The Scandal That is Eating the Heart out of the Catholic Church in America

By Father Vincent Fitzpatrick

(American Life League)  Here is the text of Canon 915: “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

Several American bishops have made statements to the effect that a bishop must exercise “discretion” regarding whether to “impose the penalty” of denial of Communion. Among them: Chaput, Dolan, O’Malley, and Wuerl.

All bishops who refuse to “impose the penalty” are participating in a lie. Namely, that denial of Communion is a penalty.

Denial of Communion is NOT a penalty.

So? What is the import of this fact?

It means that denial of Communion is not an option that MAY be chosen. It is MANDATED by Canon 915. No bishop, priest, or other minister of Communion is free to disobey Canon 915, for the simple reason that the action Canon 915 forbids is ALWAYS gravely sinful.

It needs to be emphasized that Canon 915 is NOT a canon that may be “applied” or “not applied.” Canon 915 can only be obeyed or disobeyed. And disobeying Canon 915 is always gravely sinful.

Canon 915 exists precisely because giving Communion to a person “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” is always gravely sinful. Doing so is always to give grave scandal, and to participate knowingly in a sacrilegious act.

Let that sink in. Always gravely sinful.

In terms perhaps more familiar to the laity: To give Communion knowingly and deliberately to ANYONE delineated in Canon 915 is ALWAYS a mortal sin.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl has been the most outspoken of those bishops who refuse to obey Canon 915, but all of them are on record, as he is, as endorsing the commission of MORTAL SINS by their priests and other ministers of Communion. Cardinal Wuerl has even punished those who have obeyed Canon 915.

Of course, this is something he has no right to do, because no bishop has the authority to command anyone to commit a mortal sin!

“Bearing in mind the nature of the above-cited norm (cfr. n. 1), no ecclesiastical authority may dispense the minister of Holy Communion from this obligation in any case, nor may he emanate directives that contradict it.” Cardinal Wuerl and many other bishops have been doing PRECISELY what they are EXPRESSLY forbidden to do by this statement from the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts!

They have also emanated specious arguments. Here are some of Cardinal Wuerl’s preposterous, irrelevant statements, made in these or very similar words:

That’s not my style.

I follow a “pastoral approach” rather than a “canonical approach.

”We need to find out if the canon was written for the purpose of bringing politicians to heel.

I will not deny Communion to anyone who has not been formally excommunicated.

Now, that is a stunning statement, because the divorced-and-illicitly-remarried are not excommunicated. Yet, does anyone doubt that, were Cardinal Wuerl to direct all ministers of Communion in his jurisdiction to give Communion to the divorced-and-illicitly-remarried, the news would flash around the world, and Rome would take action within hours?
But Canon 915 mentions no particular SPECIES of sin! That is, the KIND of sin in which a would-be communicant is publicly involved is of no account!

In other words, Cardinal Wuerl’s long-standing determination to give pro-abortion people Communion is precisely as outrageous and scandalous as would be a directive to give Communion to the divorced-and-illicitly-remarried. Yet, there is no evidence that this massive scandal has attracted the attention of Rome.

It is said by many, including Cardinal Wuerl, that Communion should not be used as a political weapon.

Absolutely true. And the reception of Communion is being used as a political weapon—by pro-abortion politicians. As long as they are permitted to receive Communion, the bishop (e.g., Cardinal Wuerl) endorses their claim to be “ardent Catholics” whose promotion of abortion is NO SIN.

Abraham Lincoln is credited with the statements: You can fool all of the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all of the time. Cardinal Wuerl and other bishops appear to be relying on the truth of these observations. It appears that it has been left up to the laity to demonstrate the truth of Lincoln’s further statement: But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

If this scandal is to end, Rome needs to hear a great deal more noise from the laity. As Pope Francis told the youth of Brazil: “Raise a ruckus.”

For further reading on Canon 915, please see the following links:

http://tinyurl.com/canon915
http://www.canonlaw.info/a_denialofeucharist.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_915

A native of Washington, DC, Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick is a retired priest of the Diocese of Fargo.

