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Breaking: The Pope Is Catholic
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 168-55 to draft a document on “Eucharistic coherence.” A primary issue is whether or not pro-choice politicians can receive communion despite their fundamental disagreement with Rome. The debate gained steam with the election of President Biden, a Catholic who endorses abortion. Communicants are not supposed to participate in the Eucharist if they are in a state of sin and the Catholic Church considers this a serious sin.
Outrage spread across social media, blasting the bishops’ decision and demanding that all churches be taxed for “interfering with politics.” A few examples:
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 marriageNext time I go to Church, I dare you to deny me Communion. https://t.co/bUmiyJ8TtH
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 18, 2021
Oh?! US Catholic Bishops are involved in Politics?
Welp – under Federal Law, you can't be "Tax Exempt" in that case.
I guess it's time to revoke that Tax Exempt status going back to 1776 – you can re-file ALL your returns as C Corps and pay the taxes plus interest.#Vatican https://t.co/mEUyLPmUN0
— Mark Judson For Congress – Scorched Earth Dem 2022 (@Judson4Congress) June 19, 2021
Targeting Biden and excluding him from the Eucharist because of his political stances makes the Catholic Church a political organization. Tax them.
— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) June 18, 2021
As a non-Catholic in good standing, I’ll try to explain the doctrine to my fellow non-Catholics. Put simply, the Church denies the Eucharist to the non-repentant and to non-members to protect those people.
“Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” — 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (KJV)
The Church wants the salvation of its members, not damnation, so the Eucharist is denied to people on those grounds.
If a person is in a state of sin, he should not walk up to receive Communion. If a priest knows that a communicant is in a state of sin, it is his responsibility to deny Communion. As the chief of sinners, I have experience in this. I’m tougher on myself than any priest, so when in doubt, I remain in the pew as the Eucharist is celebrated. I did the same for the two years I attended an Orthodox church before I was a member.
One Twitter commenter wrote, “If the Catholic Church is going to deny President Biden his Sacramental rights because of his politics, then the Catholic Church should pay taxes.”
The use of “Sacramental rights” instead of “Sacramental rites” was telling. The loudest complaints came from people who consider the Eucharist everyone’s God-given, American right. It most certainly is not.
In the first few centuries of the church, non-members were not even allowed to witness the Lord’s Supper and banished to the narthex outside. After about three years of instruction, they would be baptized and partake of the Body and Blood of Christ only after promising not to speak of it to enemies of the church. This is memorialized in the prayer I have to say every time before Communion:
I believe, O Lord, and I confess, that thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And I believe that this is truly Thine own immaculate Body, and that this is truly Thine own precious Blood. Wherefore, I pray Thee, have mercy on me, and forgive my transgressions, both voluntary and involuntary, of word and of deed, of knowledge and of ignorance; and make me worthy to partake without condemnation of Thine immaculate Mysteries, unto remission of my sins and unto life everlasting. Amen. Of thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as communicant; for I will not speak of Thy Mystery to thine enemies, neither will I give thee a kiss as did Judas, but like a thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom. Not unto judgment nor unto condemnation be my partaking of thy Holy Mysteries, O Lord, but unto the healing of soul and body.
In both Catholic and Orthodox churches, priests are required not to serve Communion to known unrepentant sinners. If Father Jim sees I spent Saturday night Instagramming selfies snorting coke off a stripper’s hindquarters and I show up wearing the girlie bar’s T-shirt, he’ll kindly tell me to sit this Sunday out.
If you aggressively disagree with any church’s main doctrines, you probably shouldn’t be a member. I disagree with a few of Rome’s positions; that’s why I didn’t become a Catholic. Therefore, I have no right to demand they give me the Bread and Wine. It’s their religion and they make the rules. If I strolled into a mosque chomping on a BLT, the Imam would give me the boot. I wouldn’t respond by asserting my rights and demand taxation.
Hopefully, non-Catholics will better understand the Church’s position on “Eucharistic coherence” and Catholics will forgive any errors made.
Signed,
The Undisputed Chief of Sinners
It is sad when a rhetorical question becomes a legitimate question. I like the mashup, are bears Catholic? And its pair.
If these politicians wouldn’t brag that they are devout Catholics while promoting killing babies the Church wouldn’t have to push back.
If you believe in all those things, and want Communion? Become an Anglican. I will even sign your nomination form ok. Geez.
