Denver Newsroom, Nov 24, 2020 / 04:25 pm (CNA).- Washington’s archbishop, who will be made a cardinal this weekend, told a journalist Tuesday that in his diocese, he will not deny Holy Communion to a politician who has pledged to enshrine access to abortion in federal law and permit federal funding of abortions. That politician is President-elect Joe Biden.
Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s comment is sure to raise questions about the Church’s pro-life witness. But for some Catholics, the remark might also raise questions about the sincerity of U.S. bishops on the topic of ecclesial reform.
In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then head of the Church’s doctrinal office, told U.S. bishops in a memo that a Catholic politician “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” is engaged in “manifest,” and “formal cooperation” in grave sin.
In such a case, the politician’s “pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist,” Ratzinger wrote.
If the Catholic perseveres in grave sin and still presents himself for Holy Communion, “the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.”
Ratzinger’s memo was an application of canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law, which says that Catholics “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
In short, Ratzinger’s memo gave bishops instruction on how to apply the Church’s law. On Tuesday, Archbishop Gregory said he has no plans to do so.
Some Catholics will soon raise objections to Gregory’s remark.
Pro-life activists will say bishops should stand up for the unborn, and that distributing the Eucharist to pro-choice politicians implies that abortion is not a serious moral issue. Some will accuse the archbishop of preferring secular approval to uncomfortable evangelical witness.
Those are exactly the arguments Catholics made when Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said in 2019 that he would not deny the Eucharist to New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, who signed one of the most permissive abortion laws in the country’s history, and again in October of that year, when Dolan said he would not deny Biden the Eucharist.
If history is predictive, other Catholics will praise Gregory as a witness of civility and tolerance. They will say that no one should politicize the Eucharist, and that denying Holy Communion is not pastoral, or prudent.
They will not be the first to use that language.
In 2004, when U.S. bishops discussed pro-choice politicians and the Eucharist, one cardinal among them was charged with summarizing the memo sent from Ratzinger to bishops on the subject, as few of them had yet received it. The cardinal downplayed the memo, saying addressing the matter at all was up to the discretion of U.S. bishops.
“The question for us is not simply whether denial of Communion is possible, but whether it is pastorally wise and prudent,” the cardinal said.
That cardinal was Theodore McCarrick.
At the 2004 spring meeting of U.S. bishops, which took place in Denver, McCarrick inaccurately summarized the instructions of the Vatican on Holy Communion, omitting Ratzinger’s normative direction. Under McCarrick’s influence, the bishops decided the best way to handle the question was to defer to the individual judgement of bishops.
The memo, incidentally, was sent ahead of the meeting to two U.S. bishops: McCarrick, and the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Bishop Wilton Gregory.
In the wake of McCarrick’s more recent scandal, pro-lifers will not be the only ones to lament Gregory’s decision about Biden. Catholics concerned with ecclesial reform are also likely to have concerns.
Gregory is charged with leading the Archdiocese of Washington after the scandal of McCarrick, and in the wake of serious questions raised about his immediate predecessor, Cardinal Donald Wuerl. The archbishop is charged with promoting healing, and enacting reform, and he’s pledged to do so.
But his critics are likely to see his remarks on Biden as a setback to reform. Some will argue that Gregory has substituted his own judgment for the law of the Church, and the Vatican’s instructions on how to apply it. That practice, they’ll say, is the kind of clericalism that made the McCarrick scandal possible.
Gregory may not see that matter that way, or believe himself to be flouting canon 915. But if his priests think he is not taking seriously ecclesiastical law, his reform agenda may be seriously jeopardized.
Archbishop Jose Gomez said last week that a Biden presidency promises “certain challenges” for the bishops of the U.S. As Gregory wades into controversy over canon 915, the reach of those challenges may soon become apparent.
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How are Catholics to respond? With prayer, fasting, and keeping their wallets closed. Time for the Bishops to do their jobs before they get paid.
Agree, except for the wallet part. I would suggest a modification for Catholics to limit support to specific organizations that represent true Catholic teaching. Examples of such are the following: Little Sisters of the Poor, EWTN, Relevant Radio, Catholic Answers, Priests for Life, Archdiocese for the Military and Catholic Missions that you know are true to the faith. Also there are plenty of other good Catholic Media and Charity organizations that should be supported. However one needs to be sure of what they do. Of course we need to support our parishes. Unfortunately not on such a list are the many organizations under the control of Bishops etc., who support Catholic Politicians that support abortion.