Link:

• The Scandal That is Eating the Heart out of the Catholic Church in America 

Related:

• Moving Beyond
• Exile to Malta for Cardinal Burke
• Cardinal Raymond Burke: Obama’s Policies ‘Have Become Progressively More Hostile Toward Christian Civilization’
• Cardinal Burke Out; Cardinal Wuerl In
• Cardinal Donald Wuerl Silent on Biden Remarks
• Cardinal Wuerl's Continuing Crisis
• Cardinal Wuerl's Open Scandal
• Cardinal Wuerl's Dereliction of Duty
• Father Guarnizo's Faculties Suspended - D.C. Bloggers Recommend Taking Action
• Exclusive: Inside sources provide new info on priest censured for denying lesbian Communion
• Fr. Marcel Guarnizo Update
• Cardinal Burke on the Liturgy - Traditional Latin Mass and Ordinary Form, New English Translation
• Cardinal Burke Urges Catholics to Pray for the Reconciliation of the SSPX
• Cardinal Burke: Yes, it’s a sin to comply with the Obamacare mandate
• Cardinal Burke calls young converts 'beautiful' image of God's grace
• Cardinal Burke to pray outside Texas abortion clinic
• Archbishop Burke to Lead Church's Supreme Court
• EWTN Live w/ Archbishop Raymond Burke & Fr. Mitch Pacwa
• Archbishop Burke on altar girls and EMHCs in the Extraordinary Form
• Priests’ conference in Rome to feature Tridentine liturgies
• Exclusive Interview: Leading Vatican Prelate Says Document of US Bishops Partly to Blame for Election of “Most Pro-Abortion President”
• Archbishop Burke: Holy Eucharist is God’s ‘greatest gift’
• Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion, says Archbishop Burke
• Archbishop Burke to dedicate new national shrine for Our Lady of Guadalupe
• St. Louis archdiocese sues rebellious parish
• Archbishop Raymond Burke
• Excommunicated St. Stanislaus member reconciles with Archbishop Burke, Church
• Excommunication For Women Claiming Ordination
• Sister Louise Lears of St. Cronan Summoned to Appear Before Archbishop Burk

Cardinal Donald Wuerl Silent on Biden Remarks

From RORATE CÆLI:

By now, it's old news that the Vice President of the United States Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, a nominal Catholic, not only said he supports homosexual "marriage", but that there's no difference between homosexual "marriage" and heterosexual marriage (also known simply as marriage). His support for this issue was so persuasive that, about an hour ago, the President of the United States announced his support for homosexual "marriage" as well.

What's most troubling is the deafening silence stemming from the Ordinary of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction where the Vice President, his diocesan faithful, works - Cardinal Wuerl. Wuerl, who is accustomed to giving our Lord to pro-abortion politicians and celebrities, such as Nancy Pelosi, Chris Matthews and other nominal Catholics in not-so-good standing, has been silent on Biden's remarks. In fact, when contacted by Rorate Caeli, his communications office refused to comment and said it was "highly unlikely" Wuerl would ever say anything publicly.

Yet, he sure was vocal and public when it came to Father Marcel Guarnizo, who is STILL suspended in the Archdiocese of Washington, all for refusing to give Holy Communion to a lesbian Buddhist.

Maybe you, your family, friends, and everyone else who cares about the name of the Church can get the good Cardinal to speak up. If you get a statement, any statement, please let us know:

Office of Media and Public Relations
Secretariat for Communications
301-853-4516 communications@adw.org

Link:

• Cardinal Wuerl Silent on Biden Remarks

Related:

• The Scandal That is Eating the Heart out of the Catholic Church in America
• Cardinal Raymond Burke: Obama’s Policies ‘Have Become Progressively More Hostile Toward Christian Civilization’
• Cardinal Donald Wuerl:  Not His Style
• Fr. Marcel Guarnizo Update
• EITHER BISHOPS TAKE CONTROL OVER THE SACRAMENTS OR THE CHURCH’S ENEMIES WILL
• Fr. Marcel (!) Guarnizo receives gift from Chancery
• Lesbian denied Communion at her mother’s funeral is also a Buddhist

Catholic politicians who attack Church should remember God’s judgment

By David Kerr


Rome, Italy, Feb 11, 2012 / 01:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Politicians who consider themselves Catholic but collaborate in “the assault against their faith” should remember they will one day have to give account for their acts before God, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois said Feb 10.  


“There is a last judgment. There is a particular judgment. May they change their minds and may God have mercy on them,” he told CNA during his visit to Rome. 

When asked specifically about recent actions of Democratic Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Bishop Jenky replied “I am utterly scandalized.”

“The Lord once said ‘if you deny me at the end, I will deny you,’ this from our most merciful, good Savior. And so if it is a choice between Jesus Christ and political power or getting favorable editorials in leftist papers, well, that’s simply not a choice.”

Both Sebelius and Rep. Pelosi have been at the forefront of attempts to force Catholic institutions to cover contraception, sterilizations and abortifacients as part of their staff’s health insurance plans.

Bishop Jenky said there are too many Catholic politicians in the U.S. who “like to wear green sweaters on St. Patrick’s Day and march” or “have their pictures taken with the hierarchy” or “have conspicuous crosses on their forehead with ashes” but who then “not only do not live their faith they collaborate in the assault against their faith.”

