The Elephant in the Communion Line

Tom Hoopes here. There is a lot of buzz about John Kerry's decision to receive Communion at the papal Mass. His decision to do so is odd, considering that it was because of his presidential candidacy that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was then archbishop of Washington, about this issue.

As Kerry well knows, this is what Cardinal Ratzinger said:

"Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his [bishop] should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist."

How is the current archbishop of Washington, the Holy Father, and those of us who have read the letter, supposed to take Kerry's decision to slip into a line and receive Communion anyway?

The priest should have denied it, you say? Pope Benedict agrees. More to the point, Kerry shouldn't have gone to start with.

But let's face it: Folks in that stadium who missed last Sunday's Mass shouldn't have gone, either. Often the Communion controversy can leave the impression that Communion is for all, provided they haven't championed abortion in a legislative body lately.

The bishops created a great (pdf) document last year that lists some of the common ways Catholics fall out of a state of grace (summarized here.). Catholics who don't go to confession are the elephant in the Communion line. If you're one, get to confession! Here's how.

If you go to confession already, promote it. Here are seven ways.