You do realize each parish supports the diocese/bishop through a “tax” of sorts. The money you do not give to the bishop’s annual appeal is made up out of parish funds.
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Our pastor recently told our poor parish we were being assessed an extra charge due to legal fees incurred do to the malfeasance of some priest who gave the bishop trouble. This “tax” and other “taxes” will be paid before we even pay our energy bill.
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If you want to starve out the bishop, the reality is your parish must also starve.
Kathryn, yes, I do know that, and I realize this would mean parishes would suffer some tough times. Many already are, including mine, due to low donations from covid shutdowns and abuse lawsuits. But ultimately I believe our parishes would then be pressed to concentrate what little money they have on the liturgy and sacramemts. That being said, we also need resilient priests. We all need to realize that we may be in for a trial.
Hey Jenny, I was actually responding to GR Mike. Blessings for Thanksgiving.
I don’t believe that the parish must suffer financially. Not at all. Simply declare that your Sunday contribution is to be used strictly and only for the restoration and/or maintenance of the parish church in question and additionally that not a dime is to go to the diocese. Your pastor will have both a legal and moral obligation to uphold that directive. Your parish stays healthy while the diocese works it’s way through backruptcy such as is the case in my New Orleans.
I wonder if there should be prayerful consideration of a movement for payments to parishes restricted by a covenant that no part of the payment can go to the USCCB, which covenant would of course have to be committed to by the receiving parish.
Dominican sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Ann Arbor, MI, who are rapidly growing in Truth and sending out true sisters two by two back into the world to teach as sisters of history did. Check the out!!
This is exactly the correct response.
Exactly. It is too bad the only message these leaders hear is money but I think if they see an exodus from their fund raising it will force them to listen. Obviously, we cannot leave the church in protest as our trust is in Jesus…NOT other human beings such as Gregory or even the Pope unfortunately. Cheers!
With massive amounts of annual income coming federally to the U.S. bishops – and much more in 2020 (due to a p(l)andemic), it’s clear that the financial contributions from an ever-diminishing populace of “faithful” have been in decline and are in need of significant augmentation… Whence could such supplemental aide come to keep the Church of Accompaniment afloat? Though it’s true that operating costs are much reduced when a-company is closed or are operating at 25-50% capacity; nonetheless, such business practice is simply not sustainable for any organization – again – unless (besides downsizing) an alternate soro(s)ource of mammon should perhaps be supplementing… U.N.less there was a novus ordo of sustainable initiatives capable of off-setting the dearth of resources resulting from “developments” in a-company policy, having lost sight of it’s God-given commission – while effecting the aiding and abetting of an on-going “silent apostasy” (Ecclesia in Europa, 2003). Indeed, such a policy could only be faithful to the post-conciLIAR legacy of dis-memberment.
WHO would be glad to facilitate this dismemberment of the Mystical Body; while continued compliance, complicity and/or active participation of ecclesial authorities could be counted-on (in a most unfortunate hermeneutic of continuity) to ever reaffirm their choice of master. This choice is ever-binary, as our Lord warns us.
Watch. . . and pray. Discern the spirits. We must beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
WE AS CATHOLICS KNOW WHAT IS AND ISN’T TRUE & JUST. THIS MAN IS JUST THAT, A MAN FAR FROM PERFECTION. THE DIFFERENCE IS HE IS A REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR CATHOLIC FAITH & IS OBVIOUSLY FAILING. HE & ALL THAT THINK LIKE HIM CAN AND SHOULD REMOVED AS ANY OF US WOULD BE IF WE DID NOT REPRESENT THE COMPANY WE WORKED FOR. HE WORKS FOR US , NOT US FOR HIM. THESE TIMES WE LIVE NOW ARE A FAR CRY FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN COMMON SENSE PREVAILED. PROOF AGAIN, THE DEVIL IS AT WORK. HE, AS ALL OF US WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD WHEN ITS OUR TIME.
who are we to judge?
2 questions:
1) Why are we still talking about this?
2) Is there anyONE out there who can honestly say that he or she is actually surprised?
