrament. (end)
We all have a personal relationship with Christ by virtue of our baptism, life of prayer, Mass attendance, and how we treat other people. We seek the good, and we pray to God for guidance and help. We ask for forgiveness when we have made poor choices and we have done wrong.
The Eucharist helps us sustain that relationship with Christ and strengthens us. It helps us struggle with our consciences and converse with Christ whose real presence challenges us to follow him and to be pastoral. Pope Francis certainly understands this need. Many Catholics understand this as well because many of us receive the Eucharist hoping for change of heart and, importantly, forgiveness of our many sins, such as the taking of life through abortion.
Should a woman who had an abortion be denied the Eucharist for the rest of her life? Of course not. She needs compassion and understanding. She needs Christ for comfort and care. Should daily-Mass-goer and prayerful President Biden be denied the Eucharist for his stand on abortion with which he likely struggles? I conclude “no.” Who are we to judge? We all have planks in our eyes.
Now we await the USCCB’s judgment. In my opinion, denying the Eucharist – Christ – to a faithful and devout Catholic is no small matter, regardless of that person’s stance on important life issues. Punishment will not work. Denying Christ is antichrist, in my opinion.
Deacon David Pierce
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