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Archbishop Does Not Think PM's Abortion and Gay Marriage "Position Merits Refusing Him Communion"

OTTAWA, March 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has come out politically both in favour of Canada's current situation of abortion on demand, and has been a driving force behind Canada's same-sex marriage legislation.  While Vatican officials have deemed such positions incongruous with Catholicism and thus impediments to reception of Holy Communion, Martin's bishop, Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais has decided otherwise.

Communications Director for the Archdiocese of Ottawa, Gilles Ouellette, provided to LifeSiteNews.com the response of Archbishop Gervais to the question of denying Holy Communion to the Prime Minister.

"Refusing communion and excommunication are very serious actions, and are means that the Church uses only as a last resort. Refusing communion to a leader of Parliament is serious to the extreme. I, like most other bishops, would not entertain such a thought without the backing of my brother bishops, or without prior communication with the Holy See," writes Archbishop Gervais.

However, the Holy See has already pronounced its opinion on the matter loud and clear on several occasions.  Most recently, Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, the top Vatican Cardinal in charge of the sacraments of the Catholic Church has made it plain in an on-camera interview with EWTN that pro-abortion politicians may not be admitted to Holy Communion.

EWTN interviewer Raymond Arroyo questioned the Vatican Cardinal saying: "Last year, you were asked at a press conference whether a politician, a Catholic politician who supports abortion publicly should be permitted to the Communion rail, should be permitted to receive Communion publicly. What is your response to that?"

Cardinal Arinze responded, "The answer is clear. If a person says I am in favour of killing unborn babies whether they be four thousand or five thousand, I have been in favour of killing them. I will be in favour of killing them tomorrow and next week and next year. So, unborn babies, too bad for you. I am in favour that you should be killed, then the person turn around and say I want to receive Holy Communion. Do you need any Cardinal from the Vatican to answer that?"

Laughing, Arroyo responded, "It should be pretty transparent." To which the Cardinal concluded, "Simple, ask the children for First Communion, they'll give you the answer."

Archbishop Gervais acknowledged that one Canadian bishop has already said, in union with Rome, that he would deny Martin communion based on Martin's anti-life and anti-family stands.  "Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, however, is fully within his right as a Catholic leader of a diocese to express his judgment on situations concerning faith and morals. He chooses now to say he would consider refusing communion to the Prime Minister, and possibly even excommunicate him. To him the PM is a federal politician," said Archbishop Gervais.

Archbishop Gervais added, however, "To me he is also a faithful member of my cathedral parish.  He did not personally bring his party to adopt this policy. He has come to the conclusion that it is according to the plan of God for him to accept to be the leader of his party and, in this arena, it is acceptable for him to represent its policies. As the leader of the party in power, he believes that his personal opinion is not relevant to his role as leader. While I do not agree either with his argument or his conclusion on same sex marriage, I do not think, at this time, his position merits refusing him communion."

Catholic pro-life activists have put the question in light of what modern society still considers 'sinful'.  Surresh Dominic, spokesman for Canada's Campaign Life Catholic has, in speaking with LifeSiteNews.com, wondered what the decision would be if Prime Minister Martin favored racism.  He questioned whether a white supremacist politician would also 'not merit' refusal of communion.

Dominic contends that the comparison is valid noting that the Catholic Church condemns racism and teaches that abortion is the murder of the innocent. Dominic concluded, "Abortion, like racism, is all about discrimination. It's discrimination based on age, size and dependency."

See the LifeSiteNews.com coverage of Cardinal Arinze's EWTN interview:
Vatican Cardinal Ends Debate: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians or Rainbow Sashers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05021603.html

jhw

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