An overwhelming majority of Catholics who regularly attend mass believe “officials who oppose church teaching” like President Joe Biden should not receive Holy Communion, according to a new poll conducted by the national faith-based advocacy organization, CatholicVote.
Almost 75 percent of Catholics polled said officials doing so would “create confusion and disunity.”
The poll results were released just before the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are set to meet Wednesday to discuss Eucharistic coherence, which refers to a Catholic’s obligation not to receive Holy Communion if they have encouraged “deeds or words against the commandments, particularly abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family,” according to the final document of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pope Benedict XVI previously noted that Eucharistic consistency acknowledges the connection between the Eucharist and Catholic values, such as “respect for human life, its defense from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one’s children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms.”
Receiving Holy Communion in a state of grace is a common understanding among Catholics. However, many “Catholic” public officials publicly oppose Church teachings and advocate for “gravely immoral” policies, according to Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.
“Catholic politicians who advocate for policies considered ‘gravely immoral’ create confusion and discord among believers,” Burch said. “Catholics’ concern about the flouting of Catholic social teaching by public leaders is less about politics and more about the integrity of the faith, along with reverence and respect due the Holy Eucharist.
In a 2012 vice-presidential debate, when “Catholic” President Joe Biden still self-identified as somewhat moderate, he said: “I accept my Church’s position on abortion as what we call a de fide doctrine. Life begins at conception, that’s the Church’s judgment. I accept it . . . but I refuse to impose it on others.”
Instead of imposing it, he does the opposite: encourages it. Biden promotes abortion as a method of family planning, forces taxpayer-funded abortions domestically and abroad, and has constantly stressed the importance of a woman’s right to “choose” — to choose to end a human life.
Eighty-two percent of church-going Catholics believe “public officials who identify as Catholic but openly advocate for policies hostile to Church teaching are hypocritical.” Biden certainly falls under that category.
Biden, the second “Catholic” president in U.S. history, aggressively promotes abortion, denies basic biology, supports hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors, encourages same-sex marriage, has limited the ability of faith-based organizations, and has directly violated Church teachings 32 times, the Catholic League reported last week.
Pope Francis has warned U.S. bishops against using the Eucharist as a political tool. Now, bishops have the responsibility to uphold fundamental values of Catholicism — which quite clearly means denying Communion to people who advance institutions that support anti-Catholic teachings.
“This polling data should bolster the confidence of Catholic bishops as they prepare to discuss how to recover an understanding of the beauty and richness of the sacrament — among all Catholics,” Burch said. “The data is very clear: Bishops have an obligation to act.”
During their three-day Spring Meeting, the USCCB will discuss if President Joe Biden and more of his Catholic colleagues are able to receive Communion. It shouldn’t be too hard to look at Biden’s track record and see that it blatantly defies Church teaching — but many Biden supporters say that the meeting will “politicize” the Eucharist.
Among Catholics, however, 87 percent believe it is “important for Catholic bishops to teach and lead others in matters of the faith, including those who may disagree with the Church on fundamental issues,” according to the poll. Catholics want bishops to stand their ground — and if they enforce church teaching as aggressively as Biden enforces baby-killing, they’ll have done their jobs.
Source: The Federalist
