Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Editorials: Communion as weapon
THE call of Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus Dosado for priests to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians is not unique and is in keeping with the tendency of some church leaders to use rituals as weapon to advance certain causes.
One positive thing about it is that every time the threat is made in relation to a certain issue, like in this case pending bills in Congress related to reproductive health, a debate erupts, drawing public attention and providing some enlightenment.
Which is probably what the church wants on the issue of abortion, contraceptive use, etc. that it feels some lawmakers want to ram through using the questioned bills.
Scraping the bottom
The strategy, however, could invite a backlash in the form of either the diminution of the value attached by Catholics on the Holy Communion or the formation of wrong concepts about the ritual.
Issuing the threat also gives the impression that the church is scraping the bottom in its fight against what religious groups call the “Death” bills pending in Congress.
Besides, there is a need to define some terms.
One lawmaker was correct in noting, for example, that nobody in Congress is promoting “permissive” abortion, which simply means they are for it only under certain necessary circumstances.
And there is the matter of implementation.
One of the reasons why some priests prefer to appeal to the “sinner’s” conscience so they would voluntarily beg off from joining the ritual is because it is difficult to recognize every pro-abortion person who should be denied communion in every mass.
Constructive criticism
What this means is that while the threat of denying communion to certain individuals can draw attention to the issues some church people wants the public to focus on, it is in the end counter-productive.
The Roman Catholic Church is a powerful entity in this country and has in its fold many good minds; meaning its lobby can’t be ignored and it is capable of engaging those promoting the “Death” bills in a constructive public discourse.
It therefore does not need to issue threats that may end up as empty or may only serve to further alienate from its fold its more objective and enlightened members.
