By John-Henry Westen
DENVER, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The always colorful Archbishop of Denver, one of the most outspoken churchmen in the nation, has authored a new book which is set to make waves in Washington. Archbishop Charles Chaput has answered the sticky topic of not only asking pro-abortion politicians to abstain from Communion, but denying them the Sacrament as well.
In the final chapter of his 272 page book Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, the Archbishop gets to the heart of the debate over pro-abortion politicians and reception of Holy Communion.
He asks of himself the question: “As a bishop, what would I do if a Catholic public official-a person publicly acting against Catholic teaching on a grave moral issue like abortion, euthanasia, human cloning or embryonic stem cell research—presented himself for Communion?”
Answering, the Denver Archbishop notes that if the politician in question hailed from a diocese other than his own he would not deny Communion. However, if the politician was in his diocese, Archbishop Chaput lays out his course of action:
As a bishop, I have a duty in charity to help Catholic officials understand and support Church teaching on vital issues. That’s never a matter for public theater; it’s always a matter of direct, private discussion. If that failed, I would ask the official to refrain from receiving Communion. If he still presented himself, then I would publicly ask him to not take Communion, and publicly explain why to my people and brother priests. If he still persisted then, and only then, I would withhold Communion from him—because of his deliberate disregard of the rights of other Catholics and the unity of the Church.
Chaput is completely frank and even insistent on calling on pro-abortion politicians themselves to refrain from presenting themselves for Communion. “The Church always expects Catholics who are living in grave sin or who deny the teachings of the Church—whether they’re highly visible officials or anonymous parishioners—to have the integrity to respect both the Eucharist and the faithful, and to refrain from receiving,” he says.
On the matter of denying Communion however, the Archbishop explains his reticence saying, “Denying anyone Communion is a grave matter. It can never be ruled out as a course of action, but it should be reserved for serious cases of public scandal where it can actually make a difference.”
In a segment providing a glimpse into his thinking on the matter, Chaput writes:
Of course, this opens those same local bishops to pressure from Catholic groups who think that publicly humiliating political leaders resolves problems. Sometimes it may. But in a media environment where almost any kind of Church admonition of a public figure is misportrayed as religious vigilantism, it can just as easily harden officials in their views. If Catholic political life is dominated by bickering over who will or will not be denied Communion, the real issue will be overlooked.
The Denver Archbishop explains that “denying anyone Communion is not primarily a ‘penalty’ for the individual, and framing it that way misrepresents the meaning of the action.” He adds: “When the Church withholds Communion from any person, she does so to protect the integrity of the Sacrament, defend the faith of her people and call the individual to conversion.”
Finally, Archbishop Chaput notes an “obvious exception” to the rules. He describes a case where he would deny Communion without the process detailed above: “Catholics who actively and prominently work to advance permissive abortion or any other serious violation of human dignity, persons who deliberately treat the Church, her people and her sacraments as political theater to attack Catholic convictions and faith, should never present themselves for Communion and should never be surprised at being denied if they do.”
LifeSiteNews.com asked the Archbishop’s office: “Has Nancy Pelosi with her remarks in the Meet the Press interview, and her subsequent reaffirmation of those remarks despite the wide criticism by the hierarchy, met the criteria for the exception? And thus would Archbishop Chaput deny Nancy Pelosi Communion?”
Francis X. Maier, Chancellor of the Archdiocese and special assistant to the Archbishop told LifeSiteNews.com that the Archbishop was not available for comment on the matter, nor would he be likely to “discuss Speaker Pelosi in the public media, beyond his statement of last week.” Maier did however provide some insight on what the Archbishop meant when speaking of the “obvious exception.”
“I believe that when the archbishop drafted that chapter last July (i.e., 2007), he was thinking more of abortion-rights activist organizations than public officials,” said Maier. Groups such as Catholics for a Free Choice and the ‘Rainbow Sash’ homosexual activists readily fit the category.
However, Maier did not completely rule out the Archbishop putting Pelosi and other Catholic abortion-promoting politicians in the exception category. Adding a parting disclaimer to his reading of Archbishop Chaput’s exceptions as being more for activist organizations rather than politicians, Maier said, “but that is my understanding, not necessarily his, or what he intended.”
See related coverage:
Abortion-Politician-Communion Scandal Shows Real Lack of Pastoral Concern
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052102.html
To order Chaput’s book click here:
https://www.ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&Product_ID=3427&AFID=12&