Handling forbidden to Joe Biden and American politicians who support abortion? US Catholic bishops have voted to set guidelines on the communion, a controversial move that could lead to restrictions on Catholic politicians who, like President Biden, advocate the termination of pregnancy. The measure passed by 168 votes to 55 against and six abstained after more than three and a half hours of heated debate at the Spring Bishops Conference, which was held online.
The issue of the communion of Catholic politicians who don’t oppose abortion has long divided the American Episcopalian, but it has gotten hotter since Biden, a practicing Catholic who goes to Mass and communicates every Sunday, was elected president. Last May, the Vatican warned US bishops that defining special procedures for Catholic politicians risks divisiveness and should only be followed if it leads to greater unity. In support of his preaching, the Vatican also cited a 2002 document signed by Pope John Paul II and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, future Pope Benedict XVI.
“Our credibility is on the line,” he said. “The country’s eyes are on us. If we don’t act bravely, clearly, and firmly on this central Catholic value, how can we expect to take other matters seriously?” Speaking of abortion, the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordelion, is in favor of approving the document.
The Archbishop of San Diego, Robert McIlroy, who warned of the danger of politicizing the Eucharist, was clearly opposed. He emphasized that “the Eucharist risks becoming an instrument in a fierce partisan clash…once we legitimize exclusion on a political basis…we shall have invited political hostility to the heart of the celebration of the Eucharist.”
Cardinal Wilton Gregory said priests in his diocese in Washington, D.C. would never deny Biden’s company and urged them to be vigilant. “The choice before us is to walk the path of unity or to walk towards a document that does not lead to unity, but rather will harm it,” he said.
Biden
US President, Catholic Joe Biden, told reporters in response to a question about US bishops’ debate about the possibility of banning Communion for politicians who do like him not, opposing abortion, reports The Hill. Biden is a devout Catholic and goes to mass and communicates every Sunday.
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