Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in early June sent a letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., saying that bishops are required to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, the Washington Times reports. However, McCarrick at last month's meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops downplayed the letter, saying during a speech that it "clearly leaves it to us as teachers, pastors and leaders whether to pursue this path" of denying communion, according to the Times (Duin, Washington Times, 7/7). McCarrick last month during a presentation at a closed meeting of U.S. bishops in Englewood, Colo., said that withholding Communion from politicians who support abortion rights could "hurt the church in its efforts to stop abortion and euthanasia." The USCCB last month at the close of the meeting voted 183-6 to approve a statement saying that Catholic politicians should work against legalized abortion "lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good." The statement, titled "Catholics in Political Life," said that abortion is "always intrinsically evil and can never be justified." However, the statement said the decision to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be left to individual bishops (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/24).

Letter
Ratzinger's letter to McCarrick and USCCB President Bishop Wilton Gregory was published on Saturday in the Italian newspaper L'Expresso. In the published letter, Ratzinger wrote that priests should "warn" Catholic politicians who support abortion rights and then if "the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it," according to the Times. Ratzinger also says that Communion can be denied to a Catholic who votes for a politician who supports abortion rights if the decision to vote for the candidate was made "precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion." However, if a Catholic votes for a politician who supports abortion rights for reasons other than that candidate's position on abortion, the voter should not be denied Communion, Ratzinger wrote, according to the Times. McCarrick, who is heading a task force that is developing guidelines on whether and how to sanction Catholic public officials whose personal beliefs or voting records are not in line with the church's teachings, released a statement on Tuesday saying, "From what I have heard, [the material published in L'Expresso] may represent an incomplete and partial leak of a private communication from Cardinal Ratzinger, and it may not accurately reflect the full message I received," adding, "Our task force's dialogue with the Holy See on these matters has been extensive, in person, by phone and in writing. I should note I was specifically requested by the cardinal not to publish his written materials and I will honor that request" (Washington Times, 7/7).

Minnesota Bishop Says Communion Should Not Be 'Politicized'
Bishop Bernard Harrington of the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota recently wrote in the diocesan newspaper the Courier that Catholics who support abortion rights should not take Communion, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. However, Harrington, who is a member of McCarrick's task force, wrote that "the Eucharist should not be politicized" and did not say that he would "personally" deny Communion to a Catholic politician who supports abortion rights, according to the Pioneer Press (Scott, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 7/8). Harrington wrote that "[i]ndividual" Catholics must decide if they are "worthy" to receive Communion, according to the AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune (AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 7/7). In addition, Harrington said that an individual bishop could deny Communion to a Catholic who supports abortion rights, according to the Pioneer Press. Harrington wrote that Catholics who support abortion rights do not have a "correctly formed conscience" and that bishops should "assist" and possibly "confront the individual who errs in this way," according to the Pioneer Press (St. Paul Pioneer Press, 7/8).