Starve the beast and drain his coffers. Long past time for the intrinsically disordered Wilton Gregory to learn to live on three squares a day of tepid water and stale bread.
I wonder of this kind of thing is what Gregory was thinking when he became a priest? When he gave his life to God and took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience?
The bishops bring sadness and shame on us all. Few are teaching, and few are holding the line in our blessed church’s hierarchy; instead, countless souls will be led straight to hell. All the babies who will die because of a Biden presidency will cry for justice.
“His Excellency” Gregory is a money-grubbing wolf in shepherd’s clothing, who got caught taking Church money to build himself a $2 Million retirement home. When he got caught, like other contemptuous Bishops, he refused to admit he was stealing money, but resorted to the contemptuous remark with words to this effect: “in retrospect, if I had known ahead of time that Catholics would have disapproved, then I would have avoided doing it.”
Then he politicized the priests in Washington and directed them to attend an anti-Trump / Lesbian Marxist (which is literally what the demonic, family-hating BLM leaders are) rally.
This after Gregory in 2004 conspired with McCarrick to lie to the faces of the US Bishops and all Catholics, witholding the letter of Cardinal Ratzinger encouraging US Bishops to enforce Canon 915 and withold Holy Communion from men like Joe-Abortionist-Biden.
So “His Excellency” is both a thief and a contemptuous liar.
A false shepherd spoken of by Jesus.
“His Excellency” Gregory has “the Mind of McCarrick.”
And he is now a Cardinal-Designate …
Put Gregory out to pasture or send him back to the Seminary to learn Canon Law, especially Canon Law #s 915, 1398, and 1329.2. Every day the China Virus kills 925 of us when the daily abortion rate is 1,800/CDC. Perspective is a marvelous thing. Gregory needs to do a second look-see at letting Biden, who is no longer a member of the Body of Christ receive.
Only the pope can send him back to the seminary; and that is not going to happen. Their ideology is much the same
Cardinal Gregory seeks a divisive “common ground” approach with Pope Biden & Co.–and thereby positions himself on a Confederate-style pedestal, and as an outlier with Rome and the voted USCCB leadership.
The cardinal might consider how this middling fantasy played out for Blacks and the country as a whole in our earlier history….Under the new Constitution, Blacks counted as a middling 3/5ths of a PERSON for purposes of state representation in the House of Representatives. This middle-ground provision was imposed on the Southern states in place of counting slaves more fully as a measure of “property” as desired by the southern elite (and, today, the depersonalized unborn as desired by the abortion industry and their political accomplices).
James Madison explained: “Let the compromising expedient of the Constitution be mutually adopted which regards them as inhabitants, but as debased by servitude below the equal level of free inhabitants, which regards the ‘slave’ as divested of two fifths of the ‘man” (Federalist Paper #54).
What would ex-slave Frederick Douglass say about dividing the country? Or Solomon about dividing the baby? Or the Holy Spirit about dividing the Church?
Not surprised. Can we imagine Gregory not having vote for Biden? If it is fine to vote for a Catholic presidential nominee who promises legalization of late term abortions, suing the Little Sisters of the Poor and having chosen a vice-president who insists that Catholics should be disqualified for the courts – why not give him the Body of Christ?
That’s what’s become of our shepherds.
Now make sure you contribute generously to the next USCCB collection, you mettlesome lay Catholics.
“Gregory may not see that matter that way, or believe himself to be flouting canon 915. But if his priests think he is not taking seriously ecclesiastical law, his reform agenda may be seriously jeopardized.”
PLEASE. There IS no “reform agenda” with the McCarrick cronies. It’s all talk and no action, all show and no substance. If people haven’t seen that by now, they deserve to be hoodwinked by another dozen McCarricks.
Will you consider posting your best counsel to members of the faithful who see the teachings of the Church being disassembled “right before our eyes” so to speak. Prof. Carl Trueman posted his thoughts at First Things. He saw the behaviors we are witnessing as “insults to Christ”. These are terrifying words.
I am reminded of a video picturing Pope John Paul II instructing a dissident priest, shaking his finger toward the priest: “Regularize your situation with the Church!”.
He did not fear “public opinion” but he did fear for those within the Church who put their eternal souls at risk. He did not hesitate to instruct them.
