U.S. cardinal, Canadian bishops discuss politicians, Communion

Published: 2006-10-18

CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick told Canadian bishops that the subject of dissenting Catholic politicians receiving Communion was a "ground zero" issue for the church in America. Cardinal McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington who led a task force examining Catholics in public life for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the politicians and Communion issue prior to the 2004 U.S. presidential election was the crux of a "struggle to identify the real Catholic Church in the United States." He said, "In a sense, I fear it diverted us from the fundamental concern for the life and dignity of the human person that are so central in the teaching of the Holy Fathers." Instead, he said, the debate devolved into charges that those who denied Communion were outside the practice of the church or that those who refused to deny Communion were "cowards or sycophants." Cardinal McCarrick spoke to Canadian bishops Oct. 17 when they discussed Catholic politicians, church teaching and public life as part of their Oct. 16-20 annual plenary meeting in Cornwall.

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