Pope Francis meets President Joe Biden on Oct. 29, 2021. / Vatican Media/CNA
Denver Newsroom, Oct 31, 2021 / 19:49 pm (CNA).
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of San Sebastián, Spain, harshly criticized President Joe Biden’ claim that Pope Francis personally encouraged him to continue receiving Communion despite his open support for abortion.
“These incredible statements reveal the moral character of those who are capable of compromising and manipulating the Pope with the intention of washing their conscience stained by the blood of so many innocent lives unjustly eliminated,” Bishop Munilla said in an Oct. 30 tweet.
On Oct. 29, Pope Francis received Biden in the Vatican for 75 minutes. The U.S. president told Reuters that Pope Francis told him “to keep receiving Communion.”
The Associated Press reported that Biden received Communion a day later, during a Mass offered at St. Patrick’s Church, an English-speaking church that is the main place the American Catholic community in Rome goes for Mass.
Individual U.S. bishops have issued statements in recent months on Communion for pro-abortion politicians.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois said in May that “Sadly, there are some bishops and cardinals of the Church who not only are willing to give holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians, but who seek to block the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from addressing the question of Eucharistic coherence.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco stated in May that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should refrain from presenting themselves for Communion.
While Biden was campaigning for president in South Carolina, he was denied Communion at a parish in 2019, in accord with diocesan policy.
Other bishops, such as Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, have said that the Eucharist should not be denied to pro-abortion Catholic public officials. At an online panel in February, McElroy warned that some bishops were seeking to make abortion a “litmus test” for Catholic officials, and said attempts to deny them Communion would be seen as a “weaponization” of the Eucharist.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington has already said he would not deny Communion to pro-abortion politicians. While Biden’s previous bishop in Wilmington, Bishop Francis Malooly, did not deny him Communion in the diocese, the new Bishop of Wilmington has not made a public statement on the matter.
Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a 2004 memo to U.S. bishops as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that Catholic public officials who publicly campaign for permissive abortion laws should be instructed by their pastor not to present themselves for Communion unless they stop promoting such laws. If they continue to do so despite the warnings of their pastor, and if they present themselves for Communion, the minister must deny them Communion, Ratzinger noted.
The U.S. bishops voted in June to begin drafting “a formal statement on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.”
The U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee is working on drafting the document, with input from other conference committees. A draft of the document could be ready to be debated, amended, and voted on by the bishops at their November meeting.
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CNA Staff, Jun 27, 2020 / 09:36 pm (CNA).- Fr. Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was among the defenders of a prominent statue of the city’s namesake as protesters called for its removal Saturday.
Umar Lee, an organizer of the protests, said June 27 that the statue “is gonna come down,” reported Joel Currier of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “This guy right here represents hate and we’re trying to create a city of love. We’re trying to create a city where Black lives matter. We’re trying to create a city where there is no antisemitism or Islamophobia … this is not a symbol of our city in 2020.”
Fr. Schumacher, whose priestly ordination was in May 2019, addressed a shouting mob, attempting to inform them about St. Louis’ life, saying, “St. Louis was a man who willed to use his kingship to do good for his people.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Video from this moment earlier. <a href=”https://t.co/PXLMoT3s1c”>https://t.co/PXLMoT3s1c</a> <a href=”https://t.co/WE6vHeEsJH”>pic.twitter.com/WE6vHeEsJH</a></p>— Joel Currier (@joelcurrier) <a href=”https://twitter.com/joelcurrier/status/1276969627025911809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Moji Sidiqi of the Regional Muslim Action Network, another organizer of the protest, said: “It’s a revolution. It’s time for change … right now, our number one mission is to take this thing down and sit down with people who want to see positive change take place and continue to heal our country.”
Sidiqi added that she thought the city should be renamed.
The statue, Apotheosis of St. Louis, sits in the city’s Forest Park in front of the Saint Louis Art Museum. It was erected in 1906 and depicts Louis IX of France, for whom the city is named.
Catholics defending the statue at the protest prayed the rosary and sang, and several police officers separated them from the protesters.
Maria Miloscia told the Post-Dispatch that St. Louis “symbolizes deep faith and convictions. I stand for him. And I stand for those Catholic virtues and those Catholic values that I think are important, like courage, faith and love. But ultimately, I’m here for Christ the King.”
St. Louis was King of France from 1226-70, and he partook in the Seventh and Eighth Crusades. He restricted usury and established hospitals, and personally cared for the poor and for lepers. He was canonized in 1297.
