Posted on 06/21/2021 7:54:47 AM PDT by Saint Athanasius
After bishops endured several days of contentious debate over the Church’s Eucharistic disciplinary norms, a group of 60 U.S. Congressional representatives have weighed in, forcing the issue for some bishops from a theoretical debate to one far more practical, immediate, and closer to home.
One congressman’s tweet poses a vexing test of leadership for U.S. bishops’ conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, with similar tests for other bishops likely to follow. And for Gomez and the congressman, a clock is ticking, and the stakes are high.
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles. Credit: USCCB Share The Pillar
The doctrine committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference garnered on Friday an overwhelming mandate to draft a document on the Eucharist, which would include a section on “Eucharistic consistency” so controversial that bishops spent hours arguing that even writing it would drive people away from the Church, plunge the bishops into toxic political strife, and create a rupture between the Catholic bishops of the U.S. and Pope Francis, the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Despite those arguments, 75% of voting bishops gave approval for the committee to draft a text, far exceeding the expectations of most conference watchers.
All the controversy is over a proposed section likely to say that Catholics who manifestly oppose the doctrine of the Church on grave matters should refrain from Holy Communion. It will not mention any person by name, and probably will not mention even any particular profession.
The idea for a statement began with a working group on the “unique challenges” posed for the Church by the abortion policy agenda of Catholic President Joe Biden, and some bishops have argued the document is needed because of the scandal posed by a politician advocating for federal funding of abortion while also receiving the Eucharist.
But for all the fight, the substance of the statement will hardly seem novel to those familiar with Catholic doctrine. It will say that Catholics conscious of grave sin or manifested opposition to Church teaching or governance should not receive Holy Communion.
It is possible the document could give oblique reference to the notion that bishops have the canonical prerogative to prohibit such persons from Holy Communion. But it seems highly unlikely.
In short, the document will say what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, what the U.S. bishops said already in 2006, and probably something far less specific than what the Latin American bishops’ conferences said in 2007.
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But it will hardly matter to many Catholics what the document will actually say, because it has already been framed on the front pages of the nation’s biggest media outlets as a direct rebuke of Joe Biden, or even as a national policy barring the president from Holy Communion.
And that’s where things get interesting. So interesting, in fact, that by the time the letter is written, the document’s actual approval may seem like an afterthought to a showdown that began Friday evening.
Sixty Catholic Democrat members of Congress issued a statement on Friday saying they “agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life,” and work on policy initiatives aimed at “reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term and provide resources to raise healthy and secure children.”
But the representatives also said they follow their consciences, not Church teaching, on the legality of abortion.
Twitter avatar for @CatSzeltner Catherine Hadro @CatSzeltner NEW: 60 Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives issued a "Statement of Principles" with a message to U.S. bishops that "the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory". ImageImageImage June 18th 2021
193 Retweets528 Likes “In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience,” the representatives wrote.
They also urged against the “weaponization” of Holy Communion — a phrase used by bishops who opposed the USCCB’s drafting of a letter on the Eucharist.
“The Sacrament of Holy Communion is central to the life of practicing Catholics, and the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory,” they added.
“We solemnly urge you to not move forward and deny this most holy of all sacraments, the source and the summit of the whole work of the gospel over one issue.”
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The letter either misunderstood or willfully misrepresented what the bishops were up to, and could be seen as an effort to demonstrate the lawmakers’ commitment to ensuring legal protection for abortion.
Still, there was at first a good chance that individual bishops might have tried to reach out to lawmakers quietly, while the conference itself ignored the letter.
Until one congressman, Representative Ted Lieu of California, raised the stakes.
The congressman, who has a law degree from Georgetown University, was baptized a Catholic in college after he attended Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School, according to NPR.
He has a 100% legislator rating from abortion lobbyist NARAL.
“Dear USCCB, I’m Catholic and I support contraception, a woman’s right to choose, treatments for infertility, the right for people to get a divorce, the right of same sex marriage,” Lieu tweeted Friday.
“Next time I go to Church, I dare you to deny me Communion.”
Twitter avatar for @tedlieu Ted Lieu @tedlieu Dear @USCCB: I’m Catholic and I support:
-Contraception -A woman’s right to choose -Treatments for infertility -The right for people to get a divorce -The right of same sex marriage
Next time I go to Church, I dare you to deny me Communion. https://t.co/bUmiyJ8TtH Michelangelo Signorile @MSignorile
The Catholic church considers contraception, assisted human reproduction and divorce and re-marriage (which it views as adultery happening every single day) as sin on a par with abortion.
Will these people be banned from communion?
What happens to Newt Gingrich? June 18th 2021
2,089 Retweets10,489 Likes Whether by coincidence or by design, Lieu represents a district sitting squarely in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which is led by Gomez.
And the congressman has a history of challenging bishops on Twitter.
Twitter avatar for @tedlieu Ted Lieu @tedlieu Dear @Bishopoftyler: I'm Catholic and I've read the Gospels. Jesus says nothing about LGBTQ. Christ says a lot about love.
You are a homophobic bishop for perverting the Gospels to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. And that's the truth. Bishop J. Strickland @Bishopoftyler
Please stop labeling bishops who speak the truth of the Gospel as homophobic. God gave us sexual intimacy for the procreation of children and the deeper union of a man & woman in marriage. Stating this truth is not homophobia, it is simply reality. https://t.co/71to9rU4A0 June 4th 2019
3,553 Retweets17,882 Likes Share The Pillar
So now Archbishop Gomez faces a practical and immediate challenge: A Catholic in his diocese has made a statement that seems designed to flaunt the willful inconsistency of holding political positions that obstinately defy Catholic doctrine, while continuing to receive the sacraments.
