What the bishops are really saying

This is an editorial from the St. Louis Review (posted in its entirety) reflecting on the letter of the forty some representatives of the US House.

The 40-plus Catholic Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives petitioning Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to call off the bishops who’ve reminded them of their pro-life responsibilities aren’t the victims they pretend to be.

The federal lawmakers’ letter makes it sound as if they are unfairly being singled out by some American prelates who’ve said they shouldn’t receive Communion if they support abortion.

More likely the bishops who’ve sounded the warning have struck a nerve among the Catholic political leaders who continue to support abortion.

The bishops who have sounded off recently on this matter of receiving Communion have been consistent in their message: If you call yourself a Catholic, live as a faithful Catholic should. They clearly have put the responsibility on the politicians to make that choice and have reminded them that they can’t have it both ways.

The bishops issuing these stern reminders have rarely singled out individuals and never political parties. There have been no threats of excommunication and the "threat" to withhold the Eucharist always follows the reasoning that those in public office who choose not to obey Church teaching commit grave sin. None of the letter-signers to Cardinal McCarrick, one of whom is Rep. William Lacy Clay of St. Louis, has been named publicly by his or her bishop. The only reason many people now know that those dissidents are Catholic is because they’ve decided to label themselves as such. It’s true that these Democrats, like the Democratic Party in general over the decades, have supported issues to improve the lives of the people in accordance with Gospel teachings. If so, then, why can’t they understand that protecting the lives of the unborn is no less important?

The most curious line in their letter is the one that reads: " ... we live in a nation of laws, and the Supreme Court has declared that our Constitution provides women with a right to an abortion." Following that reasoning, no one should have amended the U.S. Constitution to end slavery or allow women to vote or worked to reverse the 1890s Supreme Court ruling that allowed racial segregation to continue to the middle of the past century.

Let’s also remember what St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke really has said about all this. While still in La Crosse, Wis., he issued a pastoral message telling pro-abortion political leaders calling themselves Catholic (no individual names or party affiliations mentioned) that they shouldn’t receive Communion. He added that they shouldn’t "be admitted" to Communion until they’ve embraced a pro-life outlook.

In his first week in St. Louis, he was asked on a television news program covering a myriad of subjects whether he would give Communion to Presidential wannabe John Kerry, who supports abortion and continues to receive Communion when he attends Sunday Mass. The Archbishop answered that he would probably give Kerry a blessing but certainly not the consecrated Host.

We know of no Catholic politician who has been denied Communion. One, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, has voluntarily decided not to receive Communion because of his support for issues that conflict with Church teaching.

We need to remember that while Our Lord offers us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, that offer comes with an expectation: that we be in a state of grace. We’re not in that state of grace if we defy the teachings of the Church.

This issue that recently has so engrossed Catholic politicians is not a battle for conscience. It’s a war for souls. The bishops are merely firing the spiritual volleys that need to be heeded.

Emphasis mine.