I have heard some confusion, mostly stemming from poor coverage in the secular media, about a recent vote of the U.S. bishops, and it seems I should probably clear some things up. At their semi-annual meeting last week, the U.S. bishops voted 168 (for) – 55 (against) – 6 (abstain) to draft a document (outline here) on “Eucharistic Coherence” to be revised and debated at their November meeting. This was not a direct rebuke to President Biden or a statement that abortion-dissenting Catholics could no longer receive communion, nor is it in opposition to the Vatican, Pope Francis, or previous USCCB statements.
To be fair, one of the promptings for drafting this document was the U.S. bishops’ committee on how to respond to President Biden’s election, a committee they felt was necessary given that Biden is the only Catholic president since Kennedy and the first Catholic president to be publicly at odds with his Church on a range of important issues. So it is not completely wrong to see this vote as connected to President Biden, though to call it a direct rebuke is quite a few steps ahead of what actually happened. We should say, this document is also connected to the fact that innumerable Catholics today receive communion without having been to confession for years if not decades and the fact that only 31% of Catholics actually believe that the Eucharist is truly the flesh and blood of Jesus. Our approach to the Eucharist is lax and in desperate need of renewal.
This document will not create a national policy on who can and cannot receive communion, nor will it call out specific politicians by name. At most, it may reference and try to explain 1 Cor. 11:27-29 and Canon 915, two “policies” which are binding on all Catholics and which even the U.S. bishops have no ability to change. Canon 915 is the center of this controversy and is worth quoting: “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
Every word of this canon matters. “Obstinately” means that a person has been warned. “Persist” means that we are dealing only with ongoing sins, not historical sins. “Manifest” means that it is generally public and known to all. “Grave sin” is a specific category of sin. So, to be clear, this canon (and this debate within the USCCB) has nothing to do with Catholics in the pews who dissent on the matter of abortion, because doubts of conscience are not grave sins, and dissention by ordinary Catholics is rarely manifest. It could, however, apply to pro-choice politicians because actively working to expand the practice of abortion is a grave sin, and politicians always act in a way that is public and known to all. Canon 915 is a law of the Church that attempts to protect against scandal, that is, the mistaken belief that just because someone who is Catholic does something, that thing is okay for Catholics to do. If the Church does not publicly rebuke Catholics who publicly act in gravely sinful ways, we risk all Catholics believing that such behavior is in accord with the will of God and his Church.
All five diocesan bishops from Washington and Oregon offered their thoughts on the drafting of this document. They are fascinating to watch. Link to bishops’ meeting: https://youtu.be/WJn12Cnrf3g (Etienne – 4:56:50; Tyson – 3:50:35; Daley 5:13:52; Sample – 3:46:51; Carey – 3:45:55).
Fr. Moore 