Free Republic

KEVIN Rudd's decision to take holy communion at the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel in Sydney has sparked debate within the Catholic Church because he is a practising Anglican. The controversy mirrors a debate nearly a decade ago when Jeff Kennett complained he was sent a letter by Cardinal George Pell instructing him not to take communion at the state funeral of prominent Catholic B.A. Santamaria, despite the then Victorian premier's own shift to Catholicism. The Australian has confirmed that the chaplain and sisters at the chapel were caught unawares by the Prime Minister's visit on Sunday. They were concerned that...

The Bishop of Calgary, Alberta, has just suspended all activities of the Latin Mass communities in Calgary and Medicine Hat due to a pseudo-scientific and anti-Canonical order mandating the non-reception of the Eucharist on the tongue due to concerns related to the transmission of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus. We had known about the matter for days, but had waited for some official words from the FSSP priests who serve those communities. However, since the entire matter has now been made public, we post the contents of the e-mail messages related to the affair. (A reader sent the e-mail exchange...

Bill O'Reilly Interviews Rhode Island Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who told Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Ted Kennedy, that he may not receive communion - 11/24/09

The Spanish Catholic Church will deny communion to members of parliament who have voted in favour of a bill to make abortion more readily available, the spokesman of Spain’s Bishops’ Conference said on Friday. “This is a warning to Catholics, that they can’t vote in favour of this and that they won’t be able to receive communion unless they ask forgiveness,” Rev. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino told a news conference in Madrid. “They are in an objective state of sin.”

News broke this week that Thomas Tobin, the Catho lic bishop of Providence, RI, had in 2007 asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to refrain from receiving Communion because of the congressman's support for legalized abortion. The ensuing howls of protest almost universally missed the point. Some Catholic writers charged that Tobin was sowing division within the church and "politicizing" the sacrament. On the pro-choice left, Tobin was flayed for everything from "religious blackmail" to -- inexplicably -- violating the separation of church and state. Perhaps the strangest comment came from former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who predicted that if pols...

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A bitter dispute over abortion that prompted Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop to ask Rep. Patrick Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties.

Think about it: Did Savior Christ suffer severe mistreatment on the cross in order to share His body and blood with persons who slay children? I don’t think so.

Rhode Island's top Roman Catholic leader has asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop taking Communion over his support for abortion rights, the diocese said Sunday. In a statement issued Sunday, Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin said he told Kennedy in February 2007 that it would be "inappropriate" for him to continue receiving the fundamental Catholic sacrament, "and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so." Kennedy is the son of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and a scion of the most prominent Catholic family in modern U.S. politics. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes abortion, which has been...

Congressman Patrick Kennedy has been barred from receiving Communion by his Bishop in Rhode Island. Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred Patrick, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, because of his position on abortion rights.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday. The decision by the outspoken prelate, reported on The Providence Journal's Web site, significantly escalates a bitter dispute between Tobin, an ultra orthodox bishop, and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family. "The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy...

Bishop Tobin has released a response to Congessman Kennedy's earlier statements on not being allowed communion because of his position on abortion. Statement of Bishop Thomas Tobin in Response to Congressman Patrick Kennedy's Published Interview of November 22, 2009 Bishop Tobin says: I am disappointed and really surprised that Congressman Patrick Kennedy has chosen to reopen the public discussion about his practice of the faith and his reception of Holy Communion. This comes almost two weeks after the Congressman indicated to local media that he would no longer comment publicly on his faith or his relationship with the Catholic Church....

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (CNS/Reuters) Wondering how pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius justify their public dissent from Church teachings on this most fundamental issue concerning the sanctity of human life? This blog will answer that question with SebeliusÂ’s own words, in an interview published yesterday by The Washington Post. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas requested in May 2008 that Sebelius not present herself for reception of Communion because of the public scandal caused by her support for legal abortion as governor of Kansas. HereÂ’s what Sebelius said about the matter,...

The Washington Post the other day posted a lengthy interview with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Catholic. A pertinent excerpt: MS. ROMANO: You are also a pro-choice Catholic, and I was reading some stories out of your home state recently where one of the bishops took an action. Can you tell us a little bit about that? SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, the Archbishop in the Kansas City area did not approve of my conduct as a public official and asked that I not present myself for communion. MS. ROMANO: What did you think about that? SECRETARY SEBELIUS:...

I read on facebook a woman who watched Senator Kennedy's funeral mass, stated that President Obama received Holy Communion. Is this true? Did anyone watch the Mass?

