Denver, Colo., Jun 17, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved on Friday a statement highlighting that Catholics public officials who dissent from key Catholic teachings should refrain from taking communion, but leaving to each individual bishop the decision of denying Communion to individuals.
The bishops say in the statement that those who formulate law are obliged in conscience “to work toward correcting morally defective laws,” and calls on Catholics in public life to protect the unborn and oppose legal abortion “lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good.”
The bishops also pledged to counsel Catholic public officials who act “consistently to support abortion on demand” that this support could make them “cooperators in evil in a public manner.”
The statement, “Catholics in Political Life,” was adopted by a vote of 183-6. It came after the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians made an extensive interim report at the USCCB’ s special assembly, held in Denver, June 14-19, 2004.
In the statement, the bishops highlight: