Leaders of the Catholic parish that President Joe Biden attends in Washington, D.C. said Tuesday that they will not deny him Communion despite his radical pro-abortion actions.
The State reports the Holy Trinity Catholic Church issued the statement after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to draft a teaching document on Communion that could rebuke pro-abortion politicians like Biden
“Holy Trinity Catholic Church will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it,” the church responded in a statement.
Biden has attended Mass and received Communion several times at Holy Trinity since being elected president. He attended the same church when he served as vice president under President Barack Obama.
The priests said they agree with Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., that politicians like Biden should not be denied the Eucharist.
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“As a parish which has a long history of welcoming all, we concur with and support the pastoral approach of our Archbishop,” the statement reads. “Holy Trinity Catholic Church will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.”
Earlier this month, Gregory and a few other bishops urged the USCCB to delay a vote on the teaching document, but a majority of the bishops voted to move forward with the plan.
Holy Trinity said it was shocked and disappointed by the bishops’ actions.
“Sadly, the recent vote has caused considerable desolation among our parishioners as well as Roman Catholics throughout the nation,” the church said.
It continued:
As Pope Francis recently reaffirmed, communion should be viewed “not as a prize for the perfect, but as a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” None of us, whether we stand in the pews or behind the altar, is worthy to receive it. The great gift of the Holy Eucharist is too sacred to be made a political issue.
Gregory is one of the bishops advocating for Biden and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians to receive Communion. Earlier this year, he said it is normal for Catholics to have disagreements; they are part of “being a family, a family of faith. The difficulty is too many people want to throw out of the family of faith people with whom they have disagreements.”
Others have accused the bishops of politicizing the Eucharist.
But many U.S. bishops have expressed concerns that Biden’s claims about being a devout Catholic coupled with his radical abortion advocacy are misleading Catholics and creating scandal for the faith. They have said the church must do something to make it clear that Catholics cannot support the killing of unborn babies and must repent before participating in Communion.
In a pastoral letter in May, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said these politicians are causing scandal for the Catholic Church, and denying Communion may be “the only recourse a pastor has left.”
“When other avenues are exhausted, the only recourse a pastor has left is the public medicine of temporary exclusion from the Lord’s Table,” Cordileone wrote. “This is a bitter medicine, but the gravity of the evil of abortion can sometimes warrant it.”
Though Biden professes to be a devout Catholic, he openly defies church teachings about the sanctity of human life. After just 100 days in office, he already surpassed President Barack Obama as the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history.
Recently, his administration stopped enforcing safety regulations that protect mothers and unborn babies from dangerous abortion drugs. Now abortion drugs are being sold by mail without a woman ever having to see a doctor in person.
Biden’s 2021 budget plan also would expand abortions by eliminating the Hyde Amendment for the first time in more than 40 years. Without the amendment, Americans would be forced to directly fund the killing of unborn babies in abortions through Medicaid and other federal programs. The amendment is credited with saving about 2.4 million unborn babies from abortion.
