The Pope’s Mixed Message

by Lee Duigon

Where does Francis I, the Red Pope, stand on any given issue? It’s very hard to tell.

On Monday the Pope was asked to give Communion to Joe Biden, a self-described Catholic who supports and promotes abortion, sodomy, and “transgender” like his life depended on it. Normally the Pope would say yes. But on Tuesday he backed off. Why?

Because on Wednesday the Catholic bishops of the United States were to begin discussions on “Eucharistic coherence.” This has to do whether or not they should give Communion to persons whose “acts or deeds or words [go] against the commandments,” which include a strict prohibition of abortion.

At the same time, the Vatican “warned” the American bishops not—repeat, not—to withhold Communion from Catholic politicians who support and promote abortion.

Can you say “mixed message”?

If the Pope were to personally administer Communion to the most abortion-happy politician of them all, where does that leave the bishops? Like, if the Pope’s going to do it, right out there on center stage, how can they not do it?

This is what happens when, year after year, you ignore a problem instead of facing up to it. How the bishops would love to keep on ducking it! But how can they? Catholic teaching on abortion is crystal clear: abortion is a very serious sin, and you’re not supposed to receive Communion if you’re in an active state of sin.

The Vatican says they warned the bishops off because they don’t want the Eucharist to get mixed up in politics. Remember, years ago, when the then-governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, said that he was “personally against abortion”—personally? What does God care for his personal opinion?—but as a public official, he wouldn’t do anything to oppose it. Too bad they don’t give you an Oscar for compartmentalizing real life. Cuomo went on his merry way, supporting abortion because that was the Democrat Party’s position. God’s position, he ignored.

And the Catholic Church let him get away with it.

Now we’ve got a whole crop of supposed Catholics in government whose policies shred Catholic teachings and Biblical morality. After they kicked Raymond Cardinal Burke upstairs to get him out of their hair, the Vatican turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the hypocrisy.

If the bishops go against the church’s teaching and continue to give Communion to abortion supporters, what happens to their moral authority? Who’s going to listen to them?

And this is not the only tar pit waiting to suck them under.

For three years in a row—and they intend to do it again this month—a Catholic church in New Jersey has held a “Pride mass” to, God help us, “celebrate” homosexuality. How many times does the Bible have to tell them that homosexual acting-out is a grave sin? But this church holds a special mass to celebrate it, saying in effect that the Bible is wrong and it’s not a sin after all, everybody’s cool with it. This is another trouble spot the bishops have ignored.

If the Bible is not the Word of God, then what is? Why do the bishops allow this? Could it possibly be because this is another issue for which the Pope has provided a mixed message? All of a sudden a sin is not a sin? Why? Because the world says so? But since when have bishops of the church, any church, been authorized to turn to the world for guidance?

If Christians of any stripe can’t find a church that’s faithful to God’s word, then they’ll have to be the Church, the bishops aren’t up to it anymore. No one asked the bishops to squander their authority, to fritter it away on worldly fads.

Faithful bishops, faithful ministers and preachers, will be found. Our Lord Jesus Christ will provide them. And those who are left out in the cold will have only themselves to blame.

I have discussed these and other topics throughout the week on my blog, http://leeduigon.com/ . Click the link and stop in for a visit. My articles can also be found at www.chalcedon.edu/ .

E-Mail Lee Duigon: leeduigon@verizon.net