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Pro-Abort Politicians "Must" be Refused Communion: Philippines Archbishop

By Hilary White

OZAMIZ, Philippines, July 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Philippine bishop has reiterated the teaching of the Catholic Church that politicians who support legal abortion "must" be refused Holy Communion at Mass.

Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Ozamiz archdiocese issued a pastoral letter this weekend saying priests should tell such politicians, "until they bring to an end the objective situation of sin" that they should not present themselves at Mass to receive Communion. Priests are to give pro-abortion politicians instructions in the Church's teaching, and if the politician persists in his error, he should be told not to present himself for Communion.

"The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion merely as a consequence of being present at Mass is an abuse that must be corrected," wrote Archbishop Dosado.

To support his instruction, the archbishop quoted an official 2000 Vatican instruction, "Holy Communion and Divorced, Civilly Remarried Catholics" that said that when "precautionary measures" had failed and the person remains in "obstinate persistence," and presents himself to receive the Eucharist, the minister "must refuse to distribute it."

"This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty," the archbishop said. "Nor is the minister of the Holy Communion passing judgment on the person's subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person's public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin."

Archbishop Dosado also cited the letter by then-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger of 2004, written in response to the ongoing scandal of pro-abortion US Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry persisting in publicly receiving Communion. He said that the decision to present himself for Communion had to be the result of the person's "reasoned judgment" on his spiritual state.

The speaker of the Filipino parliament, Prospero Nograles, responded saying that Archbishop Dosado's pastoral letter violated the principle of "separation of church and state."

This argument was commonly presented during the 2004 US Presidential campaign after a small number of Catholic bishops issued statements enforcing the Church's teaching. Their defenders countered by saying that the demand that a bishop, who is instructing his flock in religious, not political matters, should remain silent, was itself a violation of the principle that the state should not interfere with the running of churches.

Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Linguyen-Dagupan, told local radio, "If a priest or bishop does not punish a public sinner, it is the priest or bishop who is wrong."

Archbishop Dosado also dispelled another commonly presented argument that said abortion was just one of many moral issues with which people "of good conscience" could disagree with the Church. He countered the widely held "seamless garment" opinion that abortion is just one part of a larger pro-life ethic and was on an equal moral footing with war, homelessness or poverty.

"If a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion," the archbishop said. "There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war, but not about abortion."

Read more:

Abortion-Politician-Communion Scandal Shows Real Lack of Pastoral Concern - Editorial
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052102.html

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