Amarillo, Texas, Sep 26, 2004 / 22:00 pm
A Texas bishop has asked Catholics in his diocese to inform him if they know pro-abortion Catholic politicians so that they can be offered pastoral counseling. If, after pastoral counseling, these politicians still support abortion, they would be denied Communion.
"The word Communion means 'in union with,"' said Bishop John W. Yanta of Amarillo said in his column in the diocesan paper, The West Texas Catholic. "And if they've already separated themselves from Jesus and his teachings, then they have no business receiving Communion. It's a travesty. It's a mockery. It's a sacrilege.
“This is a Catholic Church stand,” he continued. “It's a Jesus stand. You can read about it in the Gospel and in I Corinthians."
The bishop said this is a moral stand, not a political one.
People must learn about their faith in church, he said, but they must learn to live their faith outside of it.