Pope Francis on denying communion to facilitators of abortion

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From the Aparecida Document, a joint declaration by the Bishops of Latin America, and signed and presented by the future Pope Francis:
We hope that legislators, heads of government, and health professionals, conscious of the dignity of human life and of the rootedness of the family in our peoples, will defend and protect it from the abominable crimes of abortion and euthanasia; that is their responsibility. Hence, in response to government laws and provisions that are unjust in the light of faith and reason, conscientious objection should be encouraged. We must adhere to “eucharistic coherence,” that is, be conscious that they cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged. This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of governments, and health professionals.
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You can read it translated into English here: old.usccb.org/latinamerica/english/aparecida_Ingles.pdf

Could make for an interesting Mass when Biden, Pelosi, et al, attend.
 
Thank you for posting this.

Yet, words are one thing, and ACTIONS are another. Will bishops and priests, and Pope Francis, really start actually DENYING Holy Communion to societal and governmental leaders who publicly announced their endorsement of abortion rights laws?

Forgive me, but I have my doubts. I think we’ve heard this before, that the Church hierarchy was about to crack down on the pro-abort Catholic dissenters in positions of public leadership and influence. But, in the past, going for for 20 years now, it has never happened.

I heard Fr. Mitch Pacwa on Catholic radio this week say, in response to a caller complaining about Joe Biden receiving communion, that this is an entirely private matter between Joe Biden and his bishop, and it is none of any other Catholic’s business. I was ashamed of Fr. Pacwa for giving such a false answer. He’s trying to defend the dignity of the Church hierarchy, which in general is good thing. But surely he know about better, as regards this grievous matter of life and death.

That’s why I propose that USHERS OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL UNITE! I propose that the ushers at Catholic parishes unite and resolve to nonviolently block all the pro-abort pro-death types from getting anywhere near the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist.
 
Bishop Joseph Francis Martino in Scranton, PA, Biden’s hometown said in the diocese Biden would be refused Communion because he supported abortion:

nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/politics/17catholics.html

Bishop Michael Sheridan in Colarado Springs said in an interview about whether the Bishop would deny Biden Communion
He should know, and I would do everything I could do to make sure that he knows, he ought not to be receiving Communion.
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gazette.com/opinion/bishop-145729-politicians-sheridan.html
 
I don’t think this is going to happen either unless the new Pope Francis gives direct orders to ALL of the Bishops in the US and the world to do this, and unless the priests and congregation of the various parishes they belong to won’t give them Holy Communion, and I doubt this will happen either.

Perhaps a few homilies dealing with the Eucharist and the state of our souls receiving this sacrament would be helpful, but I wonder if these parishes are afraid to offend them or worse, losing their contributions to the parish.

It may be that the various people receiving Communion and shouldn’t be, but knowingly receive it will be at the mercy of the Divine Judge, and maybe even that Bishop in charge of their diocese who didn’t try to intervene.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
Thank you for posting this.

Yet, words are one thing, and ACTIONS are another. Will bishops and priests, and Pope Francis, really start actually DENYING Holy Communion to societal and governmental leaders who publicly announced their endorsement of abortion rights laws?

Forgive me, but I have my doubts. I think we’ve heard this before, that the Church hierarchy was about to crack down on the pro-abort Catholic dissenters in positions of public leadership and influence. But, in the past, going for for 20 years now, it has never happened.

I heard Fr. Mitch Pacwa on Catholic radio this week say, in response to a caller complaining about Joe Biden receiving communion, that this is an entirely private matter between Joe Biden and his bishop, and it is none of any other Catholic’s business. I was ashamed of Fr. Pacwa for giving such a false answer. He’s trying to defend the dignity of the Church hierarchy, which in general is good thing. But surely he know about better, as regards this grievous matter of life and death.

That’s why I propose that USHERS OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL UNITE! I propose that the ushers at Catholic parishes unite and resolve to nonviolently block all the pro-abort pro-death types from getting anywhere near the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist.
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To do such a thing is not within the role of an usher, and, itself, is most likely a sin. It is not the place of an usher-or any other member of the laity-to make a judgment as to the state of someone else’s soul-not even public figures. For example, take the case of any well-known politician whose position is known to be pro-choice: at any given Mass, how are the ushers to know whether or not tha politician might have gone to Confession shortly before Mass and been absolved of the sin of supporting abortion?
 
RyanBlack said:
To do such a thing is not within the role of an usher, and, itself, is most likely a sin. It is not the place of an usher-or any other member of the laity-to make a judgment as to the state of someone else’s soul-not even public figures. For example, take the case of any well-known politician whose position is known to be pro-choice: at any given Mass, how are the ushers to know whether or not tha politician might have gone to Confession shortly before Mass and been absolved of the sin of supporting abortion?
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We’ll know they have repented when they have UNDONE the horrific, monstrous, murderous damage of their public endorsement of abortion rights WHEN they publicly state that they now oppose all abortion rights legislation and court decisions and will consistently vote against abortion laws. Lay people can’t judge the state of anyone’s souls. Nor do we need to. No lay person can even judge the state of the soul of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. But we can know what they were doing and publicly saying and we can legitimately condemn that.

