From this news report: Apparently, the Rev. Robert Morey denied communion to Biden because of his position on abortion, which he has every right(and some would say duty) to do…but then he talked to the press about it. Is releasing the names of all those to whom communion is denied standard operation procedure in the Roman Catholic Church, or is this “privilege” reserved for public figures they oppose?
I think there is a very interesting ethics conversation to be had here, if we have leading opinion makers or those responsible for legislation and enforcement we should hold up their views to scrutiny - especially if those views are likely to be detrimental to others merely on social grounds.
For ordinary folk who are not in such positions I think its very different, they are not seeking public approval or social change directly and its their own business.
There is bound to be some grey area here where some folk have roles that are involved in upholding policy but maybe not involved in making it or promoting it.
It wouldn’t be news and no-one would pay attention if the person weren’t in the news already.
Having said that, it appears to me that this priest is using this occasion as an opportunity to score some points for his agenda, an ideological one, a political one, the personal “facetime in the media” one, or any combination of the three.
To answer the question in your post rather than the question in your title, I can’t. I don’t know SOP about Catholic Church practices in cases like this. My best guess would be that it depends on what the priest’s hierarchy thinks - whoever is immediately above him (bishop?) first.
The fact that he asked for communion is public knowledge, as is the fact that it was refused(if you dig hard enough), but the priest revealing to the media the reason for the refusal is just a step too far in my uninformed opinion. That is why I am asking if this kind of thing is done often and/or approved of within whatever sect you belong to.
How it get into the news? If the priest just randomly went to the news and told them what happened, I’d have an issue with that. If other people in the church noticed it, mentioned it on facebook and, more or less, did the report on their own, I’d have a bit less of an issue. Less of an issue because the priest isn’t the one that talked to the news, just answered questions…but still an issue because he could have simply answered with ‘that’s between me and Mr Biden’ or ‘that’s between my and my parishioners’.
I want to say that the parishioners should call out the priest on that since it does represent, at least to a point, a breach of trust and confidentiality. But I’m thinking pretty much everyone understands that Joe is a prominent public figure and this happened in front of an entire church, there wasn’t a whole lot of privacy to begin with. It’s not he spilled the beans about a conversation he had in the confessional.
Besides, it’s not going to make a big difference, politically, for anyone. The dems will still like Joe, the GOP will back the priest. I can’t imagine more than a handful of people getting upset enough to cross the aisle or even go to a different church.
Now that I’ve read the article, I noticed these lines “This is not the first time Biden has been barred from receiving Communion over his stance on abortion rights.” and " After he announced his run in 2008, several U.S. bishops insisted he should be refused Communion in their diocese. ", so there is a precedent for not giving him communion, but it’s really bizarre. Do they not understand that there’s likely plenty of members of their congregations that are also pro-choice? Are they trying to send them away? If I was religious and even slightly on the fence about my church or my faith, this would be a great way to get me to stop showing up.
Especially if you thought about how the Catholic Church is also officially against the death penalty for any crime, and ask yourself whether any Catholic bishops or priests have publicly made statements about denying communion to a politician who doesn’t oppose the death penalty.
If a priest broke confession I would say off with his head. But with what is a basic administrative act against a public figure, who has at times touted his religion and at least gives it in descriptions of himself, fair game. My comfort level would be highest if the press asked him; but I can live with it either way.
I’m no Catholic, but is it really Biden’s responsibility to enforce church doctrine? If he doesn’t sin himself, why should his position matter? Could he get in trouble for not supporting a ban on eating meat on Friday or a requirement to go to Mass every Sunday? How many Catholic politicians support the right of married people to use birth control even if they follow the Church’s teachings in their own marriage?
To some, not all, yes: it matters quite a bit. At least to defend it as possible. Although even among “clergy” it depends on the individual. Priests I don’t know a lot of but nuns – I was related to 5 and know a few dozen more. Some of them can be really “hard shell” as they say.
