More bishops weigh in on Communion debate

Published: 2004-08-05

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic politicians or candidates who support keeping abortion legal have been barred from receiving Communion in any Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and in the dioceses of Charleston, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C. In a joint letter Aug. 4, Archbishop John F. Donoghue of Atlanta and Bishops Robert J. Baker of Charleston and Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte said the ban can only be lifted after the politician's "public disavowal of former support for procured abortion" and "with the knowledge and consent of the local bishop." "We undertake this action to safeguard the sacred dignity of the most holy sacrament of the altar, to reassure the faithful and to save sinners," they said. But in North Carolina's other Catholic diocese, Bishop F. Joseph Gossman of Raleigh is taking a different approach to the question of church sanctions against those who want to keep abortion legal. The church's long-standing practice is "not to make a public judgment about the state of the soul of those who present themselves for holy Communion," Bishop Gossman said in a July 8 statement. In Georgia's other Catholic diocese, Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah did not sign the joint letter. His spokeswoman, Barbara King, told Catholic News Service Aug. 5 that the bishop told her a day earlier that "he has decided to take another approach and he's still studying the matter."

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