Three Southern Catholic bishops rule out Communion for pro-choice politicians

<p>Three Southern Catholic bishops said Wednesday that politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Holy Communion unless they publicly recant their views.</p><p>The statement by the archbishop of Atlanta, along with bishops in Charlotte, N.C., and Charleston, S.C., is the most stringent yet as Catholic bishops nationwide debate whether pro-choice politicians are worthy of the rite. The announcement affects at least 200 churches in Georgia and the Carolinas.</p><p>A handful of the nation's 300 or so bishops have already said that abortion-supporting politicians should be denied Communion, but none of those went as far as the three Southern bishops, who wrote that politicians would have to publicly disavow any support for abortion rights and get permission from a bishop before again receiving Communion.</p><p>"By supporting pro-abortion legislation they participate in manifest grave sin," the bishops wrote.</p><p>In June, U.S. bishops could not agree whether all politicians who favor abortion rights should be denied Communion. But they issued a statement saying those lawmakers are "cooperating in evil" and must examine whether they should receive the sacrament.</p><p>The Communion debate gained national attention after Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis said in January he would deny the sacrament to presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.</p><p>Communion affirms a Catholic's bond with God, and asking a parishioner not to participate is a harsh punishment in the church.</p><p>A spokeswoman for Atlanta Archbishop John F. Donoghue, Kathi Stearns, said he was unavailable to comment. She said she could not elaborate on what led to the Communion ban. Charleston Bishop Robert J. Baker and Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis also signed the statement.</p><p>"We declare that Catholics serving in public life espousing positions contrary to the teaching of the Church on the sanctity and inviolability of human life, especially those running for or elected to public office, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in any Catholic church within our jurisdiction," the bishops wrote.</p><p>In a further statement to his South Carolina priests, Baker wrote, "As Catholics, we do not challenge society to translate all our beliefs and moral perspectives into law, but the issue of abortion is one that cannot permit compromise."</p><p>Pro-choice Catholic groups called the Southern bishops' statement shocking because it goes beyond denying Communion. They found especially troublesome the requirement that politicians must publicly disavow abortion and get a bishop's permission to resume taking Communion.</p><p>"This is pretty draconian," said Frances Kissling, president of the Washington-based Catholics For a Free Choice.</p><p>"It certainly does not seem to be a mainstream strategy. The overwhelming majority of Catholic people do not believe it is appropriate for a bishop to use Communion as a political sledgehammer to gain obedience."</p><p>In Baker's statement, he said parish priests would not be allowed to decide whether a public figure is worthy of resuming Communion: "That determination is reserved to me personally."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2865394)</p>