17 / 28
17
The Catholic Leader, November 10, 2019
www.catholicleader.com.auHot Topics
Biden denied Communion
Penalised:
Democrat-
ic presi-
dential
candidate
and former
Vice
President
Joe Biden
speaks at
the Sec-
ond Step
Presiden-
tial Justice
Forum at
Benedict
College
in Colum-
bia, South
Carolina.
Photo: CNS
FORMER United States Vice Presi-
dent Joe Biden attended the 9am
Mass at St Anthony Church, South
Carolina, on October 27 and when
he presented himself to receive the
Eucharist was refused by the pastor.
“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy
Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,”
Fr Robert Morey wrote in a statement responding
to queries from the Florence Morning News.
“Holy Communion signifies we are one with
God, each other and the Church.
“Our actions should reflect that.
“Any public figure who advocates for abor-
tion places himself or herself outside of Church
teaching.”
At the heart of that teaching is Canon 915 of
the Code of Canon Law which states that Holy
Communion should not be given to two groups
of persons – those who are excommunicated or
interdicted, and those “who obstinately persist in
manifest grave sin”.
Mr Biden, campaigning for his 2020 bid for
president, was in South Carolina attending a
town hall meeting in Florence and a justice
forum in Columbia.
He identifies himself as Catholic and attends
Mass at St Joseph on the Brandywine in Green-
ville, Delaware.
After the incident was publicised, Wilmington
diocese, in Delaware, issued a statement saying:
“The Church’s teachings on the protection of hu-
man life from the moment of conception is clear
and well-known”.
It said Wilmington Bishop Francis Malooly
had “consistently refrained from politicising the
Eucharist and will continue to do so”.
“His preference, as with most bishops, is
to interact with politicians individually who
disagree with significant Church teachings,” the
statement said.
The issue of Catholic politicians supporting
abortion has been addressed at every level of the
Catholic Church.
In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then pre-
fect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, wrote a memo on “Worthiness to Receive
Holy Communion: General Principles”.
In it he stated: “Regarding the grave sin of
abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal
co-operation becomes manifest (understood, in
the case of a Catholic politician, as his con-
sistently campaigning and voting for permis-
sive abortion and euthanasia laws), his 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”.
“This decision, properly speaking, is not a
sanction or a penalty,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote.
“Nor is the minister of Holy Communion
passing judgment on the person’s subjective
guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public
unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due
to an objective situation of sin.”
In his statement, Fr Morey offered his prayers
for Mr Biden.
“As a priest, it is my responsibility to minister
to those souls entrusted to my care, and I must do
so even in the most difficult situations,” he said.
Mr Biden’s stance on abortion has changed
over his career.
He initially opposed the use of taxpayer
money to fund abortions.
In June, however, he reversed his position on
the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use
of Medicaid funding for abortion.
In an October 5 tweet, he wrote: “Roe v. Wade
is the law of the land, and we must fight any and
all attempts to overturn it.
“As president, I will codify Roe into law and
ensure this choice remains between a woman
and her doctor.”
Pastor of St Mary Church, in Greenville, Fr
Jay Scott Newman expressed support for Fr
Morey in an email to The Catholic Miscellany,
newspaper of Charleston diocese.
“As a canon lawyer, my own conviction is that
Catholic politicians who support abortion do fall
under the exclusion described by Canon 915 and
that Fr Morey arguably has the law on his side,”
he said.
“Moreover, the law does not restrict to the
diocesan bishop the decision to exclude from
Communion someone who fits either category
of Canon 915, so Fr Morey did not exceed his
authority.
“Perhaps the best analogy to this matter is the
decision of several bishops during the struggle
for civil rights to exclude from Holy Commun-
ion those Catholic politicians who continued to
oppose full integration for African Americans.
“The archbishop of New Orleans, for example,
was widely applauded for his courage in taking
that step.”
The US bishops have taken up this issue of
Catholic politicians and Communion in years
past.
In 2003, the bishops formed a Task Force
on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians
to examine the relationship between Catholic
teachings and public policy.
In a June 2004 statement – which was heavily
criticised in some US Catholic quarters – the
task force said there could be no hard-and-fast
national rule forbidding Catholic politicians
from receiving Communion if they adopt public
policy stands that were in opposition to Church
teaching on fundamental moral issues such as
abortion or euthanasia or same-sex marriage.
