Nothing has divided Catholics more in recent times than the controversy over worthiness of Catholics to receive Holy Communion. The issue became public when President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (both Catholics by baptism) advocated that women should have unrestricted access to abortion both nationally and internationally, and that taxpayer dollars should pay for the procedure on Medicaid patients in the US and by making grants for that purpose to foreign entities. In a prior post I discussed that Biden has acted promptly to reverse the policies of the Trump administration toward enacting those goals to expand abortion widely.

In the Bible, Paul’s letter in 1 Corinthians 11:27 reads “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” For 2000 years the Church has taught that one should not take Holy Communion if one is aware of having committed a grave sin. One should repent of the sin and receive absolution before taking Communion.

The Church teaches that life begins at conception and must be respected until natural death. The US Catholic Bishops have repeatedly emphasized that it is the obligation of all Catholics to support human life and the dignity of the individual and that abortion is a grave sin. Thus, advocating and facilitating abortion is a grave sin.

Religious and devoted Catholics have raised the question of whether the Church will now approve Holy Communion for those unrepentant and engaging in other grave sins if the Church will give Communion to Catholics who support abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.

At the spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Bishops voted 168 to 55 to draft a document clarifying the existing Church teaching on worthiness to receive Communion while emphasizing that they will not introduce any new norms or national policy. Understandably, this may not answer the question that has been posed by lay persons.

Indeed, a vocal minority of Bishops has pushed back on the proposal to clarify Church teachings. Some have expressed concerns that such clarification will make it obvious that public officials who say they are Catholic and take Communion while advocating a grave sin without repentance, are defying the teachings of the Church. Lay people then ask what other sins can people do and still take Communion.

Shortly after the vote was announced, sixty House Democrats released a statement asking the bishops not to move forward. However, the Bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota has maintained that the Church is scandalized by not taking a position sooner because the faithful are confused when the clergy says one thing and does another.

The proposed document is expected to re-affirm the Church’s teachings about Communion without mentioning any specific grave sin. Public figures who advocate for abortion and euthanasia, and against other Catholic moral and social teachings in a manner that the Church considers gravely sinful are at the same time free to decide whether their actions are in fact a grave sin and whether they can take Communion. Evidently, it leaves the door open for all lay people to decide for themselves what is a grave sin according to their own values and whether they should take Communion. Many prominent Catholic figures wonder how this can do anything except weaken any sense of cohesiveness in the teachings of the Church and a commitment by the people to a virtuous life.