Numerous statues of historic figures have been pulled down in recent weeks amid ongoing protests and riots throughout the country. While some protests have torn down the statues of Confederate figures as part of a call to end systemic racism, other statues have also been torn down from prominent locations, including one of George Washington.
Several statues of St. Junipero Serra have been pulled down or protested against.
In a June 23 letter, Bishop Donald Hying of Madison wrote that “If we allow the commemorative and visual history of our nation to be destroyed by random groups in the current moment of anger, how will we ever learn from that history? Does toppling and vandalizing a statue of George Washington because he owned slaves, really serve our country and our collective memory?”
“The secular iconoclasm of the current moment will not bring reconciliation, peace, and healing. Such violence will only perpetuate the prejudice and hatred it ostensibly seeks to end…Only the love of Christ can heal a wounded heart, not a vandalized piece of metal,” the bishop added.
Thousands of pro-life advocates gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. / Katie Yoder/CNA
Washington D.C., Dec 2, 2021 / 08:04 am (CNA).
Anna Del Duca and daughter, Frances, woke up at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning to brave the 30-degree weather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. They arrived hours before oral arguments began in the highly-anticipated abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The case, which involves a Mississippi law restricting most abortions after 15 weeks, challenges two landmark decisions: Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe in 1992.
“We’re looking forward to the end of Roe versus Wade in our country,” Anna, who drove from Pittsburgh Tuesday night, told CNA. In her hands, she held a sign reading, “I regret my abortion.”
Anna Del Duca (right) and her daughter, Frances, traveled from Pittsburgh to attend a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments for the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. Katie Yoder/CNA
“I would like to use my testimony to be a blessing to others,” she said, so that “others will choose life or those who have regretted abortion or had an abortion would turn to Jesus.”
Anna remembered having an abortion when she was just 19. Today, she and her daughter run a group called Restorers of Streets to Dwell In Pittsburgh that offers help to women seeking healing after abortion.
Anna and Frances were among thousands of Americans who rallied outside the Supreme Court before, during, and after the oral arguments. To accommodate them, law enforcement closed the street in front of the court. Capitol police also placed fencing in the space in front of the building in an attempt to physically separate rallies held by abortion supporters and pro-lifers.
At 21-weeks pregnant, pro-life speaker Alison Centofante emceed the pro-life rally, called, “Empower Women Promote Life.” The event featured a slew of pro-life women of diverse backgrounds and numerous politicians.
“It’s funny, there were so many diverse speakers today that the only unifying thread was that we want to protect preborn children,” Centofante told CNA. They included Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Catholics, agnostics, atheists, women who chose life, and women who regretted their abortions, she said.
She recognized women there, including Aimee Murphy, as people who are not the typical “cookie cutter pro-lifer.”
Aimee Murphy, 32, founder of pro-life group Rehumanize International, arrived at the Supreme Court around 6:30 a.m. She drove from Pittsburgh the night before. Her sign read, “Queer Latina feminist rape survivor against abortion.”“At Rehumanize International, we oppose all forms of aggressive violence,” she told CNA. “Even as a secular and non-partisan organization, we understand that abortion is the most urgent cause that we must stand against in our modern day and age because it takes on average over 800,000 lives a year.”
She also had a personal reason for attending.
“When I was 16 years old, I was raped and my rapist then threatened to kill me if I didn’t have an abortion,” she revealed.
“It was when he threatened me that I felt finally a solidarity with unborn children and I understood then that, yeah, the science told me that a life begins at conception, but that I couldn’t be like my abusive ex and pass on the violence and oppression of abortion to another human being — that all that I would be doing in having an abortion would be telling my child, ‘You are an inconvenience to me and to my future, therefore I’m going to kill you,’ which is exactly the same thing that my rapist was telling me when he threatened to kill me.”
On the other side of the police fence, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Abortion Access Coalition and NARAL Pro-Choice America participated in another rally. Yellow balloons printed with the words “BANS OFF OUR BODIES” escaped into the sky. Several pro-choice demonstrators declined to speak with CNA.
Voices clashed in the air as people, the majority of whom were women, spoke into their respective microphones at both rallies. Abortion supporters stressed bodily autonomy, while pro-lifers recognized the humanity of the unborn child. Chants arose from both sides at different points, from “Whose choice? My choice!” to “Hey hey, ho ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go!”
At 10 a.m., the pro-life crowd sudddenly went silent as the oral arguments began and the rally paused temporarily as live audio played through speakers.
Hundreds of students from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, traveled to Washington, D.C. for a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in conjunction with oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case. Katie Yoder/CNA
During the oral arguments, students from Liberty University knelt in prayer. One student estimated that more than a thousand students from the school made the more than 3-hour trip from Lynchburg, Virginia.
“Talking about our faith is one thing, but actually acting upon it is another,” he said. “We have to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. So to me this is part of doing that.”
Sister Mary Karen, who has been with the Sisters of Life for 21 years, also stressed the importance of prayer. She drove from New York earlier that morning because, she said, she felt drawn to attend. She came, she said, to pray for the country and promote the dignity of a human person.
“Our culture is post-abortive,” she explained. “So many people have suffered and the loss of human life is so detrimental, just not knowing that we have value and are precious and sacred.”
Theresa Bonopartis, of Harrison, New York, was among the pro-life demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021. She runs a nonprofit group called Entering Canaan that ministers to women and others wounded by abortion. Katie Yoder/CNA
She stood next to Theresa Bonopartis, who traveled from Harrison, New York, and ministers to women and others wounded by abortion.
“I’ve been fighting abortion for 30 years at least,” she told CNA.
Her ministry, called Entering Canaan, began with the Sisters of Life and is observing its 25th anniversary this year. It provides retreats for women, men, and even siblings of aborted babies.
Abortion is personal for Bonopartis, who said she had a coerced abortion when she was just 17.
“I was kicked out of the house by my father and then coerced into getting an abortion,” she said. “Pretty much cut me off from everything, and that’s something people don’t really talk about … they make it try to seem like it’s a woman’s right, it’s a free choice. It’s all this other stuff, but many women are coerced in one way or another.”
She guessed that she was 14 or 15 weeks pregnant at the time.
“I saw my son. I had a saline abortion, so I saw him, which I always considered a blessing because it never allowed me to deny what abortion was,” she said. Afterward, she said she struggled with self-esteem issues, hating herself, guilt, shame, and more. Then, she found healing.
“I know what that pain is like, I know what that experience is like, and you know that you can get past it,” she said. “You just want to be able to give that message to other people, that they’re able to heal.”
Residents of Mississippi, where the Dobbs v. Jackson case originated, also attended.
Marion, who declined to provide her last name, drove from Mississippi to stand outside the Supreme Court. She said she was in her early 20s when Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
“At the time, of course, I could care less,” she said. Since then, she had a change of heart.
“We were the generation that allowed it,” she said, “and so we are the generation who will help close that door and reverse it.”
Marion, who declined to provide her last name, was among those who attended a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, from Mississippi, where the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case originated. Katie Yoder/CNA
The crowd at the pro-life rally included all ages, from those who had witnessed Roe to bundled-up babies, children running around, and college students holding up homemade signs.
One group of young friends traveled across the country to stand outside the Supreme Court. They cited their faith and family as reasons for attending.
Mathilde Steenepoorte, 19, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, identified herself as “very pro-life” in large part because of her younger brother with Down syndrome. She said she was saddened by the abortion rates of unborn babies dianosed with Down syndrome.
Juanito Estevez, from Freeport, a village on Long Island, New York, at a pro-life rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021. Katie Yoder/CNA
Juanito Estevez, from Freeport, a village on Long Island, New York, arrived Tuesday. He woke up at 6 a.m. to arrive at the Supreme Court with a crucifix in hand.
“I believe that God is the giver of life and we don’t have the right [to decide] whether a baby should live or die,” he said.
He also said that he believed women have been lied to about abortion.
“We say it’s their right, and there’s a choice,” he said. When girls tell him “I have the right,” his response, he said, is to ask back, “You have the right for what?”
Mallory Finch, from Charlotte, North Carolina, was among the pro-life demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021.
Mallory Finch, from Charlotte, North Carolina, also woke up early but emphasized “it was worth it.” A pro-life podcast host, she called abortion a “human-rights issue.”
“I hope that it overturns Roe,” she said of the case, “but that doesn’t mean that our job as pro-lifers is done. It makes this, really, just the beginning.”
Washington D.C., Apr 20, 2021 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
The Biden administration is appealing to keep in place a mandate that doctors and hospitals provide gender-transition surgeries, regardless of their co… […]
10 Comments
Either Biden is a boldface liar and mocks the Eucharist by receiving unworthily because he supports the murder of innocents OR the Pope is apostate and fraudulently occupies the Chair of Peter.
