The Millstone of Pope Francis

It is no secret that President Joseph Biden, through his actions in his various offices throughout his long political career in Washington D.C, supports abortion: the murder of innocent unborn human beings. It is also no secret that Biden is a strong supporter and advocate of sexual practices which are contrary to the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God. Nor is it any secret that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church has, since its inception, unwaveringly denounced both abortion and unnatural sexual acts as immoral and contrary to God’s Law. Yet, Mr. Biden claims to be a practicing Catholic; as part of this practice, the President has been known to attend Mass.

It does not take a moral theologian to spot the disconnect between how Joe Biden lives his life and what the Church teaches. Indeed, even a non-Catholic would be able to confidently say that Biden is, at best, not a very serious or devout Catholic. So, when the visible head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, reportedly called Biden a “good Catholic” during the President’s visit to the Vatican, there was cause for much confusion and consternation throughout the faithful world. This did not however come as much of a surprise to those who have closely followed the Pontiff’s reign.  This is merely the most recent in a long string of disappointing and confusing remarks and actions during Francis’s papacy—but I digress. There is a further and far more concerning issue here than the words “good Catholic” being applied to a man who uses his public office to defy (and to promote the defiance of) Church teaching: that is, that Pope Francis reportedly instructed Biden to continue to receive Holy Communion.

This is nothing short of an abomination and scandal to the ears of the faithful. You see, ever since the very infancy of the Catholic Church, during the time of the Apostles themselves, those who were in the state of sin (that is, having committed grave sin for which the sinner was not repentant) were forbidden to receive Holy Communion. This is is because receiving Communion is a sign of being in full communion (good standing and loving fidelity, a bond severed by grave sin) with the Church. Furthermore, because the bread and wine which is received in Communion are truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ—that is, God Himself—to receive Communion in a state of sin constitutes a grave sacrilege. The Apostle Paul writes, “whoever shall eat this bread or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians, 11:27). So serious is this offense that St. Paul warns of the perils of unworthy Communion again in the very same letter and in no uncertain terms: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself” (Corinthians, 11:29).

By instructing Biden, a man who is openly opposed to Church teaching on marriage and sexuality and actively working to enshrine the murder of innocent unborn people in law, to receive Holy Communion, Pope Francis has effectively told Biden to profane the Body and Blood of Christ and to suffer the judgment of God’s wrath. This is plainly uncharitable. Perhaps Francis was trying to be diplomatic, but, in light of the teachings of St. Paul, he did so at the expense of Biden’s soul. Worse still, he did so at the expense of every soul who looks to the Supreme Pontiff for clear teaching of the Catholic Faith.

Let me be clear, the Pope did not (nor indeed could he possibly) change the Church’s two-thousand-year-old teaching on the worthy reception of Holy Communion; the circumstances under which the Pope is protected by the infallibility of the Holy Spirit are extremely limited and comments (yet unconfirmed) made in a private, one-on-one conversation certainly do not fit the criteria. Nevertheless, many Catholics will hear of the Pope’s instructions to Biden and follow them for themselves. It is no exaggeration to say that Francis’s comments (whatever his motive) will cause countless Catholics in America and throughout the world to allow, encourage, and engage in unworthy reception of Holy Communion.

This is a scandal that will not receive media attention in the way that clergy sex abuse scandals do; however, this scandal is truly a spiritual scandal of seismic proportions. We must pray for those who are confused by the apparent words of the Pope, that they may not be deceived and fall into the grievous sin of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. With equal and perhaps greater fervor, we must pray that Pope Francis will recognize the horrible scandal that has been publicized and that he will swiftly correct it and repent of causing it (if indeed he did so). Christ Himself tells us of the gravity of causing scandal: “He that shall scandalize one of these… that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged around his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew, 18:6).

The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the values and beliefs of Cogitare Magazine, nor of Grove City College.