Does Gomez have to prohibit the Congressman from receiving the Eucharist? Certainly, Catholics who have heard tough talk from bishops on that subject over the past few months will expect that he will. And Lieu himself seems to have “politicized” the Eucharist by framing reception of Holy Communion into an act of implicit challenge of his own archbishop.
Few canon lawyers would have difficulty classifying Lieu’s tweet as evidence of “obstinate perseverance in manifest grave sin,” the criteria by which a Catholic can be denied the Eucharist.
But if Gomez does prohibit him, Lieu will surely wear the prohibition like a badge of honor, to borrow a phrase from Cardinal Timothy Dolan. And, more important, other pro-choice Catholic politicians will probably try to provoke their bishops as well. The whole thing could become an escalating movement, fueled by a social media backlash against the bishops and support from the nation’s leading newspapers.
On the other hand, if Gomez doesn’t prohibit the Congressman from receiving the Eucharist, won’t he seem to be endorsing the bishops who argued this week that policy positions should never prevent a Catholic from receiving Holy Communion? And isn’t that the opposite of the archbishop’s presumed stance on the issue? And won’t Lieu and his supporters continue to taunt Church leaders?
Further, isn’t Gomez boxed in by bishops who said this week that the credibility of bishops depends on their willingness to teach and lead firmly on the Eucharist? By the measure laid out by those bishops, won’t the archbishop’s credibility as a teacher of Catholic doctrine be impugned if he ignores the obvious obstinance of Lieu’s tweet?
Does it matter that Lieu seems intent on provoking Gomez to action? Does the archbishop have an obligation to prevent the scandal of his reception of Holy Communion anyway? Even if it spurs a movement of other politicians tweeting similar things? Does that possibility change the equation?
Those questions are almost certainly on the archbishop’s mind, and probably being discussed in his chancery this weekend.
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Those who know him well say Gomez does not like to be pushed around. Nor does he love to be at the center of controversy, and he is often seen seeking conciliation amid disagreement.
But it seems unlikely that Lieu will see any value in backing down from his challenge, and it seems quite likely that Gomez’ critics among the bishops, some of whom have publicly disparaged the archbishop’s leadership, are watching the situation with rapt attention. They may well have also clued in Rome.
Whatever he decides to do, Gomez will have to say something, and probably soon. Lieu is getting enough headlines for his tweet that he’ll probably make it a point to be at Mass on Sunday, and with reporters in tow. Whether he receives or does not receive the Eucharist, Lieu will be sure to tweet about it.
All of this means that while the U.S. bishops’ conference has several months to decide what exactly they want to say about “Eucharistic consistency,” Archbishop Gomez probably has only until Sunday morning, before Congressman Lieu heads to Mass.
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My money says that the Bishop does what they all do when confronted with hardcore abortion proponent politicians: submit.
The church has the right to make its own policy. Communion is not a constitutional right nor is it protected under any other law regarding religious practices. Congress needs to mind its own business.
RE:
Submission probable....
Then the next submission will be just past another firm line drawn. Every violation of every tenet and Biblical injunction over behavior can be swept aside if inconvenient to the Dems.
Trying to achieve harmony through your surrender of what is right to those who want what is wrong only ends the “messiness” and “political stuff” because of your surrender.
How about: A future instance in which a local priest refuses to give an abortion service and assisted suicide company 25% of all donations from the flock. No one steps up because “it would make it all so political” and “it could lead to messiness.” His superiors suspend him.
If it was just some schlub he’d be denied the Eucharist without delay.
The Pope surrendered to China. He will fold here also.
His mother should have had an abortion in 1968 so she would support abortion as he does... duuuuhhhh what a stupid moron he is. Where does he think he came from, a kangaroo pouch..? What an idiot...
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.”
Luke 12: 49-52
Non-believing Catholics insisting believing Catholics bow down to them. Or else. Yes, it will be interesting to see if they punt. BTW - until recently I was part of the Southern Baptists, but moving has left me between churches and the SBC’s punting on issues has convinced me to leave. If you won’t stand for truth....
The bishops need to be reminded, “A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man dies but once.” It’s time.
**Twitter avatar for @tedlieu Ted Lieu @tedlieu Dear @Bishopoftyler: I’m Catholic and I’ve read the Gospels. Jesus says nothing about LGBTQ. Christ says a lot about love.**
Tud the spiritual dud. And what a liar. A man and a woman, Tud. And Tud, he also said judgment is coming. He also said to the adultress, “Go and sin no more.”
And I hate to break the news to Ted Lieu, but Newt Gingrich is validly married. His second marriage was annulled on the grounds that his first wife was still alive at the time. She was deceased when he contracted his third marriage, so the first marriage wasn't an issue.
Maybe Lieu ought to constrain himself to topics on which he actually knows something. Then again, those are probably few and far between.
#2272 “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. “A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication….”
#2322 “From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a “criminal” practice (GS 27 # 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.”
If only the church realizes that excommunicating his rebellious azz would make the church look like it stands for something. And THAT would people back. Who wants to go to a church when they see the church rolled by some pissant politicians? This equally applies to Protestant churches.
NUTTY TEDDY is a FALSE CATHOLIC.......Lieuie, GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!!!
Tick tock crawl out from your rock and take a stand or be damned.
This demonstrates what has happened to the Catholic Church. The Pope won’t stand for the Church’s teachings, so no one pays attention anymore. The Catholic Church has become a political assistant to the RATS. The Pope won’t back up the Bishops, so they will all take a dive soon. You would never hear some two bit congressman say something like this to Islam or to a Baptist Church. Very sad.
If the Bishop had any ‘nads at all, there’d be one PO’d congresscritter this coming Sunday!!!!!
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