At the time of the 2016 election, Fr. George Rutler wrote: “… badness consists in doing bad things. Evil is different: it is the deliberate destruction of truth, virtue and holiness.”
I have long realized that a person’s truest friend is the friend who does not flinch from pointing out mistakes and sins. This is the person who puts his or her friend’s spiritual well-being first; who would not be an enabler of a friend’s wrongdoing.
“Wolves in sheep’s clothing are dangerous, but worse are wolves in shepherd’s clothing”.
Also from Fr. Rutler: “The illusion of indifference cannot long be perpetuated by lame jokes and synthetic laughter at banquets, for there is handwriting on the wall.”
More than prayer, fasting, and denial of financial support is required in dealing with Gregory. Necessary as these are, they simply have not been enough for the last 60 years. Gregory himself is proof of this as protege of Bernardin in Chicago and Atlanta, right-hand facilitator of McCarrick at the USCCB, hand-picked successor by Wuerl of McCarrick and himself, and now “Great Reset” globalist sock puppet for Bergoglio in Washington. It is imperative that hireling shepherds like him must be publicly called out, publicly condemned, and publicly resisted. A lying and hypocritical Church that teaches one thing as infallible magisterium and practices and promotes the opposite as dialogue and pastoral practice has no credibility and deserves none.
Yet the United States is contributing to the most Unjust, Evil military war, Genocide on the poorest people, the country of Yemen. As, the forever wars on Iran, Iraq both countries the United States over threw the governments of, as Syria in the 1940’s, even democratic governments. Incited by Obama, and continued by Trump, actions on Yemen are the worst crimes against the poorest of the poor in all of world history.. Where is the US Bishops to stand against this.
The wall on the Mexico border, that is defiant to the Catholic faith.
Where is the redirection of the US One Trillion dollar budget away from murder of the poor, redirected to education and charity to the poor in the USA and the World, most directly the Americas that is in total anarchy today.. Women who are fleeing the atrocities of the Americas, Venezuela, Guatemala, are raped by most likely, Christians as a common event.. Women have gone into the streets to protest their being Murdered and Raped in Mexico.. Priests who speak out in Mexico are murdered in acts of Terrorism..
Yet not one place can we read US Catholic news, bishops, or “assumed” leaders recognizing or against these issues, against our Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters, across the Americas..
Lets hear about ending the US military industrial complex, that spreads misery and discontent to the World, and bankrupted the USA, and made a few rich.
This attack and judgement of a Bishop in itself, defies the Catholic faith, its teaching, and misleading of the people, a grave error.
An attack on a hypocritical Bishop is not immoral. He supports Senators Biden and Harris and their pro abortion anti Catholic agendas. Yes I said Senator Biden.
Oh! You omitted mentioning the thousands of aborted babies.
A mistake. I doubt it.
Biden stands against the real Crimes against the humanity, the spending of Trillions on wars of murder, Genocide on the poor, most directly the US actions against, Yemen. Biden is first president since Kennedy that was has stood against war, Yet Kennedy Martyred, for standing against Unjust war.
Trumps Wall defied the Catholic Religion to every regard when its recognized the the two countries the most small arms were sent to from the USA, was Mexico and Yemen.
Trumps wall, defiance to the Catholic Religion, defiance to the poorest of Catholics/Christians in the Americas, defiant to feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, giving drink to the thirsty, was a protest of Trump, brought Biden to be our new president.
The USA is not evil, those that assume leadership, as the Religious Mafia, the same mafia that exterminated President Kennedy, is “Evil” of Mind.
Compassion for the Immigrate, the downtrodden, the poor, the poorest of the poor, determined this election..
Real Catholics detest the issue of Abortion, as the ONLY issue.
Why is not, the issue of Religious Corruption not recognized, as, Unjust wars, and Unbridled Capitalism? The mass hording of wealth in the USA by a few, a crime against the poor in the USA, denied by Catholic media?
…and yet everyone wants to emigrate from poor countries to the “evil” USA? How come?
The politics of the Washington DC swamp has influenced B Gregory to become like them. Pray for him.
My dear Wilton,
You seem to have failed to realize that you do not own the Eucharist. It’s not yours to dispense according to your will. The conditions of its reception have been set down by Christ in His Word. At your own peril do you fail to teach the fullness of Truth.
