A Taste of What's to Come

EVENT

To understand this post, you will have to read this letter from the official site of the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

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An Open Letter to Bishop Sheridan

Your Excellency,

I have read your pastoral letter dated May 1st, in which you deny communion to Catholics who vote "supporting legislation or candidates that defy God's law." I wish to respond.

Despite your claims that "the Church never directs citizens to vote for any specific candidate," I wonder, in this particular case, how many alternatives you would afford us. It seems to me that the pro-life and anti-gay marriage platforms you demand brook little room for discussion or compromise.

I will take you at your word, however, supported as it is by numerous references to catechism, and doing so I can only draw the conclusion that you must forthwith deny communion to all Catholics.

I believe you refer to pro-choice candidates such as John Kerry.
Yet how could I, as a well-informed Catholic confidently support President Bush, who is responsible for the loss of tens of thousands of lives through the invasion of Iraq, an action decried by Pope John Paul II, half the world, and now more than half of all Americans?
How could I, as a well-informed Catholic, confidently support conservative candidates who consistently cut programs that support poor single mothers, those most likely to seek abortion (and who will continue to seek dangerous abortions if abortion is made illegal) in favor of tax breaks benefitting the affluent?

I believe you refer to congressmen pushing for the right to die.
Yet how could I, as a well-informed Catholic, confidently support their opponents who cater to the pharmaceutical industry while gutting social security, and impose debt and indignity upon our ill and senior citizens?

Finally, you explicitly refer to advocates of gay marriage.
Yet how could I, as a well-informed Catholic, fail to consider Christ's dictum that "you love your neighbor as yourself," in favor of an obscure passage from Leviticus (of a set, the others of which have been ignored without controversy), and deny my brothers and sisters companionship and financial security.

As you can see, no choice is exempt from contradiction or ambiguity. As such, to honor your resolution, you must deny communion to all Catholics.

Unless, that is, your letter merely uses the eucharist as a political bargaining chip, in which case you endanger the credibility of both your ministry and the Church at large.

Sincerely,

Connor Coyne