This has become a hot topic this week in Canada as Fr. Lemire, a leading advocate of traditional marriage, denied Holy Communion to a socialist member of parliament who also happens to be a former columnist for the [sic.] Catholic New [Age] Times, a newspaper that makes the National Catholic Distorter look ultra-montane and orthodox.
Anyway, since some unamed canon lawyer from Ottawa (I’m not sure who, but I have a few suspicions) reportedly told the politician he could not be denied Holy Communion, LifeSite News invited me to clarify the topic…
Catholic Church Canon Law on Catholic Politicians Who Support Gay ‘Marriage’
OTTAWA, March 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the same-sex ‘marriage’ issue coming to the fore in Canada and the United States, the issue of Catholic politicians supporting such measures and still wanting to receive communion has surfaced. To clarify the issue, LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Ottawa-based canon lawyer Pete Vere, JCL.
LSN: What is a priest to do in a parish where one of his parishioners is a politician who supports gay ‘marriage’?
Vere: The parish priest has an obligation to correct Catholic politicians who support so-called same-sex marriage. The first paragraph of canon 528 stipulates: “The parish priest has the obligation of ensureng that the word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in the parish. He is therefore to […] make every effort to bring the gospel message to those also who have given up religious practice or who do not profess the true faith.”
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By no means do I support such legislation, and I am wholly behind rebuking those politicians who do, but I have one reservation. If the bishop contradicts you on this point, given that he is the Vicar of Christ in his diocese and the executive in charge of executing laws, ought we not be careful about pitting the bishop against canon law? Ought a priest of the diocese defy the bishop on an interpretation of a canon such as this? Moreover, is it true that there is no other reasonable way to interpret this canon other than in such a way that requires the priest to deny him communion?
I’m not sure what the relationship is between canon law and the bishop, but I do know that he’s the supreme authority in the diocese, the Vicar of Christ, and I know that it is as easy to fall into a private interpretation of canon law pitted against ecclesiastical authorities as it is to fall into a private interpretation of scripture that’s pitted against ecclesiastical authorities. And I know St. Ignatius of Antioch said “Obey the bishop as you would obey Jesus Christ.” Maybe the issue deserves some nuance?