Between Wuerl and Burke, who is right on Communion?
I often tell my students, the answer to a canonical question is seldom found in a single canon.
Two prominent American prelates, Abp. Donald Wuerl of Washington DC and Abp. Raymond Burke of the Apostolic Signatura, are the lead figures in a significant disagreement over admitting certain pro-abortion Catholic politicians to holy Communion.
Wuerl basically believes that, under Canon 916, Catholics, including pro-abortion politicians, should determine their own eligibility for reception of Communion.
Burke argues that, beyond Canon 916, Canon 915 requires ministers of holy Communion to withhold the Eucharist from some pro-abortion politicians if they don't refrain from approaching on their own.
Both sides can't be right, and I suspect that the more compelling case is made by reading the two canons together instead of reading one to the exclusion of the other.
Labels: archbishop burke, archbishop wuerl, catholic controversy, eucharist, pro-abort politicians
posted by Thomas Peters at 2:00 PM
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