A public wake will be held for Eunice Kennedy Shriver from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville on Cape Cod, according to a person familiar with the arrangements. A private funeral will follow on Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, according to the person, who requested anonymity because they had not been authorized by the Kennedy family to speak about the arrangements. The funeral will be by invitation only and has been tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m., the person said.

"Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord... For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord" - 1 Corinthians 11:27,28 Pope Benedict to Catholics: Kneel and Receive on the Tongue Only Pope Benedict XVI does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. According to Vatican liturgist, Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set...

A New Brunswick newspaper that ran a front-page apology Tuesday for a story that claimed Prime Minister Stephen Harper had pocketed a communion wafer has also announced that its publisher and editor-in-chief are no longer with the paper. Saint John Telegraph-Journal publisher Jamie Irving and editor Shawna Richer were no longer at their posts, effective immediately, said Annie Smith, a spokeswoman for the New Brunswick News Inc., the company that owns the daily paper. "She is no longer editor, and (he) is no longer the publisher," she said. "I don't have any information other than that." Ms. Smith would not...

Today I saw Angela Logan from Teaneck, New Jersey, on a newscast. I was as impressed with her story. Angela is a 55-year-old mother who faced hard times. She is an actress, a former dancer, a substitute teacher and currently attends a community College studying to be a Nurse. She was doing everything she could do to pay her mortgage, care for herself and her family and move forward in life. Sadly, a number of misfortunes placed her family in peril of losing their home in these economically troubling times. That is when her story really began. She tells it...

Thursday July 23, 2009 Interview: Head of Vatican's Liturgical Office says Principle of Refusing Communion is "Charity in Truth" By Hilary White, Rome correspondent   ROME, July 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A high level Vatican official has reminded US bishops of their responsibilities to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, including the possibility of withholding Communion. Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, the head of the Vatican's liturgical office, told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview today that the guiding principle for bishops considering withholding Communion from pro-abortion politicians in their dioceses should be "caritas in veritate" or "charity in truth."     Canizares explained that according...

On Sunday July 20, 1969 the first people landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar lander which touched down at 3:17 Eastern Standard Time. Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

Swine flu has spurred the Church of England to revive a rule drawn up more than 450 years ago when bubonic plague swept the land. As concern mounts about the spread of the virus, which has killed at least 29 people in the UK, some Anglican churches have begun to allow “intinction” or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice, while others have stopped offering wine altogether. The practices are permitted under the 1547 Sacrament Act, introduced after the plague, which requires both bread and wine to be given “except necessity otherwise require”. In London’s Southwark diocese...

SAN DIEGO — Catholic Answers is challenging a 2008 Internal Revenue Service ruling that it interfered in the 2004 presidential election by recommending Catholic presidential candidate John Kerry be denied Communion. But one expert on free speech at the University of Notre Dame, Lloyd Mayer, associate professor of law, is worried that this may be “the right principle but the wrong case.”The IRS at first levied an income tax of $102.23 on the San Diego apologetics organization, but returned the money, without reversing its ruling, after Catholic Answers appealed it. Said Catholic Answers’ founder and president, Karl Keating: “It’s the...

It was June of 2005. I was at the bedside of a dear friend, a faithful and inspiring Catholic. He was dying; just the night before he had received the news that he had less than two weeks to live. The cancer that he fought with such heroic courage had spread throughout his lymph glands. He was preparing for the passing to the Father with the dignity and beauty that authentic Catholic Christian faith can forge in a soul receptive to grace. Jerry lived a full and fascinating life. He was always a staunch and courageous defender of the Catholic...

According to his critics, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington is insufficiently outraged – chronically, and on multiple fronts. The latest complaint is that he's not exactly apoplectic over President Obama's upcoming commencement address at Notre Dame. (He doesn't think a Catholic university ought to honor a pro-choice politician, but doesn't see disinviting him, either.) During the more than two years that Nancy Pelosi has been Speaker of the House, Wuerl has been under constant pressure to bar her from receiving Communion. Why, he was asked recently, can't he be more like that nice Raymond Burke, who as archbishop of St....

Two Washington, D.C.-area Catholic bishops have instructed Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., President Barack Obama’s pick to Be Secretary Of Health and Human Services, to refrain from receiving Holy Communion on account of her stances on human-life issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research. This comes as Ms. Sebelius undergoes Senate confirmation hearings before the Committee on on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. In May 2008, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan. told Ms. Sebelius that she should not present herself to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Last week, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Bishop...

