In a recent article, The New York Times is concerned about a possible episcopal statement on Biden’s access to Holy Communion.
News Desk (16/06/2021 11:49, Gaudium Press)
In an effort to exert influence on the next Assembly of Bishops, at which the question of Eucharistic coherence will be discussed, The New York Times has taken it upon itself to lecture the American bishops on catechism and canon law.
“Vatican warns US bishops: Don’t deny communion to Biden because of abortion,” was the headline of an article that appeared yesterday in the American newspaper.
Supposedly, a statement by the Pope – whose meaning has been expressed by many Christian figures throughout history – would justify the headline: communion “is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners.
Evidently, the writer of the article lacks a basic knowledge of Christian doctrine which states that holy communion strengthens the Christian in his daily struggle, but which also prescribes in line with the Apostle: “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.”
Thus, to want to ascribe to the Pope’s phrase the meaning that The New York Times wants to give it goes against the widely reported news that the Vatican did not allow Biden to attend Mass with the Pontiff because the President would certainly want to receive Communion and this would cause scandal amid the controversy taking place in the US on this very issue.
However, the article in The New York Times shows how important the bishops’ opinion regarding the president continues to be in the US, and the fear of certain groups about the effects of a clear statement from the US episcopate on Biden’s access to communion.
In effect, Biden will not be a topic at the next Assembly of Bishops, but rather Eucharistic coherence, an issue of urgent need in the US.