Knowing that Pope Francis has emphatically condemned abortion, I have to agree with this Spanish Bishop. And knowing that Biden does lie, I have doubts about his comment.
With my worldly feelings and wisdom, I condemn Biden’s audacity to walk up and receive the sacred host (and the priest for offering our Lord’s body to him), but something within me tells me not to be angry or to feel hurt. Jesus cannot be hurt anymore. He faced all that Satan and evil people could throw at him, and emerged victorious.
Jesus gave his body and blood to Judas who betrayed our Lord.
Pope Francis said that those who kill babies and their supporters, are automatically excommunicated. This means that they are not in communio0n with the Lord and his Church. So, even if they go through the motion of receiving the host, there can be no communion. The sinner has erected an obstacle in the relationship.
I finally figured out how Chairman Joe made this claim with a straight face. He missed one word in each sentence, and it was the same word. Francis told him, “You are (not) a good Catholic.” And, “You should (not) continue to receive Communion.” Easy edits that fit Joe’s narrative perfectly.
Shame on Joe Biden for manipulating the Holy Father! Since the Pope is too nice of a guy to express his outrage (unlike so many of those rigid and judgemental Catholics whom he justly reproves almost daily) for being used for cheap political gain, we should do it on his behalf. I know he’ll appreciate it, even if he won’t say so.
He is definitely not complicit. Pope Francis made it abundantly clear that abortion is a serious crime and sin and those who promote it are AUTOMATICALLY EXCOMMUNICATED. Pope Francis says that one must be in communion with Jesus in order to receive the sacred host.
If the Pope has been deliberately misquoted by Biden he should say so publicly. His failure to do so means Biden is telling the truth. The failure is with the Pope who cant or wont enforce Catholic truths. His being a “Nice guy”(??????) doesnt enter into the situation. It is in fact his job to “judge” , and to act to counter obvious sin and distortions in Catholic teachings. If he cant bring himself to carry out his responsibilities, he should resign.
Either Biden is a boldface liar and mocks the Eucharist by receiving unworthily because he supports the murder of innocents OR the Pope is apostate and fraudulently occupies the Chair of Peter.
Knowing that Pope Francis has emphatically condemned abortion, I have to agree with this Spanish Bishop. And knowing that Biden does lie, I have doubts about his comment.
With my worldly feelings and wisdom, I condemn Biden’s audacity to walk up and receive the sacred host (and the priest for offering our Lord’s body to him), but something within me tells me not to be angry or to feel hurt. Jesus cannot be hurt anymore. He faced all that Satan and evil people could throw at him, and emerged victorious.
Jesus gave his body and blood to Judas who betrayed our Lord.
Pope Francis said that those who kill babies and their supporters, are automatically excommunicated. This means that they are not in communio0n with the Lord and his Church. So, even if they go through the motion of receiving the host, there can be no communion. The sinner has erected an obstacle in the relationship.
I finally figured out how Chairman Joe made this claim with a straight face. He missed one word in each sentence, and it was the same word. Francis told him, “You are (not) a good Catholic.” And, “You should (not) continue to receive Communion.” Easy edits that fit Joe’s narrative perfectly.
Another crack in the wall.
Shame on Joe Biden for manipulating the Holy Father! Since the Pope is too nice of a guy to express his outrage (unlike so many of those rigid and judgemental Catholics whom he justly reproves almost daily) for being used for cheap political gain, we should do it on his behalf. I know he’ll appreciate it, even if he won’t say so.
I hope this is satire.
The problem is very easy to solve: Why did not Pope Francis and the Vatican denied Joe Biden?
As long as Francis remains silent, he is complicit in endorsing Biden’s repugnant statement.
He is definitely not complicit. Pope Francis made it abundantly clear that abortion is a serious crime and sin and those who promote it are AUTOMATICALLY EXCOMMUNICATED. Pope Francis says that one must be in communion with Jesus in order to receive the sacred host.
If the Pope has been deliberately misquoted by Biden he should say so publicly. His failure to do so means Biden is telling the truth. The failure is with the Pope who cant or wont enforce Catholic truths. His being a “Nice guy”(??????) doesnt enter into the situation. It is in fact his job to “judge” , and to act to counter obvious sin and distortions in Catholic teachings. If he cant bring himself to carry out his responsibilities, he should resign.