Retired Archbishop Charles Chaput has urged Catholic church officials to ensure that Joe Biden does not receive Holy Communion because of his position on abortion, an issue that has stirred controversy among Catholic leadership in the United States.
The leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Mr. Biden’s support for abortion rights presents the church with a “difficult and complex situation,” while Charles J. Chaput, who’s a retired archbishop stated clearly that Biden has demonstrated that “he is not in full Communion with the Catholic Church”.
Chaput wrote in the magazine First Things, “The implications for the present moment are clear. Public figures who identify as Catholic give scandal to the faithful when receiving Communion by creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional”.
“When bishops publicly announce their willingness to give Communion to Mr. Biden, without clearly teaching the gravity of his facilitating the evil of abortion and his approval of same-sex relationships, they do a serious disservice to their brother bishops and their people”.
If Mr. Biden finally wins the election, he will be the second baptized Catholic member to serve as president of the U.S., and during his campaign, he repeatedly mentioned his Catholic faith as a source of strength and guidance in his life.
