- Feb 5, 2002
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Father Brian Graebe and Father James Martin square off in the pages of America’s largest newspaper.
There is a growing dissonance in the Catholic Church. To understand where we are at, I recommend Ralph Martin’s book A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. It is a “You are here” marker on the map of today’s Catholicism, offering insights on how we got here and directions to navigate the future .
An example of the disagreements within our Church are two competing Catholic voices published recently in the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal. Father Brian Graebe’s July 22 letter, headlined “The Catholic Church Has a Duty to Correct the Powerful on Abortion,”responded to Father James Martin’s commentary “Abortion and the Grumbling Crowd.”
Father Martin began by asking, “Should a Catholic politician who supports abortion rights receive communion?” He claimed that the Communion question for Joe Biden was settled by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington who said he would not deny him Communion.
At the same time, he noted that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco declaredthat Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be barred from receiving Communion in his archdiocese for her actions on abortion, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls the “pre-eminent moral issue of our time.” Father Martin wrote:
The archbishop has written that a Catholic legislator who supports ‘procured abortion’ commits ‘a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others.’ Universal church law, Archbishop Cordileone pointed out in his declaration, provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion (Code of Canon Law, can. 915).’
He contends that since we are all unworthy to receive Communion, no one should be denied it. He quoted Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego — recently nominated to become a cardinal — against the “weaponization” of the Eucharist. McElroy stated that failure in following Catholic teaching in its fullness “cannot be the measure of Eucharistic worthiness in a church of sinners and questioners, who must face intense pressures and complexities in their daily lives.”
Father Martin said Bishop McElroy has asked, “Why target only abortion?” and used the example of former Attorney General William Barr’s support of the death penalty, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares “inadmissible.” According to Bishop McElroy, “The Eucharist must never be instrumentalized for a political end, no matter how important.”
Continued below.
Two Priests Debate in WSJ on Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians
There is a growing dissonance in the Catholic Church. To understand where we are at, I recommend Ralph Martin’s book A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. It is a “You are here” marker on the map of today’s Catholicism, offering insights on how we got here and directions to navigate the future .
An example of the disagreements within our Church are two competing Catholic voices published recently in the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal. Father Brian Graebe’s July 22 letter, headlined “The Catholic Church Has a Duty to Correct the Powerful on Abortion,”responded to Father James Martin’s commentary “Abortion and the Grumbling Crowd.”
Father Martin began by asking, “Should a Catholic politician who supports abortion rights receive communion?” He claimed that the Communion question for Joe Biden was settled by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington who said he would not deny him Communion.
At the same time, he noted that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco declaredthat Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be barred from receiving Communion in his archdiocese for her actions on abortion, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls the “pre-eminent moral issue of our time.” Father Martin wrote:
The archbishop has written that a Catholic legislator who supports ‘procured abortion’ commits ‘a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others.’ Universal church law, Archbishop Cordileone pointed out in his declaration, provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion (Code of Canon Law, can. 915).’
He contends that since we are all unworthy to receive Communion, no one should be denied it. He quoted Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego — recently nominated to become a cardinal — against the “weaponization” of the Eucharist. McElroy stated that failure in following Catholic teaching in its fullness “cannot be the measure of Eucharistic worthiness in a church of sinners and questioners, who must face intense pressures and complexities in their daily lives.”
Father Martin said Bishop McElroy has asked, “Why target only abortion?” and used the example of former Attorney General William Barr’s support of the death penalty, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares “inadmissible.” According to Bishop McElroy, “The Eucharist must never be instrumentalized for a political end, no matter how important.”
Continued below.
Two Priests Debate in WSJ on Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians
