NEWS STORY: Bishops Moderate Stance on Communion, Politics

c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) One week after a Colorado bishop shocked Catholics by saying it was a sin to vote for abortion-rights politicians, other prominent bishops have urged caution in denying Communion through more moderate statements. While not wavering in their opposition to abortion, leading bishops have indicated that dissenting lay Catholics should […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) One week after a Colorado bishop shocked Catholics by saying it was a sin to vote for abortion-rights politicians, other prominent bishops have urged caution in denying Communion through more moderate statements.

While not wavering in their opposition to abortion, leading bishops have indicated that dissenting lay Catholics should not immediately be banned from the Communion table.


Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, a respected leader in Catholic education, said the church has a “long-standing practice” of not judging the “state of the soul” of those who present themselves for Communion.

“Historically, the people in the United States, including Catholics, react with great disfavor to any effort of a church body that appears to tell people how to vote, or to attempt to punish people for the manner in which they vote,” Wuerl said on Tuesday (May 25).

Wuerl seemed skeptical that voting for abortion-related laws would disqualify someone from the sacraments, and said it is up to individuals to decide whether they should seek Communion.

The increased political pressure from some bishops, combined with reluctance from other prelates to delay compliance audits on sexual abuse, have resulted in a public relations headache for the American church hierarchy.

The Rev. Andrew Greeley, a prominent syndicated columnist, said the “fringe of the hierarchy has been misbehaving. … They’re not typical, I hasten to add, but they’re out there just the same, making the church look terrible.”

The controversial decree on voting from Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs may soon be handled by the Internal Revenue Service. The Rev. Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has asked the IRS to investigate whether Sheridan is using “code language that says `Re-elect Bush and vote Republican.”’

On May 1, Sheridan said any Catholic who votes for a politician who supports gay rights, abortion, euthanasia or “illicit” stem-cell research would be barred from Communion until he or she went to Confession. Lynn said that makes a Democratic vote almost impossible.


“Sheridan is using a form of religious blackmail to steer votes toward the GOP,” Lynn said on Thursday. “The IRS should look into this immediately.”

At the same time, bishops who earlier issued hard-line statements appear to have softened their tone, but not their message.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who had said “real Catholics” always vote against abortion, said denying Communion is a “very grave matter” reserved for “extraordinary cases of public scandal.”

“But the church always expects Catholics who are living in serious sin or who deny the teachings of the church _ whether they’re highly visible officials or anonymous parishioners _ to have the integrity to … refrain from receiving Communion,” Chaput wrote in his archdiocesan newspaper.

Other leading bishops said the same policies would apply to Catholics who dissent from church teaching against homosexuality. Members of the pro-gay Rainbow Sash Movement plan to seek Communion on Sunday (May 30) _ Pentecost _ in an annual nationwide demonstration.

Both Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis said Rainbow Sash members would be welcome in their churches, while Cardinal Francis George of Chicago told them to stay away.


David Gibson, author of “The Coming Catholic Church,” said the softer statements do not represent a retreat by the bishops, but rather highlights the divisions among U.S. Catholic leaders.

“The bottom line is these bishops who made these blanket etched-in-stone statements were cast as representative of the entire hierarchy and as representatives of the Vatican … but these guys are all over the map,” Gibson said.

Bishops who would deny Communion to politicians got a supportive nod from Christianity Today, a leading evangelical Protestant magazine that called the practice “certainly appropriate.”

“Church leaders owe it to both the body of Christ and the body politic to help form the consciences of their members _ including, and especially, politicians,” the magazine said in an editorial in its June edition.

DEA/JL END ECKSTROM

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