ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) 鈥� Pope Francis said Wednesday that Catholic bishops must minister with 鈥渃ompassion and tenderness,鈥� not condemnation, to politicians who support abortion rights and warned that clerics shouldn鈥檛 let politics enter into questions about receiving Communion.
Francis was asked en route home from Slovakia about the debate in the U.S. church about whether President Joe Biden and other politicians should be denied Communion because of their stances on abortion. U.S. bishops have agreed to draft a 鈥渢eaching document鈥� that many of them hope will rebuke Catholic politicians, including Biden, for receiving Communion despite their support for abortion rights.
Francis declined to give a 鈥測es鈥� or 鈥渘o鈥� answer, saying he didn鈥檛 know the U.S. case well enough. He repeated that abortion was 鈥渉omicide,鈥� and that Catholic priests cannot give the Eucharist to someone who is not in communion with the church. He cited the case of a Jew, or someone who isn鈥檛 baptized or who has fallen away from the church.
Most importantly, he said, was that priests and bishops must respond pastorally and not politically to any problem that comes before them. He said they must use 鈥渢he style of God鈥� to accompany the faithful with 鈥渃loseness, compassion and tenderness.鈥�
鈥淎nd what should pastors do? Be pastors, and not go condemning, condemning,鈥� Francis said.
Francis recalled cases when the church had held fast to a principle on political grounds and it ended badly, citing the Inquisition-era condemnation of Giordano Bruno for alleged heresy. He was burned at the stake in Rome's Campo dei Fiori.
鈥淲henever the church, in order to defend a principle, didn鈥檛 do it pastorally, it has taken political sides,鈥� Francis said. 鈥淚f a pastor leaves the pastorality of the church, he immediately becomes a politician."
Francis said he had never denied Communion to anyone, though he said he never knowingly had a pro-abortion politician before him, either. And he admitted he once gave Communion to an elderly woman who, after the fact, confessed that she was Jewish.
Francis repeated his belief that the Eucharist 鈥渋s not a prize for the perfect" but rather 鈥渁 gift of the presence of Jesus in the church." But he was unequivocal that it cannot be given to anyone who is not 鈥渋n communion" with the church, though he declined to say if a pro-abortion politician was out of communion.
He was similarly unequivocal that abortion is murder, and that even a weeks-old embryo is a human life that must be protected.
鈥淚f you have an abortion, you kill," Francis said. 鈥淭hat's why the church is so tough on this issue, because if you accept this, you accept homicide daily."
U.S. bishops agreed in June that the conference doctrine committee will draft a statement on the meaning of Communion in the life of the church that will be submitted for consideration, probably an in-person gathering in November. To be formally adopted, the document would need support of two-thirds of the bishops.
Despite the short flight back from Bratislava, the Slovak capital, Francis fielded an unusually wide array of questions. Among other things he said:
鈥擳hat he couldn't understand why some people refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines, saying 鈥渉umanity has a history of friendship with vaccines鈥� and that serene discussion was necessary to help them.
鈥擳hat states can and should pass civil laws to allow homosexual couples to have inheritance rights and health care coverage, but that the church couldn't accept gay marriage because marriage is a sacrament between a man and woman. 鈥淢arriage is marriage. This doesn鈥檛 mean condemning people who are like this. No, please! They are our brothers and sisters and we have to accompany them."
鈥擳hat his surgery to remove 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon in July wasn't easy, despite those who have marveled at how well he had recovered. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 cosmetic surgery,鈥� he quipped.
Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
