Extortion and hypocrisy

June 17, 2019
Peter Albert
San Francisco
 
Bishop Thomas Paprocki withholds Communion from certain Democratic officials as a public “litmus test” and statement against their position on abortion. Father Kenneth Doyle says “It is not possible to be a faithful Catholic and adopt a pro-choice position on abortion.”
 
This is “cafeteria Catholicism” as extortion and hypocrisy, and only the right wing of the church seems to practice it. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops identified seven key themes of Catholic social teaching, and these include policies on abortion, capital punishment, social justice/immigrant rights, health care, dignity of workers, environmental stewardship and global peace. Democrats tend to agree with the majority of these conference teachings and Republicans tend to oppose them, and yet I’ve never heard of a Catholic priest withhold Communion for a Republican who voted for a war or an execution. Would Father Kenneth Doyle also declare that such a Republican cannot be a “faithful Catholic”?
 

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