Aren’t 50 million dead unborn babies in the USA in the last 40 years enough?

Isn’t it time we get off the 500 year plan and start getting serious?

The trains are still running to Auschwitz, folks. This isn’t just another political issue. This is a Holocaust. Yet, we all sleep just fine and night, have our parties, and act like everything’s normal.

SHAME ON US.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
We’ll know they have repented when they have UNDONE the horrific, monstrous, murderous damage of their public endorsement of abortion rights WHEN they publicly state that they now oppose all abortion rights legislation and court decisions and will consistently vote against abortion laws. Lay people can’t judge the state of anyone’s souls. Nor do we need to. No lay person can even judge the state of the soul of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. But we can know what they were doing and publicly saying and we can legitimately condemn that.

Aren’t 50 million dead unborn babies in the USA in the last 40 years enough?

Isn’t it time we get off the 500 year plan and start getting serious?

The trains are still running to Auschwitz, folks. This isn’t just another political issue. This is a Holocaust. Yet, we all sleep just fine and night, have our parties, and act like everything’s normal.

SHAME ON US.
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Still, you are acting as if WE can do something about stopping politicians who support abortion from receiving communion. We can do nothing; if we did, we would out of place and gravely sinning.

It is the job of the bishops, and the bishops alone, to decide if an individual should not receive communion.
 
dshix said:
Still, you are acting as if WE can do something about stopping politicians who support abortion from receiving communion. We can do nothing; if we did, we would out of place and gravely sinning.

It is the job of the bishops, and the bishops alone, to decide if an individual should not receive communion.
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Well, call me rowdy, but if Adolf Hitler were in the communion line, I would feel competent to get a bunch of my fellow lay Catholics and block his way even if the priest and bishop and pope were right there and we doing nothing to stop him.

Even St. Paul denounced St. Peter on one occasion.

50 MILLION murdered unborn babies are enough already, aren’t they?

Shall we just do nothing different in the next 40 years than the ineffective things we’ve been doing for the last 40 years. We know by now that our bishops and popes sometimes let the Church down and don’t do what they ought to have done. Even Pope Francis has publicly said that he didn’t do enough to protect the Church during the right-wing dictatorship in Argentina from 1976-1983. Then there’s the case of Cardinal Mahoney…
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
We’ll know they have repented when they have UNDONE the horrific, monstrous, murderous damage of their public endorsement of abortion rights WHEN they publicly state that they now oppose all abortion rights legislation and court decisions and will consistently vote against abortion laws. Lay people can’t judge the state of anyone’s souls. Nor do we need to. No lay person can even judge the state of the soul of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. But we can know what they were doing and publicly saying and we can legitimately condemn that.

Aren’t 50 million dead unborn babies in the USA in the last 40 years enough?

Isn’t it time we get off the 500 year plan and start getting serious?

The trains are still running to Auschwitz, folks. This isn’t just another political issue. This is a Holocaust. Yet, we all sleep just fine and night, have our parties, and act like everything’s normal.

SHAME ON US.
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Again, it is not our place to judge the state of the soul of anyone who approaches to receive Holy Communion-not even those whose sins are public. At any given Mass, how could the ushers know that a pro-choice politician did not repent of his/her sins in confession just prior to Mass, receive absolution, and the blessing of the priest to receive Holy Communion? It is simply not the place of the laity to make such determinations. Furthermore, it is not the place of the laity to determine what public acts of repentance are required.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
Well, call me rowdy, but if Adolf Hitler were in the communion line, I would feel competent to get a bunch of my fellow lay Catholics and block his way even if the priest and bishop and pope were right there and we doing nothing to stop him.

Even St. Paul denounced St. Peter on one occasion.

50 MILLION murdered unborn babies are enough already, aren’t they?

Shall we just do nothing different in the next 40 years than the ineffective things we’ve been doing for the last 40 years. We know by now that our bishops and popes sometimes let the Church down and don’t do what they ought to have done. Even Pope Francis has publicly said that he didn’t do enough to protect the Church during the right-wing dictatorship in Argentina from 1976-1983. Then there’s the case of Cardinal Mahoney…
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You are not St. Paul, or any other apostle, are you?
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
Well, call me rowdy, but if Adolf Hitler were in the communion line, I would feel competent to get a bunch of my fellow lay Catholics and block his way even if the priest and bishop and pope were right there and we doing nothing to stop him.
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Well, then, you would be committing a grave sin with full knowledge and consent; a mortal sin.
Bartolome_Casas said:
Even St. Paul denounced St. Peter on one occasion.