Sincerely,
Joe Pewsitter
How do Catholics respond to any sodomite? With prayer. Wilton Gregory is the result of the rotting at the head of the fish and that would be Bergoglio who “stands up” for sodomite civil unions. Giving communion to a person who “stands up” for aborting babies in the womb or shortly after birth and then selling their body parts is all part of the rotting souls.
It is way past time for other bishops to speak out. If it is a sacrilege for Biden to receive the Eucharist, isn’t it a sacrilege for the bishop to give him the Eucharist?
Lord help us.
Why, there must be a reason that Gregory turns to the secular and away from his promise to shepherd GOD’s people. Not a question I need answered, but our Lord Jesus Christ will want an answer.
All politicians who support abortion and sodomite marriage will be rewarded for their allegiance by being given the Eucharist-just as long as they are not racist.
Read Jeremiah 23 in the Douay Rheims Bible
“Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture”, saith the Lord.
Gregory and all those in his camp will certainly be called to accountability when at the judgement seat; jus t like the rest of us. What is he thinking? Maybe he is thinking that when he dies he will be dressed up in that casket with no place to go.
The episcopate appears never to fail to scandalize either by commission or omission. Where is the rebuke from his confreres? Where is the rebuke from Rome? At this point in time why would anyone ask?
It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones. Luke 17:2
We are as sheep without any shepherd.
Clear violation of Canon 915. Check it out.
While it would seem the Bishop, by knowingly offering the Eucharist to one who lives in mortal sin, that one either committing the mortal sin of murder directly or by enabling, approving of and endorsing the mortal sin of murder by others, could make the Bishop himself an endorser of the mortal sin of murder, it also seems Biden ultimately owns the burden of partaking of the Eucharist unworthily. Is this, then, the blind leading the blind?
1 Corinthians 11:27-32
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Thoughts?
What then is the Catholics Church? Pastoral and prudent are now the buzzwords of our cardinals when it comes to their secular counterparts? Cowardice on a Luciferian scale!
The Lord of the World continues to expand his influence. Based on the history of the Church 1/12 of the Bishops betray our Lord. The Archbishop has picked his place in the world. May the Lord have mercy upon his soul and those entrusted to his care by the Holy Father.
1/12 betray and 10/12 run away.
Recently the International Theological Commission of the Vatican Curia issued the document THE RECIPROCITY BETWEEN FAITH AND SACRAMENTS IN THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY approved by Cardinal Latria and confirmed by Pope Francis. In #14, it clearly states:
. . . “Not infrequently, full participation in the Eucharist is sought without any awareness of the need for prior reconciliation with God and the ecclesial community, from which we have been separated by our sin and which we have damaged in its reality as the visible Body of Christ. There is dissociation between the Eucharistic life and the practice of reconciliation on the part of many faithful and even of some ordained ministers, ignoring in the practice of their Christian faith the harmonious unity of the whole sacramental organism of the Church, where it is not possible to choose subjectively which sacraments to “consume” and which to forego.” The Cardinal-elect’s decision, therefore, seems prima facie not in sync with the Pope’s magisterium.
I ask the Lord to clean up our church.I can’t go to our church anymore.I also ask him to clean up our election. Blessed Virgin to cast unto hell all who are all against our church and country.
I guess a politician who supports abortion is privileged and can receive the host.
I don’t understand how a Catholic clergyman let alone an archbishop can ignore the fact that this man supports abortion.
He’s letting politics guide his decision instead of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He a hypocrite. He supports this mans views on abortion and planned parenthood indirectly leading to the continued abortion of thousands of babies. All the while continuing to say mass?
Not any archbishop I would want to follow.
Another reason the Catholic Church is losing its flock.
Robert
LMAO at the CNA saying this is an example of ‘clericalism’ that gave rise to McCarrick. The equivocation is astounding, coming from the weakest protestors of ‘clericalism’ outside of Church Militant.
Gregory is one of the many who are part of the corruption of the Church hierarchy. He, along with the rest, need to be completely removed. Hopefully, the Blessed Mother, along with her spouse, the Holy Spirit, will decide to clean house soon. We, the lay, do not have an obligation to support this hypocrite of the clergy. Giving him any support in any manner, along with vigorous protesting–even to the Vatican–will help. The real solution is to have him resign and go away—and never come back.
