Catholic cardinal: Joe Biden should not receive Holy Communion
A Roman Catholic cardinal says Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed abortion-supporting Catholic, should not receive the church's Holy Communion. The Catholic News Agency reported Cardinal Raymond Burke, formerly the prefect of the Catholic church's highest court, explained Biden "is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy…
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A Roman Catholic cardinal says Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed abortion-supporting Catholic, should not receive the church's Holy Communion.
The Catholic News Agency reported Cardinal Raymond Burke, formerly the prefect of the Catholic church's highest court, explained Biden "is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion."
His comments came in an interview with Thomas McKenna of Catholic Action for Faith and Family.
"This is not a political statement, I don’t intend to get involved in recommending any candidate for office, but simply to state that a Catholic may not support abortion in any shape or form because it is one of the most grievous sins against human life, and has always been considered to be intrinsically evil and therefore to in any way support the act is a mortal sin," Burke said.
Asked about Biden, he said the former vice president "has not only been actively supporting procured abortion in our country but has announced publicly in his campaign that he intends to make the practice of procured abortion available to everyone in the widest possible form and to repeal the restrictions on this practice which have been put in place."
Receiving Holy Communion would be "a danger to the salvation of his own soul," Burke said.
Additionally, if he pursues such a request, it falsely "gives the impression to others that it’s acceptable for a Catholic to be in favor of abortion and of course it’s absolutely not acceptable. It never has been, it never will be," he said.
Burke served in Wisconsin and Missouri before being appointed prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the church's highest court.
"I can't imagine that any Catholic wouldn’t know that abortion is a grievous sin," he said, "but if they don’t, once they’ve been told, then they either have to cease to support abortion or accept the fact they are not a Catholic in good standing and therefore should not present themselves for Holy Communion."
He said it was his duty to contact pro-abortion politicians who said they were part of the Catholic church when he was a bishop. He made them aware of the conflict and told them "you may not present yourselves for Holy Communion."
"Pope Francis has repeatedly made it clear that as far as he is concerned, the real sins, the real serious sins that get you a tongue-lashing from the Roman Pontiff and doubtless a date with hellfire in the age to come, are opposing mass Muslim migration into the West and believing that Islam is not a religion of peace. Abortion? Come on, man! That’s child’s play, so to speak, compared to the big sins."
He noted Pope Francis praises immigration advocates.
But what about Christians in Europe "who are concerned about the spiraling crime rates and the strain on the welfare systems of nations that have taken in large numbers of migrants?"
"Are they allowed to exercise charity toward their neighbors and friends by opposing mass migration and trying to preserve and defend their own cultural heritage?
"Not on your life," Spencer wrote. "Or at least they can’t do that and remain Catholics in good standing. And Francis’ Brave New Church has other newly-minted 'grievous sins' as well. The pontiff has claimed risibly that 'authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.' As ridiculous and readily disproven as this is, it has become a superdogma in the Catholic church: if you don’t believe that Islam is a Religion of Peace, you will be ruthlessly harassed and silenced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the hierarchy elsewhere as well."
An editorial at Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com noted that Biden doesn't meet the qualifications of a Catholic.
"Democrat Joe Biden has built his half-century in politics largely on the myth that he is a faithful Catholic with working class roots. In reality Biden is neither a faithful Catholic, nor a friend of America's blue-collar citizens," the unsigned editorial said.
One of the primary positions Biden's campaign holds is that Catholics "must be forced to be complicit in the sin of abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion."
Secondly, taxpaying Catholics "must likewise be forced to be complicit in the sin of transgenderism by being forced to subsidize taxpayer funded gender reassignment surgery."
Biden has faced criticism from Catholic leaders for many years. In 2006, Wilmington Bishop Michael Saltarelli suggested the high school Biden attended should not name a student center after him. Saltarelli cited the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stating Catholic institutions "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."
Biden later was told by then-Archbishop Charles Chaput that abortion "is always grievously wrong."
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