Weekly THIS AND THAT for June 22, 2008: D.C. Prelate States That Communion Issue Is up to Local Bishops

This and That:
D.C. Prelate States That Communion Issue Is Up to Local Bishops


There has been much controversy around as to what pro-abortion politicians may or may not receive communion. The archbishop of Washington, D.C., has said that the decision rests solely on the shoulders of the local bishop. The following are excerpts from “My Catholic Standard,” a newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington, wherein Archbishop Donald Wuerl said he "thought it would be helpful once again to highlight a number of issues" regarding pro-abortion politicians and the Eucharist.

Fondly,
Father Nicholas

The issue brought national attention recently after several pro-abortion politicians received Communion during Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States. Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York, released a statement April 28 saying former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani should not have received the Eucharist during the Pope's visit. In his column, Archbishop Wuerl clearly stated the Church’s position on abortion, citing one of his previous articles: “Abortion and support for abortion are wrong. No informed Catholic can claim that either action is free of moral implications.” He said that he has taught throughout his priestly and episcopal ministry, with persistence and insistence, that abortion is an intrinsic evil.
He referred to a document from the U.S. bishops, and a subsequent statement from then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “The bishops concluded that the responsibility to assess this situation within a bishop’s own diocese and the proper application of canon law clearly rests with the individual bishop,” Archbishop Wuerl noted. “Bishops may arrive at different conclusions based on their local situations. “In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote a letter affirming the conformity of the bishops’ position with that of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Archbishop Wuerl noted that a “critical role of the bishops is to teach, to try to persuade and convince others of the truth of the Church’s teaching and the implications of that teaching in their lives, and to encourage Catholics to live out their faith.” He added: “A decision regarding the refusal of Holy Communion to an individual is one that should be made only after clear efforts to persuade and convince the person that their actions are wrong and bear moral consequences. Presumably this is done in the home diocese where the bishops and priests, the pastors of souls, engage the members of their flock in this type of discussion. “In the case of public figures who serve in Washington as representatives of other parts of the nation, this dialogue and any decisions would take place within their home diocese.”

Archbishop Wuerl said he does not support the idea that “the Archdiocese of Washington or episcopal conferences have some particular role that supersedes the authority of an individual bishop in his particular Church.” He affirmed that in the Archdiocese of Washington, “the teaching on the evil of abortion will continue to be an important part of our ministry as will the effort to convince and persuade others to accept that teaching. Just as Catholic voters are not asked to leave aside the most deeply held moral convictions of our faith when they enter a voting booth,” the archbishop stated, “so Catholic elected officials are not asked to deposit the moral and ethical convictions of the Church at the door of Congress or at the State Assembly where they serve.