The Political Abuse of Communion, Continued

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

Recently, I described how the Catholic Right has abused Holy Communion by using it as political tool, doing so by denying the Sacrament to pro-choice (i.e., liberal) elected officials. Now, according to Catholic Democrats certain Church hierarchs with close GOP connections have begun using this debasing tactic to target a potential Democratic running mate.

As I noted in Part Fifty-six of this series:

For Roman Catholics, Holy Communion is the height of the Mass. It is when the bread and wine, consecrated in the Eucharist, become the body and blood of Christ. This holiest of sacraments further serves as a reminder of the Passover Seder that became the Last Supper.

But this most sacred of Catholic rites is increasingly being used by the Catholic Right as a political tool against dissent on issues such as stem cell research and abortion. This profane practice is no longer limited to scientists and politicians but now extended to college basketball coaches.

The Catholic Right perpetrators of this modern day Inquisition are becoming increasingly familiar as well: "The Bully in St. Louie," Archbishop Raymond Burke -- infamous for his one-man war against embryonic stem cell research; Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput -- whose diocesan publications give a platform for orthodox hardliner George Weigel; and of course, neocon icon, Rev John Richard Neuhaus, who, the Vatican view not withstanding, openly supported invading Iraq in 2003.

Enter the Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, Joseph F. Naumann. His target: the Democratic Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius.

Recently Governor Sebelius vetoed The Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act (HS SB 389), legislation that would have severely restricted late term abortions - a procedure that almost always concerns either a severely disabled fetus (having no brain, for example) or where childbirth would endanger the mother's life. As The Kansas City Star reported, "The bill would have empowered siblings, parents, grandparents and spouses of pregnant women to seek court orders to stop abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy, and made it easier for county prosecutors to gain access to women's medical records."

The Star also observed that in her statement in vetoing the bill, the Kansas governor noted that the legislation "allows a variety of individuals to seek a court order preventing a woman from obtaining an abortion, even where it may be necessary to save her life."

There may be another consideration at play: Governor Sebelius is a rising star within the Democratic Party. In November 2006 Time named her one of the five best governors, citing her ability to eliminate a massive inherited debt without raising taxes. More importantly, her name is being mentioned as a potential running mate for apparently presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama. And as Catholic Democrats has pointed out, Archbishop Naumann has strong ties to the Republican National Committee.

Archbishop Naumann is no stranger to Republican political circles. He was a keynote speaker at a Denver conference in the fall of 2007 at which all the Republican presidential candidates appeared. In an essay printed last fall in the conservative journal First Things, he belittled efforts on the part of progressive office holders to address abortion constructively rather than through criminal law, writing, "Why do so many of the pro-choice politicians even say that they want to make abortion rare? Why want to make something rare if it is truly a valid choice?" In 1996, as an official of the St Louis Archdiocese, then-Msgr. Naumann tried to discourage attendance by Catholic school children at an event featuring President Bill Clinton because he disagreed with Clinton's veto of a Republican abortion bill.

Catholic Democrats also noted:

The Archbishop is part of a small circle of conservatives that includes the bishop of the neighboring diocese of Kansas City MO, Robert Finn, who was the keynote speaker for an annual Republican political event last month in Washington DC called the "National Catholic Prayer Breakfast," organized largely by the leadership of Catholics for McCain. Archbishop Charles Chaput, another champion of using Communion for political purposes, wrote in the Denver Catholic Register in January, "So can a Catholic in good conscience support a 'pro-choice' candidate? The answer is: I can't and I won't." But are these pro-Republican bishops on firm ground theologically with their arguments that criminalization of abortion is the sine qua non of morality on this issue?

Again, the Kansas City Star's Barbara Shelly nutshelled what the Archbishop seems to be up to:

Naumann told The Kansas City Star that atonement for Sebelius would involve a confession, an apology and a promise to repair the damage caused by her "scandalous behavior that has misled people into dangerous behavior." Until then, he has requested that she not receive Communion.

"I pray this pastoral action on my part will help alert other Catholics to the moral gravity of participating in and/or cooperating with the performance of abortions," he wrote.

Perhaps. But Naumann's harsh request is more likely to alert the public to an uncompromising stance that forces Catholic politicians to choose between ethical public service and participation in their church.

But beyond that, Archbishop Naumann is invading the conscience of every Catholic who might opt to vote for the Democratic ticket if Governor Sebelius is on it. Essentially, he is using the anxiety of damnation to influence an election as well as estrangement from the holiest of sacraments.

Such behavior is disgraceful and unworthy of any prince of the Catholic Church. But then again, we do not have princes in our constitutional democracy. And sometimes, there's the rub.

Kathy Hughes contributed research to this piece.

The Catholic Right: A Series, by Frank L. Cocozzelli