Catholic bishops ruling on communion avoids abortion issue

Published 1:30 am Sunday, November 28, 2021

U.S. Catholic bishops of the U.S. ended a nearly year long debate concerning Roman Catholic guidelines on communion and Catholics supportive of abortion rights.

They debated nearly a year? After centuries of scriptural authority, statements of belief, theological testimonies, and the leadership of the Roman Catholic denomination in Rome; they could only make the confessional statement that “though the Church must be unapologetically pro life,” they deferred from leading their brothers and sisters in faith and pronouncing the discipline of love for disordered U.S. government leaders and others by stating the truth of how God expects his children to live.

These leaders did not stand up; nor have many other Christian leaders stood up to toe the line of the sacredness of all life. To make the statement that one is pro life and then not discipline the faithful-fallen is a failure to love the sinner and rebuke the sin. To abandon this Christian tenet implies that we are complicit and approve of sin. One may well become a politician professing to be a Christian. However, personal behavior is a testimony to what is actually believed. One may well state they are a good Catholic; yet when personal behavior reveals just the opposite, then what are we to believe?

The bishops kicked the can down the road. If as the Wall Street Journal states 67 percent of Roman Catholics believe abortion should be illegal, then 33 percent of Roman Catholics are outside of Church doctrine on that issue. Are the bishops in the 33 percent?

What about the rest of so-called Christians? Where do they really stand? Maybe to keep worldly peace, ordained clergy will continue to commune everyone to keep peace at the expense of truth. Money in plate rings it like a bell; and another good Catholic is saved from hell.

Samuel Bess

Stanwood