Full Text - New US Bishops Conference Document on Homosexuality, Communion & Contraception

Some highlights from the document on Holy Communion:

From section 4. SHOULD WE EVER REFRAIN FROM RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION?

If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately to repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues, however, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church. Reception of Holy Communion in such a situation would not accord with the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, so that he or she should refrain.

When a person is publicly known to have committed serious sin or to have rejected definitive Church teaching and is not yet reconciled with the Church, reception of Holy Communion by that person is likely to cause scandal for others. This is a further reason for refraining from receiving Holy Communion. To give scandal means more than to cause other people to be shocked or upset by what one does. Rather, one’s action leads someone else to sin. “Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter.” To lead others into sin is indeed a very serious matter. “Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. ‘Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!’ (Lk 17:1).”

From section 5. HOW CAN WE PREPARE TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION MORE WORTHILY?

Appropriate attire
We should also come to the sacred liturgy appropriately dressed. As Christians we should dress in a modest manner, wearing clothes that reflect our reverence for God and that manifest our respect for the dignity of the liturgy and for one another.

The verbiage is not as strong as I'd like, but, considering the naturally wimpy nature of the US Bishops, it's not a bad start.

The verbiage is not as strong as I'd like...

agreed. However, I liked this part:

To give scandal means more than to cause other people to be shocked or upset by what one does. Rather, one’s action leads someone else to sin. “Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter.” To lead others into sin is indeed a very serious matter. “Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged.

IOW - Permission granted to kick the crap out of John Kerry and rainbow sashers. Not too shabby.

It puts the whole weight of responsibility on the sinful individual to refrain from Communion. That is entirely proper for private sinners.

But it is questionably proper for public sinners, whose sins are widely and publicly known. It is, after all, only public sinners who are a cause of scandal.

There is ample precedent for treating public sinners differently, extending back into the middle ages and even earlier. One thinks of kings and emperors who were forced to walk barefoot in the snow as part of their public penances. The penances were public because their sins were public.

I'd love to see Kerry and Kennedy and Pelosi walking barefoot in the snow. I'd even consider buying a ticket to watch. It would be the best show since Emperor Henry IV of Germany stood barefoot in the snow in 1080, waiting for Pope Gregory VII to give him absolution.

P.S. Protestants may be interested to know that Martin Luther also differentiated between public and private sinners. He advocated aural confession by those guilty of public sins.

His views changed on some points, notably the sacramental nature of confession, but not on the importance of confessing public sins to a priest. See "The Sacrament of Penance" (1519), "A Discussion on How Confession Should be Made" (1520), and "The Babylonian Captivity" (1520).

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