Let’s be real – Our Pope purposely named Wilton Gregory a Cardinal a few weeks before the election so that Catholics would know that, in all good conscience, it was perfectly fine to vote for pro-abortion Joe Biden. Cardinals will be tripping over each other at his inauguration, and who would be surprised if the Pope showed up. In the future, we can remember that not recycling properly is a greater sin that taking unborn lives.
I challenge all lawmakers to witness an abortion and see the lifeless results, and as is coming down the road, infanticide, before they ever allow it into law. I now offer the same challenge to the Bishops who obviously are clueless as to what abortion actually and eternally is. May they soon be enlightened for the sake of their souls. Have not the black people had enough of a cross to bear? Wilton Grregory bings this shame to them too, to give his support to those who willingly make firm laws for this horrific “final solution”. All true Catholics please gather in Spirit this Thanksgiving and know in our hearts that we are one in Christ and pray for our country and world. Stand firm our persecution is just around the corner and we will be seen as against peace and unity. What pomp and snares.
Right. And the bigoted, racist, slanderous attacks on the United States that constitute your posts also defies Catholic teaching and misleads people. So people in glass houses should stop throwing stones.
And there is no genocide taking place in Yemen. Stop lying. You’re turning into a broken record.
It is a sad road we have seen the hierarchy of the Church lead us down. What could possibly be the next thing to upset the faithful? I know, issue a statement saying there is no sin and all, regardless of belief, are encouraged to receive the Eucharist. I can see it see now, “Please face the rainbow flag and join in our opening hymn, Kumbaya, as hope and pray to codify Roe vs Wade into federal law”
For edification: Archbishop Gregory visited the Casa Santa Maria Rome approx 2001 when he was bishop of Belleville IL then president of the USCCB 2001-4. He seemed aloof and wary surrounded by student priests. He had made headlines, “They had just come from the Sala Bologna, a high-ceilinged rectangular hall on an upper floor of the Apostolic Palace decorated with a vast tapestry of the Last Supper. The conversations between the American prelates and the highest cardinals of the Holy See had been closed. But now, in a ritual that owed more to the spin wars of the 21st century than to the Renaissance splendor of the Vatican, the princes of the Roman Catholic Church were facing the press. The abuse of children and teenagers and a clerical culture of cover-up had brought them to Rome, and clearly they thought they knew the cause of the trouble. ‘This is an ongoing struggle,’ said Bishop Wilton Gregory, his eyes flashing with conviction. ‘It is most importantly a struggle to make sure that the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men’” (Jon Meacham Newsweek May 5 2002). Yes, the Jon Meacham then Newsweek editor. Gregory added again before the Press that the Church is becoming a “haven for homosexuals”. I admired him greatly. His peers did not. Bishops tore into him accusing Gregory of exaggeration, of homophobia, Soon he began to mince his words on his ‘homophobia’. Softening his views until they eventually disappeared. Until the ‘boys’ had at him and he became what he is today. The influential power of our Hierarchy made him what he is.
Have you considered whether Gregory’s remarks about homosexual priests were intended to provide cover for his own homosexual activity? Cardinal Cupich spoke last year reminding his brother bishops that consensual sexual activity by bishops with other adults is not sexual abuse. These guys think they are okay because they do not have sex with minors. We need other bishops to provide fraternal correction to the sexually active bishops (soon to be four U.S. cardinals).
That could be Martin, however I can’t read his mind. The important point is that he was opposed, then changed apparently under pressure. And we know persons can decide to become homosexual, and that there’s no scientific evidence people are ‘born that way’. I recommend you read Dr Gerard van den Aardweg on the Psychogenesis of Homosexuality.
“Cardinal Cupich spoke last year reminding his brother bishops that consensual sexual activity by bishops with other adults is not sexual abuse”. This abomination is the apex of the corruption within the Catholic Church that per force in order to justify their iniquity they rationalize, dilute all Catholic doctrine on faith and morals.
Gregory: “It is most importantly a struggle to make sure that the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men” (Jon Meacham Newsweek May 5 2002).
I also recall this line, from a few weeks prior to the USCCB beginning the Dallas Charter. But, since then, one Fr. James Martin talks over everybody, Cupich talks over DiNardo, and now Gregory talks over both Gomez and the recently-elected and broader USCCB leadership.
Do the cardinal-imposters simply decide that over the years the pavement has set too hard to be corrected, and settle for the oily Big Lie (and the red hat), as from the very beginning?
And yet, there are others who quite simply know bullsh** when they smell it. Evidence of indomitable hope comes even from a mouthpiece of the Soviet purges of the 1930s….In his unpredictable defense of Pasternak, a communist man of letters confined to the Gulag still roused himself from his hardness: “If the whole world were to be covered with asphalt, one day a crack would appear in the asphalt, and in that crack grass would grow” (cited in Whittaker Chambers, Cold Friday, Random House, 1964, p. 324.)
We, the residents of another kind of hardening concentration camp, can take heart. The day is ever young.
As Matthew 23 clearly warns believers
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens* [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
I think our leaders in the Catholic church really need to decide who they trust and what side they are working for…the side with Christ OR the secular, pagan world focused on forcing God out of our lives once and for all.
This is NOT a negotiation or compromise…Jesus DID NOT GIVE US THAT OPTION! I don’t understand WHY OR HOW these Bishops and even the Pope seem to be trying to have it both ways but end up selling out the faithful in the end. Very disappointed in Gregory at this point. I thought he would be more than another talking head siding with the secular world but I guess not. I pray for his soul and those of other so-called leaders who refuse to take the Narrow gate.
Swamp.
This bishop is clearly not Catholic. Nor is he willing to uphold Catholic teaching. The big question is how did he get in this position? The answer is that he spearheaded the 2002 cover up of the homosexual crisis in the church. He and Mccarrick carefully guided the USCCB meeting to avoid all discussion of the problem in the church, and instead blame everything but the real cause.
His fellow bishops were eternally grateful for his cover up work. The church has become an eternal cover up organization, unable to enforce any aspect of Catholic teaching. In fact, the main qualification for being a bishop appears to be a sly facility in avoiding Catholic teaching. Wilton Gregory fits this to a T.
It’s time for a Catholic march on Washington, one that goes straight to his home and demands that he uphold Catholic teaching or resign.
The floor of hell is paved with pointy hats.
A question would be—-why is the Pope PROMOTING to Cardinal a man who is so boldly going out if his way in supporting a pro abortion politician? If Bishop Gregory cannot support this elemental Catholic moral teaching, what good will he be? And to go out of his way to say he will NOT refuse communion to a man who is clearly giving scandal?? What is behind that sort of thinking? Since when is it ok for anyone to trade on their membership as a Catholic to promote policies which conflict with the church they claim to be a part of? Is stealing ok if you REALLY need the money? Is adultery ok because you fancy yourself in love? Do what you wish’ but dont try to pretend it is right. For a Bishop to take this position is beyond inappropriate. Current DEM position on abortion is no longer the ” rare, safe and legal” argument for the few who fall into the rape and incest category. Now in the last year the DEMs have progressed to support of infanticide. No doubt ” useless” elderly, disabled and sick folks will be declared disposable next. No thinking person can support this. And any Catholic who supported the DEM party in this last election not only should be ashamed, but also share a portion of the sin they have helped to promote. We need Bishops and Cardinals with spine enough to say so. Gregory is evidently lacking in that area.
Gregory’s actions are inexcusable. I suggest he should be looking over his shoulder for anyone holding a millstone!
Henry VIII would heartily approve of Cardinal Gregory.
Really, do we need all these bishops and cardinals? So few are true shepherds. Prayer and fasting – yes, those are powerful approaches for the laity to take, but I also suggest withholding funds for any Bishop’s Appeals and donate directly to the charity of your choice. It’s sad to say, but money talks. When Catholic Churches were closed during this pandemic and Mass went online, one of the first requests the dioceses made was to continue your weekly offering. Yes, my approach to a pro-abortion politician being allowed to receive the Holy Eucharist and causing more scandal to an already wounded Church will include my taking control of my donations and not contributing to the annual appeals by our bishops.
