The Political Chase

Bishop: No Communion for Giuliani

Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke denied John Kerry the sacraments of the church during his presidential bid in 2004 and intends to do the same with Rudy Giuliani.

Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, was asked by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch if he would deny Communion to Giuliani if the former New York mayor approached him for the sacrament.

“If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law, and I know that person knows it, yes I would,” the paper quoted the archbishop as responding.

Burke has said of Giuliani: “I can’t imagine that as a Catholic he doesn’t know that his stance on the protection of human life is wrong. If someone is publicly sinning, they should not approach to receive Holy Communion.”

Rudy’s response:

Archbishops have a right to their opinion, you know. There’s freedom of religion in this country. There’s no established religion, and archbishop have a right to their opinion. Everybody has a right to their opinion.

The St. Louis based Archbishop’s authority does not extend beyond his diocese, therefore, his punitive measures against Giuliani are limited, unless other bishops take the same action within their respective dioceses. Given Giuliani’s response, one might assume Giuliani remains in good standing with the bishop presiding over his home diocese, presumably New York.

What might be informative to know is if the bishop presiding over the Diocese of New York blessed Rudy’s third marriage. I would be surprised if he did. Even still, the bishop not blessing his marriage does not by default — to the best of my knowledge — mean Giuliani would be denied Holy Eucharist. As those who are members of liturgical/hierarchical churches know (e.g. Roman Catholic, Episcopalian/Anglican), being denied participation in the Eucharist is about as punitive a step as the church can take. Not much left except for excommunication.