It’s still in the Divine Liturgy (but frequently omitted):
Back to a period before the US Constitution was in effect because it hadn’t been written yet?
#MarkJudson4RemedialHighSchool
In point of fact, Biden is simply the pretext; there is an nasty streak in liberalism that aches to tax churches.
Does anyone actually care what Ted Lieu thinks, says, or writes?
Fat-ass there running things is no prize either. After not hearing what was actually said, and being corrected, he just shrugs.
If the priest/bishop takes Lieu up on his dare and denies communion what exactly will the fool do?
He shouldn’t assume that anyone knows who he is, if he doesn’t have a name plate in front of him.
Mr. Lieu is apparently upset that the Church has rules. If you “support” those things, you might still be in a state of grace. Acting affirmatively on them can change that, and if the priest is aware of it, yeah he can deny you communion. You have no inalienable right to the sacrament. But if that’s his belief set, he has seriously chosen the wrong religion.
Mark Judson does not understand that to a Catholic abortion is murder. If you want to say that the alignment of a church against murder is political, fine. But murder is a sin, an offense to Catholic beliefs and in a rational world, there are consequences within the church. Maybe that misunderstanding of the separation of church and state contributed to to his primary loss in NC7.
Ms. Junker uses the word “targeted.” Pretty sure it doesn’t mean what she thinks it means.
Are these people unaware that no church rule is enforceable by the State? That membership in any church is voluntary? The problem is that if you defy the Church, and then campaign on the grounds that you’re Catholic, the Church can call you out and enforce its rules. If I were campaigning as a BLM advocate despite publicly disagreeing with its principles, pretty sure BLM would denounce me.
If you’re denounced by BLM, you’ve got MY vote.
Junker might have a point if only Biden is denied communion. I would suspect and hope that Cuomo, Pelosi, Kerry, and a few others would be on the list.
EDIT: The Washington comPost has a headline saying, “Biden Finds Himself Caught in the Politics of the Catholic Church”. Not the teachings of the Church, but the politics.
I can’t find where I saw it today, but the IRS sent a church in Texas a letter saying that because they prayed for politicians this constituted support for the republican party, or something like that. I wonder if it was the Babylon Bee?
Found it. It was in the Epoch Times, and many other places.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Religious freedom is one of the most important freedoms protected in the Constitution. If the IRS is going to wage lawfare on churches, then we will all suffer because the backlash will be horrendous.
This is intentional, and the only response intended is anger, hatred, and violence. We need to stop the communists trying to destroy this country before people start getting violent.
People who have no respect for the Constitution can hardly be expected to bend for a mere deity.
President Biden is the most visible Catholic American politician. He made a point of his faith in his campaign and after. The sycophant media elevated his ‘type’ of Catholicism as a model, even as they vilified people like Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Scalia unreservedly. It’s a consequence of having a disjointed understanding of religion within newsrooms even though they report on it – much like they do increasingly for military matters. An independent Church body having its own eternal rules aside from the bellwether drifts of American politics is a threat to government power. As for Ted Lieu, I wish he could recognize his religion is inextricable from his politics- he just worships at the altar of Progressivism. That seems to be what guides and shapes his worldview, his decisions, his life, and the standard for which he models himself.
John F. Kennedy was Catholic. He knew he was cheating on his wife. Did he take communion when he was in adulterous sin? Does anyone know?
Ray and I watch the Church Militant news, and Michael Voris was really on fire tonight when discussing this issue.
You caught that, too. Good. What I found amusing was the fellow who mistook “What about Newt Gingrich” for a real argument.
Stad Posted about it here: (4) Breaking News: God Is a Republican! – Ricochet
It’s only a draft… to reiterate a formal teaching of the Church that is already clearly expressed. The draft won’t be voted on for approval until later in the year. Then it will be roundly ignored, like the texts of Vatican II.
These objections aren’t even to decisive action. The bishops are stretching as if to soon act on old principles, and the heretics want them to go back to sleep.
Christ actually makes some demands of us as His people. No surprises that Democrats don’t like that
I’m not on Twitter, but I usually get a healthy dose of hypocrisy when Democrats religion.
Mr. Judson writes:
Oh?! US Catholic Bishops are involved in Politics? Welp – under Federal Law, you can’t be “Tax Exempt” in that case. I guess it’s time to revoke that Tax Exempt status going back to 1776 – you can re-file ALL your returns as C Corps and pay the taxes plus interest.
