Vatican dismisses pressure to ban Communion for abortion-supporting Catholics


By Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner June 20, 2021

he Vatican dismissed the idea of denying Holy Communion to abortion-supporting Catholics, including President Joe Biden, despite a push by a group of U.S. Catholic bishops seeking such a move.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted on Friday in favor of drafting “a formal statement on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church” that could deny high-profile officials who have spoken on their stance in favor of abortion rights.

Vatican officials have reportedly said Pope Francis’s silence on the matter is reflected in his confidence that a doctrinal declaration to ban Communion is unlikely to come to fruition.

“It’s not going to get to that point,” one senior Vatican official told the New York Times. “It’s inconceivable.”

Austen Ivereigh, a biographer of Francis who wroteThe Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, said the vote by the bishops is not aligned with the pope’s top priorities, noting that he’s disapproved of the congregate getting too involved in culture wars.

“For Francis, a majority vote by a deeply divided bishops’ conference is not a sign that one should proceed but the opposite,” Ivereigh told the outlet. “Francis has been consistent in his message to the American bishops: ‘Don’t get trapped in culture wars and give a witness of unity.’ I don’t think this vote does that.”

Less than a week before the bishops’ vote, the Vatican sent warning messages not to politicize the Eucharist, according to a separate report by the New York Times.

“The concern in the Vatican is not to use access to the Eucharist as a political weapon,” Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest and ally of the pope, said.

On Friday, Biden said that he didn’t think the bishops would be successful in their endeavors but added that it is a “private matter.”

The bishops’ conference voted 168-55, with six abstentions, to draft the statement, which would include guidance on public officials who support abortion rights. The organization’s Committee on Doctrine has been tasked with working on the document.

The statement is expected to be presented in November.

This article first appeared HERE.