Communion with the Catholic Church

 UPDATED: Nov. 18th

In light of the recent election, I've received some questions about Catholic politicians who oppose the faith and the question of Communion (for example, elected officials who support abortion or same-sex "marriage.")

These are complicated questions, so here are some considerations.

Is someone like Mr. Biden who opposes Church teaching in public office still Catholic?

The short answer is, yes.   There is a saying, "Once Catholic, always Catholic."  It means that one is incorporated into the Catholic Church by virtue of baptism, and once baptized into the Church, that  can not be changed.  It is still possible for someone to renounce the Catholic faith of course (technical term: apostasy) or refuse to follow the teachings and disciplines of the Church, or even to stubbornly contradict the truths of the Church (technical term: heresy).  This is a separate question from whether or not someone is Catholic.  A good summary of this topic was written by Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin.  He nicely quotes one of the documents from the Second Vatican Council which describes people who abandon their faith as Catholics "in the bodily sense but not in heart."

What does it mean to be in communion with the Church

In order to remain in communion with the Church, the faithful must do at least two things.  First, they have to give assent to the teachings of the Church and second they have to remain in a state of grace.  (Those who publicly refuse to assent to the teaching of the Church are called dissidents).  Remaining in a state of grace means that one refrains from committing grave (mortal) sins.  If one falls into mortal sin, he can be restored to a state of grace by making a good sacramental confession with true contrition and firm purpose of amendment.  That is traditional language meaning that he must be sorry for his sin (his offense against God) and intend to change with God's help so that he does not return to that state.

Giving assent means that one can not "pick and choose" which teachings he adheres to.  For example, for someone like Mr. Biden to claim that he is a "good Catholic" because he "agrees with" the Church on her teaching about helping the poor but "disagrees" on her teaching on abortion is nonsensical.  

The truths of the Church are organic, which means that they fit together into one coherent whole.  One can't pick apart the truths according to personal preference.  This is true because the Church is an institution both human and divine, and her teachings are the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself.  We would not dare tell Our Lord, "I will listen to your Word when I like it, but not if I don't.

In this sense, the Church is very different from a human institution, such as a political party.  While it is perfectly acceptable for someone to say, "I agree with this plank of a political party's platform, but not that one" the same logic does not APPLY to the Church's teaching.  

Being in Communion and receiving Holy Communion

I like to say that for modern American Catholics, the teachings on receiving Holy Communion are one of the Church's "best kept secrets."  That's because we are sometimes more worried about whether someone's feelings are hurt than advancing the truth.  (Classic example: At a funeral, I reminded Mass-goers politely that non-Catholics could not receive Communion.  A family member of the deceased loudly berated me after the Mass, because he felt "excluded.")  But Catholics deserve to know the truth.  It is fairly straightforward:  if someone is not in Communion with the Church, then he should not receive Holy Communion until he is.  This is a separate question from whether one has an obligation to attend Mass.  

Under ordinary circumstances (temporarily suspended now because of Covid-19), Catholics who have adequate health, transportation and no other obstacles must attend Mass on Sundays.  This obligation would apply to everyone regardless of his station.  But the obligation to attend Mass does not obligate someone to receive Holy Communion.  The opposite is the case.  If someone has unconfessed mortal sin, he is required not to receive Holy Communion.  This would apply to someone who, for example, has committed adultery, treated a family member abusively, used contraception, embezzled money from his company, or any of a number of mortal sins without having gone to confession first.  (As an aside, I always remind people not to go to Communion if in this situation due to embarrassment or worrying what someone else might think.  It is worse to compound the sin by receiving Communion unworthily.  And it is never your business to ask someone why he or she didn't receive Communion).  

If someone commits a serious sin directly, he may remove himself from Communion.  But promoting sins as a matter of policy (as politicians might do) might also be seriously sinful, even if somewhat more remote.  In general, when someone removes himself from communion with the Church, it is his responsibility to refrain from receiving Communion.  This is quite a complex topic, but the minister (pastor of a parish) would generally not make the decision for the communicant.

There's a good short article on this topic which summarizes the issues.  

Denying holy Communion

Here is where it gets a little complicated.  If someone is a highly public figure, and known to have removed himself from communion with the Church, then a priest could reasonably deny him Communion.  There was a high profile priest and pastor in South Carolina who, to much controversy, did just that when Mr. Biden was still campaigning for the presidency (see article above).

The Church has a legal code (called canon law) which governs aspects of the Church's life and access to the sacraments.  In that code, canon #915 indicates that "others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion."   While there is some disagreement here, most reasonable scholars conclude that an action such as Mr. Biden's is "manifest [that is, publicly known]  grave sin" and thus he should not be admitted to Holy Communion.  

The Church's canon law also leaves to the ordinary (bishop governing a particular diocese) the possibility of publicly declaring someone outside of communion and temporarily denying the sacraments to that person, as an incentive to repent from grave sin.  In the secular press (and among uneducated Catholics in this angry, Twitter-driven age) this is sometimes mischaracterized as "politicizing the Eucharist" or "weaponizing the Eucharist."   But this is an action that it taken out of charity, and concern for someone's salvation.  To use the popular language, it is an act of "tough love."

Each ordinary can make that decision only within his diocese, so it is possible for instance that Mr. Biden might be declared out of communion in one diocese while not being declared out of communion in what could become his home diocese of Washington, D.C.   Just as different U.S. states have different civil laws, so each ordinary (governing bishop) might interpret canon law a little bit differently.  But regardless of what they decide, the Church's teaching on receiving Communion worthily is clear.  

It is interesting that in my decade and a half of priesthood, one of the questions I have received most often from serious and committed Catholics is, Why don't the bishops do more about these Catholic politicians who are contradicting the faith?  It is a fair question, especially in the case of Mr. Biden, since his actions will have a tremendous influence on how Catholics and non-Catholics alike perceive what it means to be Catholic.   It is not yet clear whether this working group will address the question of Mr. Biden receiving Communion.   I am not making an argument here for or against a particular bishop declaring Mr. Biden outside of Communion (that is for him to decide).