Has this guy heard of Reverend Jesse Jackson or Reverend Al Sharpton? I’ll be surprised if he’s calling for the IRS to pull the tax exempt status of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and National Action Network. He’s probably familiar with candidates for public office who have been invited to speak during services at certain churches. Sharia law must keep him up at night. Surely condemning these “involved in Politics” occasions is a constant theme of his public life. Maybe I am unfairly jumping to conclusions but this blind spot doesn’t usually even register with Democrats.
Funny how selective the outrage is. I’m not a big fan of Whataboutism, but when the inconsistency is blatant enough, you have to see blowback coming.
Hey Ted, what are you gonna do? Duke it out with the priests at the altar? Sue the Vatican? How do you think The Big Guy is gonna feel about your actions? Hmmmm?
Back then people more regularly went to confession. However, I’m sure there were plenty of priests back then who might look the other way. Even Cardinal Cushing whipped through the liturgy in 20 minutes and left the homily out of the requiem mass.
An awful lot of people do what they want and expect the Father to sort things out after its too late.
I can’t sympathize with the Church’s position on anything. They have been destroying their credibility as fast and as thoroughly as Dr. Anthony Fauci ( probably a Catholic BTW) has with their double-standards, tautologies wrapped in paradoxes surrounded by enigmas and theological goblydy-gook. And this commie Pope.
Not to mention their long-standing communist sympathies and institutional corruption.
I went to 8 years of Catholic school. I was just reminded yesterday of how they tortured me memorizing catechism in grades 1-5. I have seen it first hand. I like Catholic, and Mormons. They can believe whatever they wish, but fretting about this kind of thing is absurd.
How many Catholics voted for Biden? I’d like to know. Probably more than voted for Trump. If he weren’t President, no one would care.
Well stated, excellent logic, and calm statement of the obvious. But that is why it is here on Ricochet and not on Twitter. Why do conservatives partake in that idiocy? Do they enjoy being banned? I really do not understand the need for some to enter where they are not wanted and have no chance.
My hope is that this document is not actually focused on the reception of the eucharist by public figures in scandal. That teaching is already clear and just needs to be acted upon. American bishops now know the real content of a commanding letter on the topic from Pope Benedict XVI, which McCarrick misconstrued, among other formal directions.
What we really need from them regarding the eucharist is a reflection on their decisions during the 2020 COVID restrictions and how the necessity of the sacraments should be balanced with reasonable safeguards against epidemics. It is absurd that “the source and summit of the Christian life” could be suspended for a year. What does religious liberty mean for Catholics if “the source and summit of the Christian life” is not included?
God brings good from all things. Undoubtedly, that year renewed the thirst and appreciation of many Catholics for the holy eucharist. But the Church seems to have set a worldly example during the pandemic that has undercut her mission. Eucharist is offered on battlefields. Christ and His apostles, all the way up to Pope John Paul II, kissed lepers and embraced others with infectious diseases. Something is amiss.
When it comes to taxing churches Progressives always forget to mention the parishioners sitting in the pews pay taxes. Their outrage is fueled by knowing an organization exists that they cannot control. They cannot control what is taught, and what is believed, and far worse one that they have not been able to extort, at least not yet.
Great opening post.
This is what got me. It’s in some ways the culmination of everything wrong with neo-liberal order that views essentially all things except murder and slavery as ultimately legal/market-style transactions subordinate to the law. Seriously, what would he do? Complain? He’s already complaining. This isn’t new. The Communion thing blew up with Ted Kennedy in the last few years of his life as well. It’s so bizarre to think there is some legal or market remedy for everything, or that such a reality is even desirable. That’s a major point of why religion exists.
It also just very much fits with this idea that everything has to conform to “me” and that the only things that are good are those that make me personally feel good about where I am. From that perspective, the goal of the Church isn’t instruction but validation… and well… that’s wrong.
Yes, but I’m convinced that the Catholic Church is controlled by leftists already. Politically the Church is left and has been for some time.
Abortion is about the only thing they are on the ‘right’ with. And I happen to think that abortion is much more a right/wrong issue than a right/left issue anyway.
Catholics are taught from an early age to be susceptible to ideals which are fundamentally collectivist. This is why Catholics vote in higher percentages for Democrats and socialists. Worldwide.
Not only that. By all accounts Heaven is not a democracy but rather a benevolent dictatorship.
Yes, Progressives confuse God with Santa Claus.