Rome, Italy, Jul 6, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The controversy over the memorandum sent by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, continued this week, when Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick issued a statement saying the document is “an incomplete and partial leak” that does not accurately reflect the Vatican’s position on the Communion/abortion controversy.
The memorandum addressed to Cardinal McCarrick as head of the Ad Hoc Task Force for Catholic politicians, offered six clear points explaining the Catholic doctrine about Communion and Catholic public figures who support abortion.
The issue was discussed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) during their mid-June meeting in Denver, Colorado.
The full content of Ratzinger’s letter was disclosed on July 3 by Sandro Magister, a Vatican commentator from the Italian weekly “L’Espresso,” according to whom the Vatican memorandum was opposed to what the US bishops finally decided and especially to what Cardinal McCarrick’s task force said during the USCCB meeting.