When Catholics Withhold Communion

Roman Catholic bishops weigh whether to withhold communion from pro-choice, pro-abortion politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. But then they get pressure from higher up in the food chain to relent. Atop the pyramid sits Progressive Pope Francis, so that stands to reason.

Gone are the days when Americans worried that electing John Fitzgerald Kennedy would mean the pope was actually running our country.

But never you mind when Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey decide what former President Trump can and cannot say.

This all should give us pause, and we ought to ask some hard questions about the legacy of the Roman Catholic church and tradition. How should the church relate to political power?

For that matter, how much of the old Roman empire’s paganism is still with us, for better or worse, thanks to the legacy of Constantine the Great?

For more on Constantine, check out David Potter’s book – ‘Constantine the Emperor.’

But then fast forward 1,200 years. The Protestant Reformation really was all about this and similar questions of authority.

And still today, Christians of every stripe wrestle with how to relate to authorities – whether civil or ecclesiastical – in light of our need to recognize and submit to God’s authority.

Personally, I have no problem with communion being withheld from pro-choice politicians who otherwise try to legitimate their wicked positions by saying they attend church regularly, or are members in good standing.

But the basis of withholding communion ought to be God’s Word first and foremost, and not human tradition.

As Christ put it in Mark 7:9: