Refusing Communion for Obama Voters

There is an assumption that there is only one way to deal with abortion and if one doesn't follow the old tried and true way, then one falls into scandal and cooperates with the forces of evil. At least this appears to be the assumption of this priest.____Let me take you back 2,000 years. I just can't see Jesus refusing communion to anyone. Love doesn't work that way. Teaching someone what righteousness and mercy are don't work that way.____Take the hard line, and play the pharisee. Teach love, love through example, talk love, act love, and you begin to exemplify Christ.____Without judging women who make the choice to have abortions, I believe that babies have a right to life.____For reasons other than the abortion issue, I believe Catholics have a right to vote for Barack Obama.____You know, there is terrible suffering in this world today, and social justice calls us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and end war.__I know these issues have been raised before, and the response has been that abortion is killing so many more.____Life is in the balance and we must try to meet all of these challenges. ____How can anyone be turned away from communion based on his or her vote?__We don't have time for this in the church or the world. It is a distraction and there is more important work for the church to do than to slap the hands of her parishioners. We need to work for life, doing what we can to bring balance to all issues on the table of social justice. ____To do less is just not a biblical call nor Catholic Christian.

... and since there are possible grounds where supporting a candidate could conceivably constitute grave matter, then yes, under certain circumstances, a priest (or extraordinary minister) can decide that someone is unworthy of receiving the Eucharist based on politics.

Three conditions must be met for a sin to be mortal, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1857)____"Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."____I would point out, though, Tom, that while you explained that conceivably a priest could withhold holy communion from a communicant whom he believed to be in mortal sin (grave matter in this case due to politics) Fr. Newman told the Greenville News on Friday that church teaching does not allow him to withhold communion from someone based on political choices.____That Fr. Newman will continue his crusade to end the "intrinsic and grave evil of abortion" which IS the strong stand of the church is taking up an incredibly important social justice issue. I would say the most important one (as I have heard others say) but I cannot take my eyes off of the needs of the people who live in Darfur and other third world countries, who live in war zones, who suffer from natural disasters, who suffer from hunger, nakedness, and illness. These are the people we are meeting now, and their issues are also on the table and need attention. I believe we cannot turn our attention to one issue only and become myopic in our vision.____

Let's read the quote again...____"The Rev. Jay Scott Newman told The Greenville News on Wednesday that church teaching doesn't allow him to refuse Holy Communion to anyone based on political choices, but that he'll continue to deliver the church's strong teaching on the "intrinsic and grave evil of abortion" as a hidden form of murder."____To be clear, the Rev. Newman did not state he would not give Holy Communion...see the quote above. Intead, he is making folks aware of a heart issue before receiving communion. God looks at the heart to see if it is His. [1Sam.16:7

You are kind to Fr. Newman, Leslie. Bless you. And, I believe your intentions are good. And, no one can argue with your pastor. What he says and does are sound.____But, I have a feeling that if the church had not told Newman that barring communicants from receiving communion for political purposes was not and is not a Catholic teaching, good Fr. Newman would be barring Catholics this Sunday who he deemed unworthy to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.____In a time when the call in this world if for unity--and one does not know what will come of that, but we will see--does not Christ also call for unity? You see, the Bible is like that. Pick the verse you want to support that which you wish to support. In all due respect, the Bible often is used in this manner, not that sometimes using it in this manner produces good results...sometimes may even be right and not contentious.____I'm ready to leave. The parish where I attend does not feel like home...it is filled with small town clicks (how welcoming is that)and then there is the issue of paying out millions of dollars for specific sexual misconduct on the part of priests (at least abortion helps change the subject)and now the church has decided it needs to dig into the voting issue. Yes, a good Catholic, a real Catholic, a true Catholic could only vote one way.____I could go into some issues about Mr. McCain, as much as I like him. He is an abortion advocate, for example. He has had a past that needed looking into, but that was not the direction the Obama campaign took. I think one must look fairly at both candidate or one is not being realistic in a campaign of this kind. Gossip, lies, and slander just don't serve the common good.____I am sure hell shall overflow with mistaken voters throughout history, those whose votes went against the teachings of the church, particularly and espcially Catholic voters. Thank God for Fr. Newman. We need more priests and other clergy like him.____But, those in hell won't just be Catholics who Fr. Newman says voted in an intrinsically evil way in this election. Take a look at the history of the United States. Uh-oh.

Church tradition and teaching has made abortion akin to murder. The Bible never explicitly makes this connection, nor mentions abortion specifically either. Yet the Scriptures are clear on a number of other things: injustice, oppression and what we would call human rights abuses, neglect of the hungry and the poor, and so on. Jesus was never clearer than when he spoke of the consequences of what people did "to the least of these", for what was done to them he said was done as well to him. Did this priest call for penance before receiving communion for those who voted for Bush who has promoted policies that fly in the face of Jesus' admonition above: torture, Guantanamo, pre-emptive war on flimsy pretexts? Politically and theologically, he's skating on thin and dangerous ice here if he's taking any side politically.

The pro-life agenda of the Catholic Church does not start and end with abortion. If we are going to deny communion to Catholics who vote for a pro-choice candidate who him/herself has never performed such a procedure, then the logical conclusion is that the Eucharist will also be denied to voters who support candidates who are pro death penalty, pro pre-emptive war, pro torture, etc.

The answer here is NO, a Priest should not refuse parishioners from receiving communion for voting for Obama.
Obama is probably the most extreme Pro-abortion candidate we have ever had. He is for Gay’s right to marry and embryonic stem cell research. – These issue are against Catholic Doctrine.
BUT – Obama is also against the Death Penalty, health care access, immigration rights – which are also very Catholic.
So, for some, it becomes a matter of lesser of two evils. I personally would never vote for a Pro-Choice candidate, either party. I have heard others say the abortion issue is lost and they voted Obama for the other issues. I disagree with the vast majority of Obama’s beliefs. Furthermore, many, many Priest are nervous about Obama. This is the most vocal our Priest and bishops have been about a presidential candidate. And we all should be vocal, but unless the Priest knows exactly if a person is in a state of sin, they should not refuse communion.
If you are directly supporting, aiding or performing abortions, you can be excommunicated from the church. A politician who stands up and applauses abortions is not excommunicated. A Catholic Politician that helps enable abortion can be refused Communion.

The Church expects individuals to not receive communion if they are in a sinful state.

Interesting facts about our Democratic, Catholic Senators
The head of the Catholic League says although there are more "wild-eyed" supporters of abortion in the Democratic Party than Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Barack Obama's vice-presidential running mate is a strong ally of the abortion lobby. He also has a suggestion for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a professed Catholic: review the basics of Catholicism. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League laments that of the 16 Democratic senators who are Catholic, all are pro-abortion. Senator Joe Biden's approval rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) ranges from 75-to-100 percent.

BELOW IS THE CHURCH DOCTRINE ON RECEIVING COMMUNION:

• To receive Communion worthily, you must be in a state of grace, have made a good confession since your last mortal sin, believe in transubstantiation, observe the Eucharistic fast, and, finally, not be under an ecclesiastical censure such as excommunication.
o A mortal sin is any sin whose matter is grave and which has been committed willfully and with knowledge of its seriousness.
• The requirement for sacramental confession can be dispensed if four conditions are fulfilled: (1) there must be a grave reason to receive Communion (for example, danger of death), (2) it must be physically or morally impossible to go to confession first, (3) the person must already be in a state of grace through perfect contrition, and (4) he must resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.