Weaponizing the Eucharist

Last updated on: August 15, 2022 at 10:36 pm by Julie Nichols

Weaponizing the Eucharist 2022-08-15T22:36:51-05:00 Julie Nichols

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I am ashamed to say that I once supported Catholic bishops who denied the Eucharist to Catholic pro-choice politicians. I arrogantly acted this way in my more judgmental and hypocritical days, five years ago and before then. I apologize to everyone for acting that way in the past. About a year ago in 2021, some American Catholic bishops within in the US Conference of Catholic Bishops tried to move and deny Joe Biden Communion for being a pro-choice politician as they have tried to do the same to Nancy Pelosi. In Catholic circles, Communion is many times referred to as the Eucharist. For 2000 years, The Catholic Church has taught that the bread and wine actually become the actual Body and Blood of Christ upon consecration which is called transubstantiation or The Real Presence Doctrine of the Eucharist. Many Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch and Origen along with Scripture passages like John 6:48-59 confirm this ancient Christian belief. For Catholics, the Eucharist is central to Catholic worship and the nourishment of spiritual life. An entire Catholic Mass centers around the moment of consecration and reception just like the Last Supper with Jesus and His Disciples.

Why do I now think Catholic Bishops publicly denying Catholic politicians the Eucharist for their stance on abortion is wrong? Well, it’s simple. They would have to administer the same “public punishment and shame” to Republican politicians for their stance against other life issues.

Let’s look at Texas for example

This means that if Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden are denied communion/the Eucharist for their pro-choice stance, then I think the Catholic Church needs to deny Catholic Texas Gov. Greg Abbott the Eucharist for deliberately targeting transgender/gender dysphoric youth and their families which has increased the trauma rate of this population to a dangerous level. Greg Abbott increased the death rate for flippantly handling COVID by ignoring mask and vaccine mandates although he mandated masks for a while. He increased the numbers of federal executions and deaths through gun violence by lifting sensible gun restrictions with results like the school shooting in Uvalde. Greg Abbott has also lied many times about repairing the Texas ERCOT PowerGrid which led to hundreds of Texan deaths during the 2021 Winter freeze. His current anti-abortion bills criminalize abortion which place more trauma on mothers already in poverty.

So let’s see what Pope Francis says about hypocrisy, judging others, and the Eucharist.

More Pope Francis Quotes

Pope Francis allowed both Joe Biden (October 29. 2021) and Nancy Pelosi (June 29, 2022) the Eucharist although Catholic bishops tried to deny them both (Google Images).

From a young adult parental and middle-aged Catholic adult’s perspective (meaning myself), I cringe in disbelief that bishops in my own Church would play partisan politics with the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Before I understood the consistent life ethic, I ashamedly supported denial of the Eucharist for pro-choice politicians. After following Pope Francis’s example, I am thankful I opened my eyes to the full spectrum of human life. So, I say to those who support weaponizing the Eucharist, there are 46 other life issues that the Catholic Church teaches us. If Catholic bishops are going to deny Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden communion/the Eucharist for being pro-choice, then please apply the same measure to Catholic Gov. Greg Abbott and other Catholic politicians who harm human life by right-winged politics. Otherwise, the younger generation sees right through this nonsense and will most likely leave the Church at a more rapid pace than they are currently doing so right now.

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