Lisbon, Portugal, Mar 8, 2005 / 22:00 pm
A Franciscan priest in Portugal has caused a stir throughout the media for his refusal to give Communion to public officials who claim to be Catholic but support abortion and other attacks on human life.
Father Nuno Serras Pereira responded to the media uproar with a letter published in a Lisbon newspaper in which he argued that his decision was based on the Magisterium of the Church and on Canon Law, which teach that priests, in fidelity to the norms of the Church, are not allowed to give Holy Communion “to those Catholics who stubbornly and manifestly persist in defending, contributing to, or promoting the death of innocent human beings.”
Media reports characterized the Franciscan priest’s comments as “exaggerated, dark and opportunistic,” and “too difficult to hear,” and reporters and commentators sought the opinions of well-known liberal priests such as Father Anselmo Borges, who dismissed Father Pereira’s comments saying, “Taking the pill in order to exercises responsible motherhood is not the same as euthanasia.” “If contraception is a grave sin, then at this point 80% of women are in grave sin. It won’t be long before everything will be forbidden!” he complained.
Father Borges said he was not concerned that Father Pereira’s comments conformed to the teachings of Pope John Paul II. “The Pope criticizes, but the Pope does not decide everything—he has the right and the duty to provide guidance, but the Catholic Church must learn that there is such a thing as moral autonomy.”