Cardinal: Officials who support abortion should not receive Communion

From Catholic News Service in May 2014

ROME (CNS) -- Catholic politicians and judges who support laws in conflict with church teaching on abortion, euthanasia, marriage and related issues commit "sacrilege" and cause "grave scandal" if they receive Communion, said the U.S. cardinal who heads the Vatican's highest court. "The church's discipline, from the time of St. Paul, has admonished those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin not to present themselves for Holy Communion," Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature and a former archbishop of St. Louis, said May 3. The cardinal explained that the "discipline is not a punishment but the recognition of the objective condition of the soul of the person involved in such sin. It prevents them from committing sacrilege by violating the incomparable sanctity of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, and safeguards the Christian community at large from scandal, that is, from being led to believe that the violation of the moral law, for example in what pertains to the inviolable dignity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the family, and the freedom of conscience, is not sinful, does not gravely break communion with our Lord." 

Cardinal Burke spoke at an international conference of pro-life organizations the day before Italy's fourth annual March for Life.

Above from:  Catholic News Service - Cardinal: Officials who support abortion should not receive Communion

No Holy Communion for Pro Abortion Politicians - Catholic Bishops Bolivia

La Paz, Bolivia, Aug 22, 2013 / 03:40 pm (CNA).- The adjunct secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Bolivia, Archbishop José Fuentes, said that government officials who support abortion should not receive Holy Communion.

Such individuals, he said, are not acting consistent with their faith and with the teachings of the Gospel and the Church.

In July of this year, four government ministers announced their support for the legalization of abortion in Bolivia.

In an interview with the newspaper Pagina 7, Bishop Fuentes was asked about these ministers. He responded that “they can act in conscience, but they should not approach during communion to receive the Body of Christ.”

“The person who aborts or who encourages another to abort, as well as health care workers who participate in an abortion and lawmakers, commit a sin before God, because they make themselves the owners of life, and the only owner of life for us is God,” he said.

“For a Catholic, for a believer, that is something that is not at our disposal, and therefore if as a legislator, a judge or whatever, I support an abortion law, I am separating myself from the Church, I cannot receive Communion unless I show my repentance,” Bishop Fuentes continued, emphasizing the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for those who have had an abortion.

He stressed that the Church’s position is not based on a desire to punish wrongdoers, but rather an effort to reach out to them in mercy to help them accept Catholic teaching.

Above from: Catholic News Agency - Bishop: Abortion-supporting stance should bar lawmakers from Eucharist

Pope Francis: Pro-Abortion Politicians Ineligible for Communion

A letter Pope Francis sent to the bishops of Argentina in late March is getting note from a pro-life Catholic

group that says it is encouraging for pro-life advocates because it says pro-abortion politicians should not be eligible for communion in the Catholic Church.

In the letter, Pope Francis directed the Argentinean bishops to govern the Church there following the Aparecida Document.

The text states, in part, “[people] cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged. This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of governments, and health professionals.”

“These are the guidelines we need for this time in history,” the pope wrote to the bishops.

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, a U.S.-based pro-life group, and Michael Hichborn, director of Defend the Faith for American Life League, sent a letter to all U.S. Catholic bishops alerting them to what Pope Francis wrote.

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Life News - Pope Francis: Pro Abortion Politicians Ineligible for Holy Communion