It said it was up to each bishop to seek to edu-
cate and persuade Catholic politicians on Church
teachings in such areas and to make case-by-case
pastoral decisions whether certain members of
their diocese should be told not to present them-
selves for Communion.
CNS
TERESAMandere, 42, remains hesitant about having her teenage
daughter participate in the government-sponsored vaccination
program against cervical cancer.
From her residence in a middle-class neighbourhood of Nairobi,
Mrs Mandere had followed with interest as President Uhuru Keny-
atta rolled out the mass vaccination campaign against HPV, the
virus that causes cervical cancer.
The campaign is directed at an estimated 800,000 girls between
the ages of 10-14 in two injections, six months apart.
“Let us not fight science, let us talk and agree for a prosper-
ous future,” Mr Kenyatta said at the launch in the coastal city of
Mombasa in mid-October.
“Cancer does not know tribe or religion. It affects all of us.”
Church-run hospital and clinics are expected to participate in the
vaccination campaign.
But Mrs Mandere, a mother-of-three, is afraid.
“My worry is the jab may cause other complications in our chil-
dren, even trigger the cancer, which we are trying to fight,” she said.
Many Kenyan families have been questioning the safety of the
vaccine, even as the government and international health organisa-
tions – including the World Health Organisation – stress its safety.
Some question why the injection is being given to children who
are not sick and not sexually active and why the frequency of the
mass vaccination campaigns is on the increase.
“I am also worried that we are having too many of these vac-
cinations,” Mrs Mandere said.
“I think it’s too much. I don’t understand.
“The Church says we should question some of these vaccina-
tions, before they are given to our children.”
Her comments echoed those of Archbishop Martin Kivuva
Musonde of Mombasa, who, at the launch, warned that the vaccine
had side effects the government must address.
“We have been saying that government should not just accept
vaccines from abroad and start administering them without ascer-
taining their safety,” Archbishop Musonde told journalists.
“If we are not careful, there is the risk of some unscrupulous
people bringing in drugs ... and using our people as guinea pigs.”
At the same time, Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki of Marsabit said
the Church was concerned about the vaccines and had been asking
that its experts, and those from the government and its stakehold-
ers, test them to ascertain their safety.
“We are not the only ones who have doubts, but testing together
clears mistrust,” Bishops Kariuki said.
“Now this one is already out there, but it’s not clear if the test-
ing was done. The government is forcing it, and some parents are
not trusting us.”
The bishop said the Church had sounded its warning, but the
parents must decide whether to have their children vaccinated.
Recently, Dr Wahome Ngare, a gynaecologist from the Kenya
Catholic Doctors Association, warned the vaccine could lead to
brain damage, seizures or paralysis, among other dangerous side
effects.
And the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum, which includes
Catholics, has posted an online petition urging parents to reject the
vaccination.
For the forum, it’s just a vaccine against a sexually transmitted
virus and not cancer.
But as early as July 2017, the Global Advisory Committee on
Vaccine Safety of the World Health Organisation said it recog-
nised the need to monitor problems, but it was concerned about
continued misinformation.
“There are now accumulated safety studies that include several
million persons and which compare the risks for a wide range of
health outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects,” it said.
“However, despite the extensive safety data available for this
vaccine, attention has continued to focus on spurious case reports
and unsubstantiated allegations.
“The committee continues to express concern that the ongoing
unsubstantiated allegations have a demonstrable negative impact
on vaccine coverage in a growing number of countries, and that
this will result in real harm.”
In Africa, cervical cancer accounts for 22 per cent of all cancers,
and 34 of 100,000 women are diagnosed with cancer each year,
according to the WHO.
In Kenya, 33 of 100,000 women have cervical cancer.
East Africa has one of the highest cases of cervical cancer
because of HIV, which suppresses the immune system.
Rwanda was the first to start the HPV campaign, targeting boys
and girls aged 11-12 years in 2010.
Uganda began its program in 2015, and Tanzania launched a
campaign in 2018.
CNS
Vaccination decision:
A young girl is vaccinated for HPV in Kisii,
Kenya, on October 25.
Photo: CNS
Church wary as Kenya begins vaccinating for cervical cancer