ALBANY – United States Roman Catholic bishops should not create a rule banning all pro-choice politicians from receiving the Eucharist, Albany Diocese Bishop Edward Scharfenberger said.
If they proposed such a rule this fall, he’ll vote no, he said in an interview with the Times Union on Friday, explaining that such a rule would be counterproductive.
“It would just cut people off. That’s not how we do our faith. It’s a faith of accompaniment,” he said. “We’re not there to judge other people. Only God can do that.”
He sees his ministry as talking with and walking with people who are in crisis or facing difficult decisions, and supporting them as they wrestle with their conscience. A ban on the Eucharist would end those conversations.
Some bishops have said they want that ban, and the bishops had a lively debate at last week’s conference before deciding to go ahead with writing a statement on the meaning of the Eucharist. The final version might include a ban, which would then be up for a vote at the bishops’ next meeting. Scharfenberger voted yes on crafting a statement, but said he wouldn’t approve such a ban if it’s written.
“I think there are some who would expect there will be some language (about a ban) but I don’t see the bishops’ conference as having the authority to make national policy,” he said. “Plus, I don’t think it will help. … It would end the conversation.”
Right now, bishops are talking with President Joe Biden and legislators about whether taxes should be used to pay for abortions, he said.
In May, Biden submitted a budget proposal that dropped the Hyde Amendment, which bans federally funded abortions. While campaigning for president, Biden said he wanted to drop the ban because some states used state funds to pay for abortions for people on Medicaid and Medicare, while other states do not. The federal funding ban led to some women being unable to afford abortions because of their state of residence, which Biden said was unfair.
Scharfenberger said taxes must not be used to pay for abortions.
“It’s that kind of situation that creates the controversy,” he said. “This is not right, to take such an aggressive position.”
But he said reasonable Catholics can tackle the abortion issue in different ways without being cut off from communion.
Some Catholic politicians have said they want to reduce abortions by helping families in other ways, such as by providing an increase in child tax credits, free preschool and other supports. Scharfenberger doesn’t object to that.
“That is a reasonable position,” he said.
From the outside, it’s not clear where Biden stands on that continuum. Considering that, if Biden and his wife came to Scharfenberger’s church, Scharfenberger said he’d likely give them the Eucharist.
“I would give them the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
He noted that he regularly gives communion to people he does not know, without any knowledge of the state of their soul.
“Sometimes, there are people I don’t even know if they’re Catholic or not. I celebrate funerals, I celebrate weddings,” he said. “I don’t know the state of some individual who approaches for communion.”
So he relies on people making their own decision about whether they are ready to receive the Eucharist.
He emphasized that no one needs to be perfect first.
“I want every Catholic who is disposed to receive it, to receive it,” he said. “We don’t consider any of us worthy. We’re all sinners.”
A person who is voting on something they know is immoral should rethink that, he said, but a person who is trying to craft legislative compromises in the quest for a morally good outcome is generally eligible for the Eucharist if they think they’re doing the right thing.
“At least they’re wrestling with the issue,” he said, and not “engaged in immoral activity.”
He added that there’s too much focus on legislation regarding abortion instead of a societywide focus on “persistent evils,” including racism.
“We need cultural change,” he said. “We need a deeper respect for all life.”
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