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Yesterday, the American Life League began a $500,000 advertising campaign targeting Catholic bishops who do not refuse Communion to politicians who oppose church teaching in public policy. The campaign follows D.C.'s Cardinal Theodore McCarrick statement saying he is not comfortable denying Communion to John Kerry. The Life League's first ad shows Jesus on the cross and asks McCarrick, "Cardinal McCarrick: Are you comfortable now?"

Such pressure has made nearly every recent Sunday of John Kerry's campaign a spectacle as reporters speculate if Kerry will take Communion. The pressure has also passed beyond Kerry. Following statements by three New Jersey bishops saying that politicians who support abortion should not take Communion, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey has decided he will not take Communion. The bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has also supposedly warned Senator Tom Daschle not to call himself a Catholic.

If the Catholic Church does crack down on politicians who support abortion or gay marriage, The Washington Post asks, where will it end?

Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, said her organization believes that all priests and lay Eucharistic ministers who hand out Communion are obligated—with or without instructions from their bishops—to refuse Communion to any federal, state, or local official who is known to disagree with church teaching on abortion, contraception, stem cell research, euthanasia, or in vitro fertilization. 

Other liberal and conservative Catholic groups add issues like gay marriage, war, and the death penalty as reasons to the list of reasons for refusing Communion. Evangelicals seem to support efforts to crack down on wayward Catholic politicians, but how long will that support last if more issues are included? Many evangelicals have supported of the war in Iraq, while the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposed a unilateral war.

Once again, framing a religion story in purely political terms removes some of the core issues. Taking Communion in a state of sin (especially if you believe the bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ) is a sin against the body and blood of Christ. Paul warns that taking Communion unworthily can cause sickness or death. Wouldn't refusing Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion actually be taking care of their souls and possibly physical health? Most likely, non-Catholic journalists may be skeptical of such reasoning, but it may shed some light on the issue.

The Post story does offer a little help along these lines. "In our teaching, the primary responsibility is on the individual whether to receive Communion after serious reflection on whether they are in the proper state," the cardinal's spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said. However, the story does not follow up. Kerry has said his freedom of conscience, allowed by the church, gives him room to support abortion as a politician. The church teaches, "anyone who is conscious of grave sin should not celebrate or receive the Body of the Lord without prior sacramental confession." Consciousness is key however, and Kerry is also responsible to inform himself of church teaching. Bishops have been clear that pro-choice politicians are "not fit" to receive communion.

In the meantime, a $500,000 ad campaign is an expensive way to confront a brother you believe to be in sin.

Religion & politics:

• Catholic political dilemma is back | Lucy Killea and John Kerry have much in common. Like Kerry, Killea's a Democratic politician—or used to be. Like Kerry, Killea's also a Roman Catholic. And like Kerry, Killea supports abortion rights. But while the debate continues among Catholic hierarchy over whether Kerry and others like him should be allowed to take Holy Communion, it was a done deal for Killea. In 1989, the late San Diego Bishop Leo Maher barred her from participating in Communion in local parishes. (Union-Tribune, San Diego)
  
  

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May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48