WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Seeking justice for unborn children, Catholic journalist Jim Havens challenged prominent bishops about their lackluster fight against abortion during Tuesday’s United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meeting.
In a question period Tuesday at the USCCB meeting, journalist Jim Havens of The Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network pressed outgoing USCCB president Archbishop José Horacio Gomez and head of the Committee on Doctrine Bishop Daniel Flores, about why they are not doing more to defend the lives of pre-born children against the condemned practice of abortion.
“Bishop, wondering, we’re living in a time where we have an ongoing, daily mass murder of pre-born children in our nation. These are our littlest, most defenseless brothers and sisters. I’m wondering if it were any other class of human beings, do you think you would be saying more, doing more to end it, than what you’re currently saying and doing?” Havens asked Gomez.
“I think it’s clear that we understand that abortion is a morally wrong, you know, the Holy Father has said, we understand many times it is a crime,” replied Gomez.
“So, I think we are doing all we can in order to help people understand what it is,” added the archbishop.
Seemingly upset with the vague answer from Gomez, Havens reacted to the archbishop’s reply on social media, writing “Really? Wrong answer. Personhood now,” signaling his desire for a stronger rebuke of the ghastly practice of abortion which is perennially taught to be a grave evil by the Catholic Church.
This is not the first time Gomez has upset the faithful with respect to abortion.
In July of 2021, Gomez upset swaths of Catholics when he both promoted reception of the abortion-tainted COVID-19 injections, while also announcing he would not grant any religious exemptions to the faithful who were being mandated to take the novel shots against their well-formed consciences.
In another video interview posted by Havens, he once again pressed for an answer about the USCCB’s efforts to end abortion, asking Flores: “How can we expect any nationwide ‘Eucharistic revival’ when U.S. bishops in their own witness, are not even respecting the reality of the Holy Eucharist enough to enforce Canon 915 with respect to Joe Biden and other pro-abortion politicians, who say they’re Catholic but are pushing the ongoing, daily mass murder of our little, defenseless pre-born brothers and sisters… Doesn’t this contradiction need to be corrected… for the bishops to credibly call for a nationwide Eucharistic revival?”
In response, Flores affirmed the “reality of Jesus” and His “profound calls to conversion,” but seemingly intimated that the USCCB is going to leave the barring of communion to those who publicly support abortion up to the local bishops, rather than all following canon law and taking a unilateral stand against the scandalous sacrilege.
According to Can. 915 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
In Church teaching, anyone who persistently holds a position contrary to the Catholic faith incurs a latae sententae (automatic) excommunication and thereby, under pain of mortal sin, must refrain for receiving the Holy Eucharist.
As explained by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone when he famously declared that pro-abortion U.S. politician Nancy Pelosi was to be barred from receiving the Eucharist in his archdiocese, “A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 915).”
Responding to Flores’ answer, Havens once again gave his own reply on social media, writing, “It is horribly revealing that the bishops as a body will not even consider enforcing Canon 915 with respect to Biden (fake Catholic President) and other pro-abortion officials, and it greatly affects their credibility.”
“It’s a serious scandal that serves as an anti-witness of our Eucharistic Faith and has disastrous effects on both the care of souls and the ongoing, daily mass murder of the preborn and exploitation of pregnant moms in need, by the lie of abortion that we’re living through.”
