In the United States, there will be no national policy to deny communion to Catholic politicians who, like President Joe Biden, do not oppose abortion laws. After the tensions in the American Catholic world, caused by the decision of the bishops to approve a document on the “meaning of the Eucharist”, the episcopal conference has released a clarification text, which excludes any measure in this sense, explains an article in the Washington Post.
Usa, green light for bishops to document on Biden communion. The president: “It’s a private matter”
by Paolo Rodari
“There will be no national policy on denying communion to politicians. The intention is to present a clear understanding of the Church’s teachings and give the faithful greater awareness of how the Eucharist can transform our lives, draw us closer to our Creator and life he wants for us “, reads a Q&A, a text with questions and answers on the meaning of the text voted by the American Catholic bishops on June 18.
The Vatican to US conservative bishops: “Do not deny communion to President Biden”
The debate within the US Church
On that occasion, at the end of the spring bishops’ conference, 168 bishops voted in favor of drafting guidelines on communion. Another 55 had voted against and six had abstained, at the end of a fiery online debate between those who asked to act “with courage” to defend the central values of the faith, and those who warned against the risk of politicizing the Eucharist, transforming it ” in an instrument of a fierce partisan clash “.
Climate and Jerusalem: Kerry tomorrow from the Pope
by Paolo Rodari
But now the Q&A aims to ease the tensions, explaining that the guidelines will be addressed “to all Catholics” so that “they support human life and dignity and other fundamental principles of Catholic morality and its social teaching”. The question of the possibility of denying communion to those Catholic politicians, especially Democrats, who do not oppose abortion laws, has long divided the American Catholic world. It was talked about when John Kerry was running for president, but the issue came back to the fore with the election of Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic who goes to mass and communicates every Sunday. A president, it should be remembered, to whom the Pope telephoned shortly after his election “to offer him his blessings and congratulations”.
Usa, the new bishop and the “sinner” Biden: it is a battle over banning the Eucharist for the president
by our correspondent Anna Lombardi
The prudent line of the pope
Last May, the Vatican warned the American bishops that the definition of procedures for Catholic politicians was in danger of being divisive. In support of his exhortation, the Vatican also cited a 2002 document signed by Pope John Paul II and the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the future Pope Benedict XVI.
Usa, Cardinal Burke’s crusade: “No communion in Biden. It would be a sacrilege”
by MASSIMO BASILE
So in the end the bishops chose a more prudent line to avoid a fracture. Biden had always been confident about it. “It’s a private matter, I don’t think it will happen,” he told reporters when he was asked a few days ago if he would be denied communion. Moreover, Cardinal Wilton Gregory had intervened in the assembly of bishops assuring that the priests of his archdiocese of Washington DC would never deny Communion to Biden. “The choice before us – he said – is whether to follow the path of unity or go towards a document that will not lead to unity, rather it will damage it”
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