St. Louis Archbishop Says He Would Withhold Communion From Catholics 'Publicly Espousing Positions' Contrary To 'Moral Law'

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 05 Oct 2007 - 6:00 PDT

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St. Louis Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke when asked if he would refuse to give Holy Communion to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said he would refuse Catholics who knowingly are "publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Townsend, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10/3).

Burke, who in 2004 refused to give Holy Communion to any Catholic state or federal lawmakers who support abortion rights, recently said that anyone administering Holy Communion is morally obligated to deny it to Catholic politicians who support an abortion-rights position. "If any politician approached me and he'd been admonished not to present himself, I'd not give" Holy Communion, Burke said Wednesday, adding, "To me, you have to be certain a person realizes he is persisting in a serious public sin."

When asked about Burke's comments, Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, said, "Archbishops have a right to their opinion," adding, "There's freedom of religion in this country. ... Everybody has a right to their opinion."

According to the AP/Google.com, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is expected to discuss the question of providing Holy Communion to abortion-rights supporters next month (Wittenauer, AP/Google.com, 10/3). Burke is expected to advocate that the bishops adopt his position in a document that they will send to Catholics before the election, the Post-Dispatch reports (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10/3).

Comments on Social Conservative Support
According to Long Island Newsday, Burke's comments on abortion come as Giuliani attempts to "forestall a defection" by conservative group leaders considering running a third-party presidential candidate if the Republican Party nominates an abortion-rights supporter (Gordon, Long Island Newsday, 10/4).

Almost everyone present at a meeting of a group of Christian conservatives on Saturday supported the statement, "If the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate, we will consider running a third-party candidate," some participants at the meeting said. The group broke away for separate discussions during a meeting of the conservative Council for National Policy in Salt Lake City, Utah. The group included James Dobson of Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; and a number of other politically minded, conservative Christians.

Participants at the meeting said the group chose the term "consider" because a presidential candidate has not yet been selected. However, members were united in their plans to propose a new candidate if Giuliani wins the Republican nomination (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/3).

"I am not a threat at all," Giuliani said Wednesday to reporters in New Hampshire, adding, "What I have found is that we have more support among social conservatives ... than any other Republican. So maybe it is respect for the idea that I will be straight with you" (Santora, New York Times, 10/4).

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