American bishops are divided over whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, like President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, should receive Communion. They may vote on the issue next month. CraryAP reports.
In this Sunday, April 12 2020 photo, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone celebrates Easter Mass, which was live streamed, at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. Cordileone hopes his fellow bishops, at their upcoming national meeting in June, will agree to send a strong message of disapproval to Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion rights.
Cordileone, who has long established himself as a forceful anti-abortion campaigner, recently has made clear his view that such political figures — whose ranks include President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — should not receive Communion because of their stance on the issue. The archbishop issued aon the topic May 1 and reinforced the message in an hourlong interview Friday with the Catholic television network EWTN.
The polarized viewpoints of the two prelates illustrate how divisive this issue could be if, as expected, it comes before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at its national assembly starting June 16. There are plans for the bishops to vote on whether the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine should draft a document saying Biden and other Catholic public figures with similar views on abortion should refrain from Communion.
The archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has made it clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches he oversees. Bishop William Koenig, appointed April 30 to head the Wilmington diocese, said he would gladly speak with Biden about his views on abortion but did not say whether he would allow him to continue receiving Communion, as Koenig’s predecessor had done.
“Because we are dealing with public figures and public examples of cooperation in moral evil, this correction can also take the public form of exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion,” he wrote. “This is a bitter medicine, but the gravity of the evil of abortion can sometimes warrant it.”
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