Archbishop Chaput on the Biden Scandal

 

A while back, I wrote on the scandal of the likelihood of a baptized Catholic President contradicting the teaching of the Church in his policies and political agenda. 

The always prayerful and thoughtful Archbishop Charles Chaput, former Archbishop of Philadelphia, has written a good short article about this in a fine journal on religion and public life entitled First Things.  He is a very clear and cogent writer.  As an aside, I recommend his book on the interaction of Christians and the government entitled, Render Unto Caesar.

Here are a few excerpts from his article.

The implications [of the Vatican's teaching on Communion to public figures who oppose the Church] for the present moment are clear. Public figures who identify as “Catholic” give scandal to the faithful when receiving Communion by creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional. And bishops give similar scandal by not speaking up publicly about the issue and danger of sacrilege.

This is not a “political” matter, and those who would describe it as such are either ignorant or willfully confusing the issue. This is a matter of bishops’ unique responsibility before the Lord for the integrity of the sacraments. Moreover, there is also the pressing matter of pastoral concern for a man’s salvation.


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