Cardinal McCarrick says leaked Ratzinger memo is not whole story

Published: 2004-07-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said July 6 that the leaked text of a recent memo he received from a top Vatican official, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, on Catholic politicians and abortion appeared to be "an incomplete and partial leak" not reflecting "the full message I received." The memo outlined principles of moral and sacramental theology that should be taken into account in determining whether Catholic politicians who take public policy stands contrary to fundamental church teaching in areas such as abortion and euthanasia should be allowed to receive Communion or asked or ordered not to receive the sacrament. Cardinal McCarrick is head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' task force studying how bishops should deal with Catholic politicians in those areas. In his July 6 statement he said the task force's June 15 report to the bishops, published on the USCCB Web site long before the leak of the memo, "conveys both the substance of Cardinal Ratzinger's observations as well as our own interim conclusions."

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