The 64-year-old Chicago native is currently making his “ad limina” visit to Rome to discuss the state of his diocese with the Pope and the Vatican. He is part of a larger episcopal delegation from the states of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Bishop Jenky said the issue of religious freedom in the United States has featured in all their meetings so far, including their audience with Pope Benedict XVI Feb. 9.

 “Determined secularists see the Catholic Church as the largest institutional block to a completely secularized society and not for the first, and probably not for the last time, we’re under assault,” he said drawing parallels with the anti-Catholic “Kulturkampf” in late 19th century Germany or the anti-clerical laws in France in the early 20th century.

“I am a Holy Cross religious and my own community had six colleges in France and they turned our mother house chapel into a stable,” he said. As for the United States in 2012, “it is always difficult to predict the future but the intensity of hatred against Catholic Christianity in elements of our culture is just astounding.”

He believes the present White House administration is also motivated by a “determined secularism,” while Communist dictator Joseph Stalin would “admire the uniformity of the American press, with some exceptions.”

In 2010 the Illinois legislature voted to legalize same-sex civil unions, a move which led to the closure of Catholic foster care services. This, said the bishop, took the Church “entirely out of the work that we started when the State of Illinois could not have cared less about beggar kids running up and down the streets.”

Bishop Jenky is very conscious of this patrimony of Catholic schools, hospitals and other social services “built by the sacrifice of Catholic believers” in previous generations of Illinois Catholics. “There weren’t a lot of multi-millionaires who built the churches, opened those orphanages or built those schools,” he said. 

The bishop fears that socially liberal elites ultimately want to secularize such institutions by stealth. “I assume that is the underlying goal,” he suggested, “so that is robbing Christ but it is also robbing the heritage of generations of believers. So we would try to resist this in every way possible. It would be an incredible injustice.”

In conversation, he quoted the stark 2010 prediction of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, “I will die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.” So is Bishop Jenky prepared for prison or worse?

“I hope I would always prefer Christ to anything so, if it came to it, yes but I would be one of the trembling martyrs.”

He recalled how in ancient Rome some Christians would run towards their martyrdom. He, on the other hand, would “probably be walking down the Forum with eyes downcast a little.”

“I think most of the bishops of our Church, though, would be faithful to Christ above anything, including our own personal freedom.”

• Link

Rick Santorum Endorsed Pro Abortion Arlen Specter For President in 1995

From Daniel Larson:

“There are clearly more Republicans who are pro-choice.. up until now, I am the only person willing to take on the fringe.” - Arlen Specter, whose pro-abortion-rights position was a centerpiece of his campaign

Santorum’s 2004 endorsement of Arlen Specter during his primary fight against Pat Toomey is well-known, but what I didn’t realize was that Santorum had previously endorsed Specter during the 1996 cycle (via Trinko):

And as for the pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate Santorum endorsed, when Specter launched a long-shot bid for president in 1995, Santorum — his fellow Pennsylvanian — was one of his few high-profile endorsements.

The story treats the earlier endorsement as repayment to Specter for supporting Santorum’s Senate bid the year before, but that’s not much of an excuse. Santorum might try to defend the 2004 endorsement of the incumbent Specter in the Senate primary as an example of being an obedient partisan. Reliable partisans were expected to support incumbents faced by primary challengers, and Santorum fell in line. That’s not admirable, but it is not all that surprising. No one can say the same of his endorsement of a moderate Republican’s pro-choice protest candidacy whose main reason for being was to try to marginalize social conservatives.

Link:

• In 1995, Santorum Endorsed Arlen Specter for President

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From  Katrina Trinko at National Review:

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports:

And as for the pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate Santorum endorsed, when Specter launched a long-shot bid for president in 1995, Santorum — his fellow Pennsylvanian — was one of his few high-profile endorsements.

For Specter, who later became a Democrat, his pro-abortion-rights position was a centerpiece of his campaign. Specter believed that anti-abortion activists were a “fringe” group hijacking the Republican party.

“There are clearly more Republicans who are pro-choice,” Specter told Newsday’s Susan Page. “Up until now, I am the only person willing to take on the fringe.” After Specter dropped out of the race, he led an ill-fated movement to change the anti-abortion provision in the Republican party platform.

Santorum was effectively returning a favor by endorsing Specter despite his aggressive pro-abortion-rights views. Specter had supported Santorum’s 1994 Senate campaign.

Full piece, which includes the details on how Santorum was one of the Republican senators who voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (an appointment that figures like Rush Limbaugh warned would lead to her becoming a Supreme Court nominee), here...

