In his homily in Knock on Sunday, Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, said he would seriously question the "cancelling" of an invitation to Communion.

"When the Eucharist is thought of as a prize, there seems to be winners and losers; there are some who quite comfortably think of themselves as worthy, while judging others to be unworthy," he acknowledged.

The bishop said neither he as a bishop nor any member of the Catholic faithful have "any business in classifying any group of people as unworthy" of receiving Communion.

His stance would appear to be at odds with several US bishops who have targeted pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In May Ms Pelosi was barred from receiving Communion by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in her home diocese of San Francisco..

However, a month later, Pelosi received Communion at a papal Mass while in Rome to meet Pope Francis.

The Pontiff has said he has never denied the Eucharist to anyone.

Last year US president Joe Biden, another Catholic who supports abortion rights, said after meeting Pope Francis in Rome, that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament even as debate continued among US bishops whether the president should be refused Communion.

Dr Doran acknowledged that the Synodal discussions in the Church had made it clear that "many Catholics for various reasons, feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at the Eucharist".

He said this was not just a problem for those people but "a problem for all of us".

Nevertheless, the outspoken bishop said there are times when a person "cannot honestly accept the invitation to come to Holy Communion, because he or she has done something gravely wrong with full knowledge and full consent".

But he added even then, the invitation is not cancelled. Nobody, he said, "should receive the body and blood of the Lord unworthily. But nobody should stay away unnecessarily".

"In the final analysis, it is the responsibility of each woman or man to follow her or his well-formed conscience in deciding whether or not to come to Holy Communion."

Sources

Irish Times

Independent

During his return flight from Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 15, the pope said that while there is no question that "abortion is homicide," bishops must look take a pastoral approach rather than wade into the political sphere.

"If we look at the history of the church, we can see that every time the bishops did not act like shepherds when dealing with a problem, they aligned themselves with political life, on political problems," he said.

The pope told journalists that when defending a principle, some bishops act in a way "that is not pastoral" and "enter the political sphere."

"And what should a shepherd do? Be a shepherd. Not going around condemning," the pope added. "They must be a shepherd, in God's style, which is closeness, compassion and tenderness."

"A shepherd that doesn't know how to act in God's style slips and enters into many things that are not of a shepherd." Continue reading

"I was denied communion last night by the Catholic bishop here in Las Cruces and based on my political office," Senator Joe Cervantes, Las Cruces Democrat, wrote on Twitter.

"My new parish priest has indicated he will do the same after the last was run off. Please pray for church authorities as Catholicism transitions under Pope Francis," he wrote.

The Las Cruces Sun-News newspaper reported that Mr Cervantes, who has served in the state legislature since 2001 and the state senate since 2013, attended a mass at the Carmelite Monastery on July 16 and was denied the sacrament.

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Despite Viganò's shocking call for Pope Francis' resignation, Cordileone was joined by a number of U.S. bishops who bolstered the testimony of the former nuncio. Among them, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, all of whom issued personal statements or gave interviews echoing Cordileone's praise of Viganò as a man of faith and integrity.

Today, those same bishops are also driving the controversial efforts aimed at pressing the U.S. bishops' conference to draft a document that will have far sweeping effects to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support pro-choice legislation.

When the U.S. bishops meet virtually June 16-18, they will vote on whether to proceed with drafting a document on the "meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church," a proposal championed through a series of pastoral letters, media appearances, personal articles and social media campaigns by the aforementioned bishops.

Yet the manner in which the debate among the U.S. prelates has played out — and the medium in which the body of bishops will hold this debate — has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, including by longtime former staffers at the U.S. bishops' conference and high-ranking Vatican officials who see the rushed debate as a stark departure from Pope Francis' call for dialogue.

In May, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, sent a letter to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, urging caution and outlining the necessary process for moving forward with such a document, which included greater discussion among the bishops, Catholic politicians and other episcopal conferences.

In response, 67 bishops sent a private letter to Gomez, which was later leaked, requesting that the vote on whether to move forward with such a document be postponed until the bishops could meet together to discuss the proposal in person. Gomez has informed the body of bishops the vote will proceed without delay.

John Carr, who for a quarter of a century worked as the top policy advisor for the U.S. bishops, described the open display of divisions, both among themselves and with Rome, as "unprecedented."

"The idea that very direct warnings and guidance from the Vatican would simply be seen as an advisory opinion was not part of my experience," Carr told NCR.

"The relentless campaigning for this proposal, the dismissal of other priorities, the leaking of correspondence, the impugning the motives of others is unprecedented in my experience." Continue reading

• Image: NCR

Dozens of bishops had written to the USCCB president, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, requesting to postpone the debate until a later meeting. They wanted more time to prepare for the debate, and to discuss the issue in person rather than via a virtual meeting.

But prompt action is being sought by some conservative bishops who want to signal that President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should not receive Communion.

Archbishop Gomez explained that the USCCB administrative committee approved a request from Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, for the discussion on drafting a document to examine the "meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church".

Bishop Rhoades chairs the bishops' committee on doctrine, which would draft the document if approved by the full assembly.

In a memo, Archbishop Gomez said USCCB rules require that the body of bishops first be asked whether to issue a document on a particular topic.

"Importantly, the action item does not ask the body to approve a final statement, but only whether drafting of a text may begin," the memo said.

If the action is approved, the doctrine committee would begin its work, subject to the conference's "usual process of consultation, modification and amendment" when presented for consideration at a future general assembly.

"As you will note, the focus of this proposed teaching document is on how best to help people to understand the beauty and mystery of the Eucharist as the center of their Christian lives," Gomez wrote.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, one of the conservatives engaged in the discussions, issued a statement Tuesday praising Gomez and saying he "followed the correct procedures to facilitate this critical discussion as a body of bishops."

Aquila referred to a May 7 letter to Gomez from the head of the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, urging the US bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with any action on the Communion issue.

"It was clear from it that the USCCB's plan to discuss and debate this important issue is warranted and encouraged," Aquila said. "In contrast, the publication of the letter calling for a halt to discussion at our June meeting on this vital issue risks creating an atmosphere of factionalism, rather than unity amongst the bishops."

But in a recent essay, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego made a case against the campaign to deny Biden and others Communion.

"It will bring tremendously destructive consequences," McElroy wrote. "The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen."

Sources

The Tablet

America Magazine

ABC News