I think the Priest revealing this may well have misread public mood, by doing this he has raised the profile on the church’s stance on abortion - and that might actually be a good thing, the public can make up their own mind, and it might not go the way the priest intended.
So in a way both sides are held up to public scrutiny - works for me.
As a member of the RCC, I’ll give my opinion here:
1 - Is it bad that the priest announced why he refused communion to Biden? I don’t think so. The stance of the Church on abortion is pretty well-known, and Biden’s stance on it is also well known.
2 - Should they also be refusing communion to pro-choice church members? Maybe? I do see a degree of difference between a policymaker and someone who simply has a personal difference of opinion.
3 - Is is hypocritical to refuse communion to pro-choice politicians but not pro-death-penalty ones? Absolutely, I would like to see this enforced.
Alternately, if yo’re not going to enforce it for the one, you shouldn’t for the other.
Pro-choice BAD!! Heathens! We must alert the media!
Pedophilia…eh…they just need some counselling and a sabbatical, maybe a change of venue… we should probably keep this under our hats.
I think that’s the disconnect. Not just here, everywhere. He’s saying ‘I don’t do X, but I have no problem with others doing it’, the church is saying ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’.
Things like this always remind me of an interview I saw once. It was on Tosh.0, he was talking to a woman and the subject of abortion came up. He asked her if she was pro-life or pro-choice and she responded with the very common ‘well, um, I would never have one, but uhhh…’ and Danial interrupted with '…you would never have one, but you don’t mind if other people choose whether or not they have one?", to which she agreed. He then said ‘that’s pro-choice, you think everyone should be able to choose if they have one or not, but you know, you’re not required to have one to be pro-choice’.
I’ll have to see if I can find the clip.
ETA, found the clip, I misremembered the ‘required to have an abortion’ part. He was clarifying that she wasn’t pro-abortion, just pro-choice.
So, he could be refused communion if he said “I try to go the Mass every week, but I understand each person must make that decision for themselves. I wouldn’t support a law mandating it.”
No.
Nope - from the Catholic Church’s view, Biden isn’t just saying that he doesn’t think it’s right to impose “Catholic rules” on everyone. They don’t refuse Communion to politicians because they support easier divorce laws or to those ( approximately 100% ) who support the concept of civil marriage* or any number of issues that the organized Catholic Church believes are wrong in one way or another or think are binding on Catholics but don’t necessarily seek to impose on others. In the view of those refusing him Communion , he’s in favor of legalized murder. Even though he says he is personally against it and wouldn’t be involved himself, he wants it to be legal and to allow people to make their own choice. Imagine some politician supported a law that dehumanized a group of people in some way - maybe it made slavery legal, or permitted infanticide. Not just any law that you might disagree with, but one that in effect says “These beings are not people and are therefore not worthy of protection under the law.” Would it matter to you if the politician who supported slavery said “I don’t think it’s right, and I wouldn’t enslave someone myself, but people should be able to make their own choice”? Would you think " Oh, he’s OK , he wouldn’t enslave someone himself, so the fact that he thinks it should be legal doesn’t affect my opinion of him at all. We can still have the same relationship as before he supported this law." I’m guessing probably not - and that’s really what these bishops are saying with the Communion bans. It’s “Your’re not part of our group anymore”.
*Some countries don’t - Israel and Lebanon,for example.
Abortion - BAD!!!
Slavery…eh, not so much.
Did they ever deny communion to actual slavers in the old days? Not counting the Popes and Catholic institutions that actually bought and sold human beings, of course. Or existed largely on forced labor?
They are only recently coming around on the Death Penalty, but so far as I know wouldn’t deny communion to a politician who supported it.
In the march against evil, the Catholic Church doesn’t really lead. Sometimes, it’s dragged.
I’m no fan of Biden, but I don’t think churches need some sort of purity test to allow participation. If the same standard were applied to all members, they might the pews would be a lot less crowded. It apparently is a religious sort of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Reminder-This isn’t about the denial of Communion-their house, their rules.
This is about the priest discussing the matter with the press.