Washington D.C., Sep 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Giving a pro-abortion Catholic politician Communion contravenes Canon Law and creates a source of scandal for all believers, said canon law expert Fr. John J. Coughlin, OFM, at a scholarly conference Sept. 16.
The conference, called “Public Witness/Public Scandal: Faith, Politics, and Life Issues in the Catholic Church,” was sponsored by Our Sunday Visitor Foundation and Ave Maria School of Law at the Washington National Press Club.
Fr. Coughlin said according to Canon Law, bishops should deny Communion to pro-abortion politicians or any other Catholic who engages in “manifest grave sin.”
The professor of law at University of Notre Dame Law School and a doctor of law from both the Gregorian University and Harvard Law School addressed the controversy over Catholic politicians who consistently advocate and vote against pro-life positions.