Posted on 04/30/2021 6:31:24 PM PDT by ebb tide
Recent reports that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops may at their spring general assembly press pro-abortion Catholic politicians not to receive Communion are unfounded, and at best ignorant of ecclesial structure, a source close to the conference has told CNA.
A source close to the USCCB told CNA April 29 that they believe such reports from the AP and the Washington Post are either “just totally ignorant of the Church's structure,” or meant “to pressure the bishops into silence” regarding the Equality Act.
The Equality Act would amend federal civil rights law and create protected classes for sexual orientation and gender identity, extending those protections to all areas where race is currently protected.
The USCCB has said the bill is “well-intentioned but ultimately misguided,” that its language “discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life,” and that it would force “novel and divisive viewpoints regarding ‘gender’ on individuals and organizations.”
At the US bishops’ spring general assembly, either the doctrine committee will present a “broad document” on fitness for reception of Communion, or there will be a vote to consider such a document at the next meeting, in November, the source said.
One bishop is expected to issue a document on Communion early next month.
At the closing of the USCCB’s November 2020 general assembly its president, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, announced the creation of a bishops’ working group to deal with President Joe Biden, who as a prominent Catholic in public life has taken public stances against Church teaching.
“The president-elect has given us reason to believe that his faith commitments will move him to support some good policies. This includes policies of immigration reform, refugees and the poor, and against racism, the death penalty, and climate change,” Archbishop Gomez said Nov. 17.
“He has also given us reason to believe that he will support policies that are against some fundamental values that we hold dear as Catholics. These policies include: the repeal of the Hyde Amendment and the preservation of Roe vs. Wade. Both of these policies undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion,” said the archbishop.
“This is a difficult and complex situation,” Archbishop Gomez told his fellow bishops. “In order to help us to navigate it, [the conference] will appoint a working group, chaired by Archbishop Vigneron and consisting of the chairmen of the committees responsible for the policy areas at stake, as well as the committee on doctrine and communications.”
In February, a source at the USCCB told CNA that the working group, which was meant to be temporary, had reportedly accomplished its assignment. Archbishop Vigneron “has made a proposal that the full body of bishops issue a pastoral statement later this year on the general issue of worthiness for communion.”
The group advised Archbishop Gomez to send an open letter to Biden before his inauguration outlining areas of policy agreement and disagreement with the conference and presenting the Church’s teachings on those matters. The letter should clarify that not all policy issues share the same gravity, and that some issues are more important than others, the group noted.
Those concerns were included in Archbishop Gomez’s Jan. 20 statement on behalf of the conference. That statement was initially withheld, and then released later in the day around the time Pope Francis issued his statement.
The USCCB working group also called for a teaching document on the Eucharist, CNA had confirmed.
The document should instruct the faithful about worthy reception of Holy Communion, the working group said, and it should also clarify that Catholic politicians have a special responsibility to uphold the Church’s teachings in public life. Catholic holders of public office should not present themselves for Communion if they contradict Church teaching on grave moral issues, and have been warned already by a pastor, the working group stressed.
According to the USCCB source, that “pastoral statement” will be accompanied by “individual bishops” who “are going to issue their own statements on eucharistic coherence.”
In March, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois told a regional conference of the Canon Law Society of America that Catholics who publicly and obstinately advocate for abortion, including politicians, can and should be denied Communion: “I'm talking about their external actions. If they're living in a way or holding positions that are contrary to church teaching, then the Minister of Communion has to deny them the sacrament,” he said.
Ping
No surprise. The USCCB has been derelict on the sanctity of life for just about ever.
What a spineless bunch of cucks. After years at the seminary, and immersed in scripture and tradition on a daily basis, these arrogant jackasses don't know how to deal with Biden? Even the most humble parish priest in some fetid malaria infested backwater knows how to deal with Biden. It's no deep unfathomable mystery. Just do it.
Of course not.
These bishops are all social justice democrats.
The cardinal in DC acts like he is on the payroll of theDNC.
He worships abortionists Biden and Pelosi.
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