Chaput: Don't take Communion if not in full communion with church

Published: 2004-08-17

DENVER (CNS) -- "If we're not really in communion" with the Catholic Church, "we shouldn't be going to Communion. It's a lie!" Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told an audience of more than 200 young adults at a Denver sports bar Aug. 13. The archbishop, speaking to a Theology on Tap gathering for those in their 20s and 30s, addressed the question "What does it mean to be in full communion with the Catholic Church?" He opened his remarks by discussing the ongoing debate on whether a priest or bishop should deny Communion to a Catholic politician who supports public policies that stand in opposition to church teachings -- particularly on right-to-life issues. "For us to understand where the church stands" on the Communion issue, said the archbishop, "we need to understand what is full communion." Recalling the Gospel story of the vine and the branches, the archbishop said the Catholic faithful must be like branches, faithfully attached to Jesus, the vine, the source of life and unity for all the branches. The archbishop suggested that there are two considerations each Catholic must make in trying to live a genuinely Christian life. He argued, first, that each should be concerned about developing an authentic, personal relationship with Christ and, second, that the faithful need to strive for unity. "This notion of union or communion is about a relationship, not only a sacrament," the archbishop said.

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