I simply have one question, while trying to wrap my head around what I have read. When does “Not wanting to politicize Communion” actually become an assault against the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus? If I recall my catechism correctly, Christ suffered, died, and rose again. This was because of all our sins. The next statement is simply rhetorical in thought. Yet when we choose to sin, it was explained to me, that we become the ones scouraging, mocking & spitting on Him, driving the nails, & piercing His Most Sacred Heart. Therefore, we want to strive to avoid sin, to sincerly confess our sins, and to receive communion in a state of grace. If you look at various Marian apparitions, there is a reoccurring theme. Couple this with the various Eucharistic miracles from around the world that point to the Real Presence, especially that of Lanciano. Why would you want to allow an abuse of the Eucharist?
Thus I summarize my one simple question. When does ” not wanting to politicize communion become abuse of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus? And why would you want to abuse the Eucharist?
You all realize that it was this kind of arrogant hypocrisy from Popes and bishops that inspired the first Protestant Reformation. Is it time for a second Protestant Reformation to shake up this wayward hierarchy?
In light of Los Angeles Archbishop Gomez being the designated spokesman for the USCCB it strikes me as if (soon to be) Cardinal Wilton Gregory might be creating an unnecessary confusion by this statement of position on Joseph Biden’s reception of communion when in the D.C. Archdiocese. Indeed, even an un-called for turf battle between these two significant leaders of the American Catholic Church. With all the chaos created by the sex abuse scandal and Theodore McCarrick this is the last thing we need. Sadly, it might be that Cardinal Gregory, with his perceived support of Pope Francis I, is acting bureaucratically and using the deadly and heinous crime of abortion in a very poor manner.
There is ample evidence that Gregory is a corrupt man, about as authentic a Catholic as the demented Delaware pol he supports (yes, he DOES support the abortion promoting fake with the limited IQ who is attempting to steal the US presidential election). The author here offers us a substantial piece of evidence when he relates Gregory’s cooperation with the pervert monster McCarrick. I recall that this prelate’s priests have visited upon him a nickname that indicates even greater personal moral turpitude, and I see absolutely no reason to ignore it; they surely know him and his habits better than I. And the pope is visiting on this dubious, tremendously flawed character, thus perhaps revealing more unflattering truths about Francis as well.
Francis, Wilton Gregory, Ted McCarrick, and a host of others, that is the mental picture of the Catholic hierarchy that many of us have developed over the last few decades. We see the Church as an organization led by men more venal, more sexually corrupt, less loyal, and even less intelligent than most Mafia chiefs. They can dress up pretty in their miters and colored robes but, gazing on them, what we perceive is dross and degradation. This king and these princes have indeed no clothes for us.
Slight amendment: the first paragraph cut the pope is visiting on Gregory “the honor of the cardinalate.”
As a Catholic priest, I can say loud and clear that this hierarch should be reprimanded by the Holy See because he ‘accommodates’ the very clear teachings of the Catholic Church regarding those who are pro abortion, pro choice, homosexual/lesbian. Biden should not approach the chalice because he is not a catholic in good standing. His stance is indelible. Biden should be excommunicated. This archbishop plays politic which detrimental to our Universal Church. The true clergies of the church have to speak out. Prayers are not sufficient because faith without deeds is dead. Lord have mercy on him.
Horrifyingly.
Who is this pope who would promote this man?
Are we also questioning allowing the folks who voted for Biden to take Communion?
If Archbishop Gregory won’t deny Holy Communion to a “Catholic” politician who supports abortion up to the moment of birth and wants taxpayers to pay for it and has also performed gay marriages, pray tell, under what circumstances would he deny Holy Communion to a heretic?
It clearly appears to causes great confusion with Catholic Church hierarchy and leadership. As always on this subject there is abundant talk and waffle without real action to halt the confusion, so the confusion continues and grows. In attempting to play politics it is viewed as a “difficult and complex” situation. It will continue that way with countless children being killed unless real action is taken to emphatically state that the Church is unbending on and will not compromise on this teaching. To not recognise/celebrate Biden as a Catholic would send an unambiguous message to Biden, other abortion supporting Catholic politicians, and the world.
Somewhere out there is a Priest who has the courage to deny Biden the sacrament, because there certainly doesn’t seem to be a Bishop who fits that description. I would imagine that Biden’s people are working overtime to make sure that never the twain shall meet.
How sad.