You have been warned.
Ahead of their three-day meeting, which culminated on Friday with a vote to deny America’s second Catholic President, Joe Biden, communion for his stance on supporting a woman’s right to choose an abortion, the Vatican said American Bishops’ Conference (USCCB) not to politicize communion or other sacraments.
They did it anyway, and now powerful Democrats – and many others – are furious.
“The next time I go to church, I’ll challenge you to refuse communion,” threatened US Congressman Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and Catholic with a massive 1.6 million followers on Twitter, the bishops.
His comments were in response to Friday’s news of the USCCB’s politically motivated decision and in response to SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile, who asked if other Catholics were being denied communion because of their “sins”. Signorile pointed out Newt Gingrich, whose story includes adultery, divorce, and remarriage. Gingrich’s wife was President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Dear @USCCB: I am Catholic and I support:
-Contraception
-The right of women to choose
-Treatments for infertility
-The right for people to get divorced
-The right to same-sex marriage
The next time I go to church, I challenge you to refuse communion. https://t.co/bUmiyJ8TtH
– Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 18, 2021
Another California Democrat, Rep. Jared Huffman, suggested that the Church lose its tax-exempt status.
If they are turning religion into a weapon politically by “rebuking” democrats who support the reproductive choices of women, then “rebuking” their tax-exempt status may be appropriate. https://t.co/P6TGVCOMYp
– Representative. Jared Huffman (@JaredHuffman) June 18, 2021
Lieu and Huffman were by no means the only Democratic lawmakers who opposed the USCCB move, denying the community to politicians who advocate the right to abortion.
“We believe that the separation of church and state enables our faith to inform our public duties and best serve our electorate,” said 60 House Democrats in a three-page “Statement of Principles” letter released Friday afternoon.
“The sacrament of Holy Communion is central to the life of practicing Catholics, and the weapon of the democratic legislators with the Eucharist for their support for abortion is contradictory.”
And they have carefully noted the hypocrisy of the bishops who have never proposed that Republican lawmakers who support the death penalty or advocate separation of families at the border and the incarceration of children refuse communion.
“No elected ministers have been threatened with denial of the Eucharist because they have endorsed and supported policies that contradict the teachings of the Church, including support for the death penalty, the separation of migrant children from their parents, denial of asylum to those seeking protection in the United States and immigrants deny rights and dignity. “
Some other prominent House Democrats who signed the letter include Cheri Bustos, Joaquin Castro, Gerry Connolly, Rosa DeLauro, Debbie Dingell, Ruben Gallego, Marie Newman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jackie Speier.
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