Monday March 30, 2009 Commentary: Closing Ranks on Canon 915: Bishops Confirm that Sebelius Should Not Receive Communion Commentary by Deal W. Hudson      Gov. Kathleen Sebelius received some good news last week when abortionist Dr. George Tiller was found not guilty of breaking state laws regulating late-term abortion. The relationship between Tiller and Sebelius would surely have played a role in her upcoming confirmation hearings had he been found guilty.   But Governor Sebelius got some bad news as well -- something not noticed much in Catholic media or the secular press. The bishops of Washington, D.C., and Arlington,...

A reader—SG—sent a note: I have a close friend whose primary reason for not becoming Catholic is one of the strangest I can think of.  He agrees with all of the Church's moral teachings, and he's even comfortable with practically all of its theological doctrines ... but the thing that is holding him back is its practice of closed communion. I once told him that there is an easy remedy to that: Become Catholic, and you can receive the Eucharist daily!  But he says his objection isn't simply because he is personally being deprived, but because he thinks no one...

I had entered into a rather long dialogue with the governor over many months, trying as best as I could, to make her aware of the seriousness of her past actions as well as her present positions. Following our long conversations and additional actions on her part, such as vetoing a bill that was aimed at trying to regulate abortion clinics, I first asked her, privately in a letter, not to present herself for Communion for her own integrity and for her own spiritual welfare. My intention was not to make that public. It was only subsequent to that when...

The Archdiocese of Washington is trying to duck a growing debate on whether pro-choice Catholic politicians can take Communion within its boundaries. The appointment of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, one of the nation's best-known Catholic politicians, to head the Department of Health and Human Services has consumed Catholic blogs and opinionmakers because the nominee has been told by Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., to not take Communion. He would only lift the order, he wrote in a May 9 column in his archdiocesan newspaper, when the governor had "acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy...

Bishop Joseph F. Martino has taken an administrative step toward fulfilling his vow to deny Holy Communion to Roman Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights. The prelate published an official notice in the diocesan newspaper on Thursday reminding all Eucharistic ministers of their duty to follow Catholic law and refuse Holy Communion to anyone, specifically Catholic lawmakers, whose “unworthiness” to receive the sacrament is “known publicly.” “No one having accepted this responsibility (of administering Holy Communion) has the right to ignore the Church’s law in this regard,” the bishop told the ministers. The notice, signed by diocesan chancellor James B....

ROME, January 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Raymond Burke, in an exclusive interview last week, told LifeSiteNews.com that the issue of pro-abortion politicians continuing to receive Holy Communion is still one of major concern and that it is the duty of bishops to ensure that they are refused. He told LifeSiteNews.com, "I don't understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion." "The Church's law is very clear," said Archbishop Burke,...

Question: Could you explain the distinctive Presbyterian/Reformed view of the "Real Presence" in the Lord's Supper, and what it entails? Answer: This is an old and interesting question. The reformers Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli took somewhat different positions on this in response to the abuses that were being taught by the Catholic church. The view of the Catholic church, which may be worth stating here as a backdrop, was that when the priest said the blessing the elements of bread and wine were mysteriously transformed into the body and blood of Christ. This was called transubstantiation. They saw Christ...

Q. Why canÂ’t Protestants receive communion at the Catholic Church?A. To protect them from Judgment. 1 Corinthians 11: 27 Therefore, 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. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of...

ROME, NOV. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.Q: Could you succinctly state the relationship between the importance of the Eucharist versus the Word of God in the liturgy of the Mass? I was on a Eucharistic retreat with a group of Catholics, when the leader of our group said that we as Catholics believe that the Word of God is as important as the Eucharist. I have always been taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but after she said this I...

On the November 14 episode of the HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the comedian said the following: “A Catholic priest in South Carolina has told his congregation: If you voted for Obama you can’t receive Communion. That’s right. The cracker won’t let you get the cracker. He said supporting Obama constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil. Then he proceeds to pass around the plate so everyone could chip in to payoff the child f------ lawsuits.” Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today: “Maher has a long and ugly history of bashing Catholicism, and he typically...

A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishoners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." The Rev. Jay Newman said in a letter distributed to parishoners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greensville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Communion before doing penance for their vote. "Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for...

Diocese Repudiates Catholic Priest Who Said Obama Supporters Should Not Seek Communion A Roman Catholic priest in South Carolina is being reined in by his own diocese for saying parishioners who voted for Barack Obama should not seek communion until they have repented. By Joseph Abrams A Roman Catholic diocese in South Carolina officially repudiated a priest Friday after he told his parishioners that people who voted for Barack Obama had supported the "intrinsic evil" of abortion and should not seek Communion. Father Jay Scott Newman, writing in the weekly bulletin of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C., called...

