Plenty of Catholics were upset, too, including Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who vocally supports a litany of other issues, like contraception and same-sex marriage, that run counter to the Church’s teachings. Still, he insists he is a Catholic.
“You are hypocrites” and “nakedly partisan,” he unironically declared in a series of viral tweets.
He chastised the bishops for not withholding communion from former Attorney General Barr for his support of the federal death penalty and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for being divorced and remarried, and then challenged the bishops to deny him communion the next time he attends church.
Gigliotti, according to The New York Times, informed Lieu in a letter that his “very soul is in jeopardy” and that he would refuse the lawmaker communion if he happened to attend Mass at Gigliotti’s parish.
“Confrontation is a ministry of caring,” Gigliotti added.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, Gigliotti cares — a lot. Confronting sin is not for the faint of heart.
Despite the public perception that the potential denial of Holy Communion is an act of partisan retribution by conservative clergy, the bishops’ actions demonstrate that they care, too.
As Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson explained in the “Catholic Current” podcast, while any number of sins can endanger a person’s soul, abortion is a unique category of moral issue that differentiates it from other serious sins.
Credit: Source link