U.S. Catholic bishops could send a tougher-than-ever message to Catholic politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi: Don’t receive Communion if you publicly support abortion.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will meet Wednesday through Friday and are scheduled to discuss whether priests and bishops should deny communion to pro-abortion politicians. The initiative to clarify the church’s stance in the U.S. began in November 2020, spearheaded by Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez.
Yet, some church leaders tried to halt discussion on this issue, including most Texas bishops.
Sixty-eight prelates signed a May 13 letter that argued against including the discourse in the USCCB summer meeting, which will take place online.
- Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS of San Antonio
- Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria
- Bishop Robert Coerver of Lubbock
- Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi
- Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso
- Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo
- Bishop David Toups of Beaumont
- Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin
- Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo
Bishop Sis has since requested to be distanced from the May 13 letter, according to The Pillar.
At stake during this meeting is a proposal that the USCCB make a statement on the sanctity of Life and the requirement for coherence to Catholic doctrine to receive the Eucharist. Once the statement is created, bishops would vote on the subject at a future meeting. Pro-Life bishops seeking to move forward with the initiative hope this will signal to Biden and other Catholic lawmakers that they must cease and repent of their support of killing preborn babies and vulnerable patients.
“Because President Biden is Catholic, it presents a unique problem for us,” said Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “It can create confusion. … How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?”
Why, then, did most Texas bishops ask to dodge the issue at this week’s meeting?
This deeply disturbing list makes apparent that certain bishops, nine out of the fifteen Texas bishops, would have preferred to ignore or postpone the clear scandal of Biden receiving communion while advocating for abortion.
As Pro-Life Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler states, “The Catholic faith proclaims that life is sacred from conception to natural death & that bread & wine consecrated at Mass truly become the Body & Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus Christ. We must embrace both of these teachings (& many others) if we want to be faithful Catholics.”
Now is the time for a clear voice from Christian leaders.
Stay tuned to Texas Right to Life for further updates on the bishops’ vote this week.