The Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States voted in June to advance a proposal that could bar President Joe Biden from taking Communion. Recently, the Archbishop of Los Angeles described the draft as a “teaching document on the beauty and power of the Eucharist.” But the statement seems conspicuously timed to pressure Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, because of his pro-choice views.
I would call the decision to draft the proposal unbelievable. However, recognizing the extent to which American Catholic leadership has been infected by a virulent strain of right-wing antipathy towards pro-choice Catholics, the action was predictable.
But before elaborating on the dangerous position many of the bishops have taken, it is essential to understand the role of Communion in Catholic life.
Communion is a recreation of the Last Supper. Catholics believe that when we take the Eucharist, the bread we eat and wine we drink are Jesus Christ’s body and blood.
Shamefully, the American episcopate looks poised to pervert this most precious sacrament, and worse yet, do so with thinly-veiled partisan prejudice.
Biden’s election should have evoked at least some warm feelings in many American Catholics — one of our own overcame the bigotry that tarred generations of Catholic politicians. Instead, what should have been celebrated as a new day in the United States for Catholics has quickly become an opportunity for right-wing zealots to fire another shot in the Communion wars, further dividing a church that derives its name from “universal.”
In this process of partisan Eucharist purity testing, the bishops are opening themselves up to charges of cafeteria Catholicism.
When Catholic former Attorney General William Barr rushed death row inmates to the gurney in July 2019, the American Catholic Bishops raised no suggestion of withholding Communion from Barr or any other politician who supports the death penalty. Worse yet, Barr was more morally culpable than Biden, as Barr’s role in the executions was active rather than acquiescent.
For Republicans who support executions, turn a blind eye to income inequality and kiss the ring of a hedonistic, wannabe authoritarian: New Testament mercy. For Democratic politicians who support a woman’s right to choose: Old Testament justice.
The disparate treatment of each party’s politicians is indicative of a long march rightward within the Church’s leadership in America.
Oddly enough, the American Catholic Church leadership’s adamant opposition to abortion — and the threats that follow it — are not a reflection of the views of their members. According to a 2019 study from Pew Research, American Catholics said abortion should be legal in all or most cases by a 56-42 margin.
However, among Catholics who attend Mass once a week or more, a 67-33 margin believes abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. While more regular Mass attendance does not necessarily indicate nearness to God in the Catholic faith — see Isaiah 29:13 — one can assume that those most involved in the Church have more vigorous opposition to abortion, which extends to the clergy’s leadership.
Aside from the moral issues created by barring Biden and other pro-choice politicians from taking the Eucharist, the Church would be presented with practical problems.
The first issue is that barring pro-choice Catholic politicians from Communion would defy the Vatican’s public warning against drafting the proposal. Such defiance could cause harmful discord by pitting the American Catholic Church against the Vatican.
The second issue is that any guidance from the American Catholic Bishops that would target Biden himself would have little practical effect. Father Kevin Gillespie, the priest at the church Biden attends in Washington, said he would give Biden Communion regardless of an order from the bishops.
Additionally, Gillespie, or any other priest who would give Biden Communion under a ban, would become a hero to progressive Catholics. Catholic bishops should know about the power of a holy man willing to defy hypocritical religious elders who seek to “lock people out of the kingdom of heaven.”
I implore the bishops not to draft a document that would turn Christ’s body into a political weapon. I remind the bishops of the Holy Father’s statement that the Eucharist is not a reward for the virtuous, but spiritual sustenance for sinners.
