Joe Biden and the Communion Wars

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Could the Catholic Church pressure a politician into changing his or her stance on abortion? A debate has erupted in the Catholic community over whether a politician, like President Joe Biden, should be denied communion for supporting abortion rights. This week, Jane Coaston debates the pros and cons of using communion as punishment with Ross Douthat, a Times Opinion columnist, and Heidi Schlumpf, the executive editor of National Catholic Reporter.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the argument, who gets to be a Catholic in America?
0:07.0	Bishops here in America are pushing to allow priests to deny the President's communion
0:14.7	over his support of abortion rights.
0:16.8	President Biden only the second Catholic commander in chief in history and arguably the most
0:21.2	religiously observant since Jimmy Carter.
0:23.3	A decision would not only affect President Biden, others like Nancy Pelosi or House Speaker
0:28.3	is also Catholic.
0:29.3	Are you concerned about the rift in the Catholic church and how do you feel personally about
0:33.5	that?
0:34.5	That's a private matter and I don't think that's going to happen.
0:41.0	President Biden is just one and a long line of Catholic politicians more not to receive
0:45.0	communion because of their support or perceived support for abortion rights.
0:49.2	See Congressman Patrick Kennedy, presidential candidate John Kerry, and Senator Dick Durbin.
0:55.0	This debate has been going on for decades.
0:57.4	Man now it's back.
0:59.2	I'm Jane Kostin, I was raised Catholic.
1:01.7	And I know the ritual of communion and the process of transubstantiation where the bread
1:06.1	and wine offered to become the body and blood of Jesus Christ is incredibly important and
1:10.9	deeply personal.
1:12.6	Which is why it can seem like such a blow to see it withheld from someone.
1:18.8	Conservative American Catholics or American Catholics opposed to abortion might be pleased
1:23.3	to see the church take a performative stance against pro-choice politicians.
	...

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