<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.</p>

Top story on the wire: a letter from Bishop John Ricard SSJ of Pensacola-Tallahassee to Joe Biden, dated Election Day... I learned recently of your visit to the diocese during the political campaign and that you attended the celebration of Sunday Mass in a local parish. The Church of Pensacola- Tallahassee welcomes all people of good will, all the baptized to pray with us. In particular, we welcome our fellow Catholics who seek to fulfill their Sunday obligation in a spirit of communion by participating in Sunday Mass. Sunday Mass provides Catholics with the nourishment to live in the...

Catholic Caucus: Person Receiving Communion Dishonestly Violates Rights of "Faithful" Catholics [The following is an excerpt from the book Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. cap. The title for this article is taken from the closing paragraph of this excerpt. Simply, a person who does not accept the teaching of the Catholic Church should not receive Communion. If they do, they are receiving Communion Dishonestly and they violate the Rights of all Catholics who believe and who strive to live the faith fully and unselfishly. The...

At a time when Reformed churches are taking the celebration and frequency of the Lord's Supper more seriously, the question 'How Should I Benefit From Communion?' is timely. Many helpful books and articles have been written on how the believer can and should benefit from partaking the Lord's Supper. At the heart of most of them the believer is encouraged to meditate on Christ, particularly on his self-giving, love constraining sacrifice. We can be sure that we will derive no benefit from the Supper if the Father's love, the Son's sacrifice and the Spirit's fellowship are not the focus of...

On Monday morning in Denver, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Associated Press that because of support for abortion, Biden should refrain from taking Communion. The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion.

On Monday morning in Denver, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Associated Press that because of support for abortion, Biden should refrain from taking Communion. DENVER (CNA) - The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion. Over the weekend, CNA spoke with several prominent Catholics regarding Biden’s nomination for the Democratic vice-presidential slot. The well-known Catholic intellectual...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading Catholic bishop delivered the opening statement of the quadrennial debate over whether or not pro-abortion Catholic politicians should receive communion. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver says Barack Obama's running mate Joe Biden should refrain from the sacrament.Biden is a pro-abortion Catholic and has a long voting record of supporting abortion and opposing any sensible limits on it.In an email sent Sunday to the Associated Press, Archbishop Chaput said Biden should following the teachings of the Church by opposing abortion or voluntarily refrain from receiving communion.Not doing so would be "seriously wrong," he said."I certainly...

Sen. Barack Obama / Sen. Joseph Biden Denver, Aug 25, 2008 / 02:24 pm (CNA).- The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion. Over the weekend, CNA spoke with several prominent Catholics regarding Biden’s nomination for the Democratic vice-presidential slot.  The well-known Catholic intellectual and author George Weigel explained to CNA that Obama’s choice was expected. “Barack Obama is a pro-abortion radical,...

Question: What is the proper way to dispose of the communion elements? Is it okay to eat the bread after the service? Answer: Thank you for your question to the OPC Q & A Web page. For the OPC, the elements which we use in our communion service are but ordinary bread and wine. In other words, there is nothing sacred about them outside of the service. During the communion service, however, they are set apart for the special task of celebrating the sacrament of our Lord. Our Confession explains it this way: Westminster Confession of Faith 29.3: "The Lord...

If you have a public figure who is openly and deliberately supporting abortion rights, and that same person approaches and receives Holy Communion, what are people to think? They could be led to imagine that some how it is alright to support publicly the taking of innocent and defenseless lives in the womb. So the Church has these disciplines and they are very ancient. They actually go back to the times of St. Paul.But, throughout the Church’s history, She has always had to discipline the reception of Holy Communion which is the most sacred treasure we have in the Church....

Rome, Aug 19, 2008 / (CNA) -- Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial authority of the Holy See, said this week that Catholics who publicly support abortion -- especially politicians -- should not receive Communion, and that ministers of Communion should be responsibly charitable in denying it to them if they ask for it “until they have reformed their lives.” [[Burke082108.jpg]]In an interview with the magazine Radici Christiane, Archbishop Burke pointed out that there is often a lack of reverence at Mass when receiving Communion. “Receiving the Body and Blood of...

“If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege,” he added. “We must avoid giving people the impression that one can be in a state of mortal sin and receive the Eucharist,” the archbishop continued. “Secondly, there could be another form of scandal, consisting of leading people to think that the public act that this person is doing, which until now everyone believed was...