Religion and politics have always been a controversial pair. With so many politicians having various stances on moral issues, debates inevitably arise. Pope Francis expressed that Catholic bishops should approach and minister to politicians who support abortion with \u201ccompassion and tenderness.\u201d The religious icon shared his belief that politics should not be a factor in Communion eligibility. Despite politicians having different political and moral views, the Pope believes that they should not be judged or shunned from religious services.<\/p>\n
While traveling back home from Slovakia, the Pope was questioned about the controversy in the U.S. church. The pressing question was, \u201cShould President Joe Biden and any other politicians should have Communion withheld because of their views on abortion?\u201d Church leaders in the U.S. have decided to create a \u201cteaching document\u201d in the hopes of reprimanding Catholic politicians, such as President Biden, for participating in Communion in spite of their backing of pro-choice abortion rights.<\/p>\n
Regarding the specific situation in the U.S., Pope Francis refused to give a direct \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d response on the matter. The Catholic leader reasoned that he didn\u2019t know the U.S. case well enough to give an official answer for either side. However, he stated clearly that abortion was \u201chomicide\u201d and that Catholic priests are not allowed to provide the Eucharist to someone who isn\u2019t in accord with the church. In this occurrence, he referenced a Jew, someone who hasn\u2019t been baptized, or one who had a falling out with the church.<\/p>\n
The Pope emphasized that the most important takeaway from this topic of dissent is that bishops and priests have to respond to controversial political issues with the wisdom of God. He warned of the importance of having a spirit of discernment with \u201ccloseness, compassion and tenderness\u201d when approaching politicians. Instead of responding with political rhetoric, priests must answer and advise with God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what should pastors do? Be pastors, and not go condemning, condemning,\u201d Pope Francis stated to address the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The religious icon shared his belief that politics should not be a factor in Communion eligibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":642,"featured_media":776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1011,269,6,1371],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pope","tag-biden","tag-politics","tag-pope-francis","tag-the-pope"],"yoast_head":"\n