Thread by @JamesMartinSJ

In the debate over whether to deny Communion to politicians who publicly support abortion, including President #Biden, two comments from Pope Francis should inform our discussions.

Both may surprise people used to the current discourse in the US church....

The first is a double warning in "Gaudete et Exsultate" against "relativizing" important matters, but also thinking that "the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend." Then he uses abortion as an example.

Here's what he says:

"Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development...."

That may not surprise us...

But there is more...

"Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection" #101

Notice that Pope Francis doesn't say that abortion is unimportant. Far from it. But he also doesn't call it the only or even the "pre-eminent" issue. He calls the other lives mentioned "equally sacred."

This is an important point that many are overlooking in this debate.

Then, regarding Holy Communion in particular, Pope Francis writes this in "Evangelii Gaudium":

"The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak." #47.

In this discussion and debate the Holy Father offers us a way forward.