President Joe Biden won’t be denied Communion, a church he frequents in Washington, D.C., announced Tuesday.
After controversy surrounding Biden’s support for access to abortion, which some say puts him at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood released a statement saying it “will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.”
“As Pope Francis recently reaffirmed, communion should be viewed ‘not as a prize for the perfect, but as a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak,'” the statement continued. “None of us, whether we stand in the pews or behind the altar, is worthy to receive it. The great gift of the Holy Eucharist is too sacred to be made a political issue.”
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Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington said in November 2020 that he would not deny Biden Holy Communion due to his stance on abortion, a fact the church noted in its statement.
“As the Holy Trinity Parish Council, we stand with our Archbishop, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, concerning the issues surrounding offering the Eucharist to American politicians,” the Tuesday press release said. “As a parish which has a long history of welcoming all, we concur with and support the pastoral approach of our Archbishop. Holy Trinity Catholic Church will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.”
Biden, a frequent churchgoer who supports abortion access, recently predicted he wouldn’t be denied the religious sacrament despite the controversy.
“That’s a private matter, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he told reporters at the White House.
Whether to grant Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who said in 2019 that abortion bans “ignore basic morality,” the religious sacrament has been a subject of controversy in recent weeks.
On June 18, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 168-55, with six abstentions, during its three-day Spring General Assembly to create an educational document on the Catholic sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which could lead to politicians who support the legality of abortions being denied Holy Communion.
Local bishops have the right to deny the sacrament to those they believe are acting in ways that contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church, a degree of discretion some have indicated they may exercise.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said last month that Biden and Pelosi should be denied Holy Communion due to their support for abortion.
“I have had … conversations with Speaker Pelosi. She knows that I stand by church teaching, and I know she is respectful enough not to do anything so provocative, so I’m confident that would not happen,” he said. “In the case of President Biden or any other prominent Catholic, I think what I would do is if I knew that they were coming into the area here and planned to attend Mass, I would try to have those conversations, as well, ahead of time.”
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The bishops are expected to finalize the language of the document at their fall meeting in November.
