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| By Joan de Joanes (1523-1579) |
Dr. Edward Peters, legal advisor to the Vatican’s highest court, is challenging Governor Andrew Cuomo’s right to receive Holy Communion.
According to CBS New York, Peters is basing this challenge upon canon 915 of the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law. Canon 915 states that “people who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.” Peters is citing Cuomo’s outside-of-marriage living arrangements, plus Cuomo’s public support of abortion rights, as examples of obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.
Not everyone agrees with Peters’ stance. According to the Times Union “Capital Confidential” blog, Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard issued this comeback: “… it is unfair and imprudent to make a pastoral judgment about a particular situation without knowing all the facts.” These facts are not about to be known, either. "Capital Confidential" also reported that Cuomo himself stated: My religion is a private matter and it’s not something I discuss in the political arena.
According to Wikipedia, the sacrament of Holy Communion (aka Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament, Lord’s Supper) began with the instructions of Jesus during the Last Supper. Jesus showed how wine (blood) and bread (body) can be shared in His memory. The details of this demonstration (particularly about whether the
body/blood part is literal or symbolic) are being hotly debated to this day.
Interpretations of Jesus and His teachings differ greatly within and beyond Christian circles. What it might just come down to is this: Is it best to remember Jesus by judging, or by communing?
It might therefore be wise to step back, count to ten, and let those who are without sin throw the next barbs at Governor Cuomo.
Resources
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/02/23/deny-gov-cuomo-communion-says-vatican-advisor-in-nyc/
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/58166/albany-diocese-responds-on-cuomo-communion/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist
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