Bush Says U.S. Needs Pope's Abortion Message; Abortion Rights Backers Plan To Receive Communion

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 18 Apr 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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President Bush on Wednesday during a White House ceremony with Pope Benedict XVI said that U.S. residents "need" the pope's message "that all life is sacred," a reference to the pope's opposition to abortion rights, the New York Times reports (Goodstein/Stolberg, New York Times, 4/17). "In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that 'each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary,'" Bush said (Staunton, Irish Times, 4/17).

According to Long Island Newsday, the pope's comments during the White House ceremony "steered clear" of abortion issues (Gordon, Long Island Newsday, 4/17). However, in a speech to nine U.S. cardinals and 350 bishops later in the day, Benedict mentioned abortion while speaking about his concern for "civil religion," Reuters reports. "Faith becomes a passive acceptance that certain things 'out there' are true, but without practical relevance for everyday life," the pope said, adding, "The result is a growing separation of faith from life, living 'as if God did not exist.' We have seen this emerge in an acute way in the scandal given by Catholics who promote an alleged right to abortion" (Heneghan, Reuters, 4/16).

According to the AP/Google.com, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is Catholic and supports abortion rights, spoke "glowingly" about the pope Wednesday. Pelosi and several other Catholic lawmakers supporting abortion rights said they plan to receive Holy Communion when the pope celebrates Mass on Thursday in Washington, D.C. (Kellman, AP/Google.com, 4/16).

The antiabortion group American Life League placed advertisements in the Washington Times and The Politico this week urging Benedict to "protect the body of Christ from the bloodstained hands of pro-abortion Catholics" by denying Communion to lawmakers who support abortion rights during the Mass. In 2004, when the pope was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he wrote a memo that said the "minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it" to Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights. The memo was written during debate about whether to deny Communion to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who was the 2004 Democratic nominee for president. Mary Ann Walsh, a spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said that no one will be "policing" who receives Communion and that she is not aware of any plans to deny Communion to lawmakers who support abortion rights (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/16).

The AP/Google.com reports that several Catholic lawmakers interviewed Wednesday said they will not hesitate to receive Communion at the Mass Thursday. In a statement released Wednesday, Kerry said, "Pope Benedict's historic visit is an important opportunity for Catholics and for all Americans to reflect on the ways we can contribute to the common good, address global issues of poverty, disease and despair" (AP/Google.com, 4/16).

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