Two Bishops, two different positions on abortion & communion

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“Canon 916 forbids Catholics who are conscious of mortal sin from receiving Communion without first going to Confession and repenting of sin. Canon 915 instructs that public figures who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin not be admitted to the sacraments.”

I don’t see how Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago can interpret this differently than Bishop Thomas Paprocki.

 
It’s absolutely no surprise whatsoever to anyone who has paid the slightest attention to what Cardinal Cupich has said.
 
SeekSalvation said:
“Canon 916 forbids Catholics who are conscious of mortal sin from receiving Communion without first going to Confession and repenting of sin. Canon 915 instructs that public figures who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin not be admitted to the sacraments.”

I don’t see how Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago can interpret this differently than Bishop Thomas Paprocki.

Cardinal Cupich and Bishop Paprocki oppose abortion law, disagree on Communion for lawmakers
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Thank you for posting this topic. I wondered about the bolded myself. Both dioceses are in Illinois. Kind of seems like a slam to Poprocki.
 
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Oh it no doubt was a slam. And since Cupich is Poprocki’s metropolitan he probably feels especially incensed that Poprocki did this without his endorsement.
 
Bishops have had differences of opinion on various things since the Church began. Nothing new.

There is some concern in USA about the Church appearing to influence how Catholic political figures legislate and/or carry out their executive or judicial functions. When JFK ran, one of the arguments against having a Catholic President (which had come up for previous Catholic Presidents) is that he would be controlled by the Pope or the Church. Also, if the Church is going to punish political figures publicly for their votes or signing bills or whatever, then Catholics may be discouraged from going into public office at all, which is not a desirable outcome.

While I personally tend to favor denying the Eucharist to those who openly support abortion, I can recognize that there are good arguments against denying the Eucharist too. Also, it’s been obvious for ages that Cupich is liberal or progressive or what you call it, and Paprocki is super-traditional. It is not at all unusual that both viewpoints could exist in the same state.

Anyway, the Lord gave us consciences so we can all use our own. If we don’t like what a politician does, we don’t vote for him. I’m not a bishop and it’s not my business to be the Eucharist police, so I concentrate on whether I myself am worthy to receive. If these politicians are receiving unworthy Communions then they’re going to have to answer to God for that when the time comes and it is my job to pray for them and leave it at that.
 
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KMG said:
McCarrick is to blame here too. He behaved shamefully on this issue in 2004.
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Yes, he is the one (along with current Archbishop of Washington Wilton Gregory) who deliberately misrepresented the Vatican letter sent to the U.S. bishops by the Vatican saying that pro-abortion politicians should be denied communion, with McCarrick saying that it was just a suggestion, rather than a direct instruction. The U.S. bishops never saw the letter that was entrusted to McCarrick and he gave them his “interpretation”, which was not an accurate summary of the letter’s contents.

The fact is that it is not just a suggestion that bishops should deny communion to pro-abortion politicians, it is their duty to do so. But few have the courage to do what is required of them.
 
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SeekSalvation said:
I don’t see how Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago can interpret this differently than Bishop Thomas Paprocki.
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I don’t either and don’t think Cardinal Cupich really does. He just decides to “apply” them differently.

Dan
 
There is a much deeper problem here, than this two Bishops not agreeing. We are in trial times.
 
This waffling will probably be a problem for the Church the next time that a contraception mandate will be enforced upon us.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Bishops have had differences of opinion on various things since the Church began. Nothing new.
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This is certainly true. If you dig back into old threads on this forum you can find discussions about Popes giving communion to pro-choice politicians. Most bishops seem to come down on that side of things, but each bishop makes his own decision about how to handle things in his diocese.
 
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