50 MILLION murdered unborn babies are enough already, aren’t they?

Shall we just do nothing different in the next 40 years than the ineffective things we’ve been doing for the last 40 years. We know by now that our bishops and popes sometimes let the Church down and don’t do what they ought to have done. Even Pope Francis has publicly said that he didn’t do enough to protect the Church during the right-wing dictatorship in Argentina from 1976-1983. Then there’s the case of Cardinal Mahoney…
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I don’t know where you get this idea that denying communion to politicians will somehow change their political views. They are just using the Church as a political handle, and if the Church rejects them, they’ll reject it.
 
RyanBlack said:
Again, it is not our place to judge the state of the soul of anyone who approaches to receive Holy Communion-not even those whose sins are public. At any given Mass, how could the ushers know that a pro-choice politician did not repent of his/her sins in confession just prior to Mass, receive absolution, and the blessing of the priest to receive Holy Communion?
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In the case of public sins, which would surely apply to the politicians in question, a public disavowal is required. Private absolution is not sufficient.But with regard to public sinners, as we have already said, they were never absolved until they had performed public penance. (Catechism of Trent)
It is simply not the place of the laity to make such determinations.
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The obligation to safeguard the sanctity of the Eucharist is the sole responsibility of the minister distributing it, it doesn’t belong to an usher.

Ender
 
Blessed Franz Jägerstätter disobeyed the direct commands of five or so Catholic priests who said it was the teaching of the Catholic Church that he was obligated to fight for his nation, Germany, in the war that was raging. But Blessed Franz Jägerstätter was a devout Catholic, was a Secular Franciscan, and he knew the facts of what the Nazi German government was doing in its unjust wars of aggression against other nations.

Blessed Franz Jägerstätter refused to follow Church law, Church teaching and the direction of numerous priests. He refused to follow Adolf Hitler, refused to serve in the army, and he was decapitated in 1943, leaving his wife a widow and his children fatherless.

The pope at the time, Pius XII never said it was okay for Germans to refuse service in the Nazi military.

Move forward in time to the year 2007, when another man who did not refuse to serve in Adolf Hitler’s armies declared Franz Jägerstätter to be blessed and a martyr.

What changed? The Vatican II Council happened. That council developed further the Church’s teachings on peace and war and conscience.

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_J%C3%A4gerst%C3%A4tter

So, if a lay Catholic wants to physically block Joe Biden from receiving Holy Communion, I think he should do so. He might get arrested. He might be condemned. But in 60 years, he might end up being declared Blessed.

That seems plausible, anyway. These are dark times, just like the Nazi era. We should never be violent, but we must get serious, please PEOPLE!
 
I doubt we’ll actually see any action on this. His Holiness would not want to offend anyone.

I’m not one for the whole “seeing is believing,” but on this, I will only believe it when I see it.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
That’s why I propose that USHERS OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL UNITE! I propose that the ushers at Catholic parishes unite and resolve to nonviolently block all the pro-abort pro-death types from getting anywhere near the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist.
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Shouldn’t the ushers also block those who have masturbated, couples who have had sex outside of marriage, people who have purposely missed Mass, etc., all without having gone to confession?

Honestly, all of the centuries of deep, intellectual theological insight goes out of the window when someone says something like this. Could you imagine the result of such an action during distribution of communion?
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
Well, call me rowdy, but if Adolf Hitler were in the communion line, I would feel competent to get a bunch of my fellow lay Catholics and block his way even if the priest and bishop and pope were right there and we doing nothing to stop him.
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I believe Adolph Hitler killed himself many years ago so this scenario isn’t likely to happen.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
Move forward in time to the year 2007, when another man who did not refuse to serve in Adolf Hitler’s armies declared Franz Jägerstätter to be blessed and a martyr.
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Wait a minute; are you suggesting that Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, WANTED to be in the Hitler youth?!

You’re just loaded today, aren’t you?
 
The minute we have ushers (!) decide who can receive communion and who can’t…

…we will very shortly have no one receiving communion – outside the ushers themselves, of course.

We’re all sinners, even – amazingly – the righteous who never sin and who would like to deny others communion. If we deny it to those who facilitate abortions, it is only a very short walk to denying it to all other sinners, and then to all of those who perhaps “don’t do enough to end the sin elsewhere,” i.e., in other words, every one of us.
 
PolarGuy said:
The minute we have ushers (!) decide who can receive communion and who can’t…

…we will very shortly have no one receiving communion – outside the ushers themselves, of course.

We’re all sinners, even – amazingly – the righteous who never sin and who would like to deny others communion. If we deny it to those who facilitate abortions, it is only a very short walk to denying it to all other sinners, and then to all of those who perhaps “don’t do enough to end the sin elsewhere,” i.e., in other words, every one of us.
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