Link:

• Santorum Endorsed Specter’s Presidential Bid

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Seven Minutes Of Rick Santorum Talking About How Great Mitt Romney Is

And from BuzzFeed, in 2008 Rick Santorum endorsed Mitt Romney and said that he is a "true conservative.":

"And what I know I have seen over the past 9, 10 months now, is a guy that  has gone through that pressure cooker.  Who has developed a passion.  Who understands why he is a conservative,  and understands the issues, how they weave together, and what.. America.. conservatives are about traditional values, traditional way of American life, and I think he understands that. It's not just in his head any more.  It's in his heart...
He's proved to me that this is someone, that in his heart, he told me last night that he's gonna fight to the end.  That this is for the soul of the Republican party.  And it is..."  - Rick Santorum on Mitt Romney

Links:

• Rick Santorum In 2008: Romney Is A "True Conservative"
• Seven Minutes Of Rick Santorum Talking About How Great Mitt Romney Is

---

Rick Santorum Campaigns for Mitt Romney in 2008: "Mitt Romney is that voice, is the man, is the time.."

Related:

• Mitt Romney Told Catholic Hospitals to Administer Abortion Pills
• Arlen Specter: Dump Obama for Hillary

Bishop Tobin responds to Kennedy

(WPRI.com)

On February 21, 2007, I wrote to Congressman Kennedy stating: "In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so." My request came in light of the new statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that said, "If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to repudiate her definite teachings on moral issues, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church. Reception of Holy Communion in such a situation would not accord with the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, so that he or she should refrain." (Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper, December, 2006)

In the same letter I wrote to Congressman Kennedy, "I am writing to you personally and confidentially as a pastor addressing a member of his flock . . . At the present time I have no need or intention to make this a public issue." I also indicated, "I am available to discuss this matter with you in person at any mutually convenient time and place. I would welcome the opportunity to do so."

On February 28, 2007, the Congressman responded to me, "I have the utmost respect for the work you do on behalf of the Catholic community in Rhode Island. . . I understand your pastoral advice was confidential in nature and given with the best intentions for my personal spiritual welfare."

I am disappointed that the Congressman would make public my pastoral and confidential request of nearly three years ago that sought to provide solely for his spiritual well-being.

I have no desire to continue the discussion of Congressman Kennedy's spiritual life in public. At the same time, I will absolutely respond publicly and strongly whenever he attacks the Catholic Church, misrepresents the teachings of the Church, or issues inaccurate statements about my pastoral ministry....

More

Report: Patrick Kennedy barred from communion by bishop

Photo by AP (File)

Update [Bishop Tobin responds to Kennedy]: It appears that this happened in 2007, the original AP article from today didn't make that clear. The Bishop's response below:

Bishop Tobin responds to Kennedy

Dispute about receiving communion

Updated: Sunday, 22 Nov 2009, 10:57 AM EST
Published : Sunday, 22 Nov 2009, 10:41 AM EST

Stephanie Lane

Bishop Tobin says:

I am disappointed and really surprised that Congressman Patrick Kennedy has chosen to reopen the public discussion about his practice of the faith and his reception of Holy Communion. This comes almost two weeks after the Congressman indicated to local media that he would no longer comment publicly on his faith or his relationship with the Catholic Church. The Congressman's public comments require me to reply.

On February 21, 2007, I wrote to Congressman Kennedy stating: "In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so..."

• Link

_________________________________________

By Associated Press
Sunday, November 22, 2009

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy says Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred him from receiving communion because of his support of abortion rights.

The Providence Journal reports on its Web site Sunday that Kennedy said in an interview that Tobin issued the order during discussions with the Democratic lawmaker, further escalating a simmering ideological dispute between the two men.

Under church rules, Tobin can prevent Kennedy from receiving communion within his diocese, which covers Rhode Island. It’s unclear whether bishops outside Rhode Island will take the same path.

The dispute between the men began when Kennedy criticized the nation’s Catholic bishops for threatening to oppose an overhaul of the health care system unless it included tighter restrictions on publicly financed abortion. Tobin asked for an apology and questioned Kennedy’s faith.

Link 1, 2

____________________________________________________

Kennedy: Barred from Communion

“The vast majority of bishops don’t want people denied Communion” over the abortion issue, said Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit scholar at the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington. “But the problem is, every time an individual bishop does it — especially if the public official has a high-profile name like Kennedy — it’s going to make headlines across the country and every bishop is going to suffer because of it,” Father Reese said....

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, once urged Catholic officials who support abortion rights to refrain from Communion. But the newspaper said Cardinal O’Malley did not order Boston priests to deny them the sacrament. Kerry and the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Patrick Kennedy’s father and another supporter of abortion rights) both received Communion at Cardinal O’Malley’s installation as archbishop in 2003.

In 2004, a large majority of bishops “tried to persuade the minority not to do this — using Communion as a weapon,” Father Reese said, but the conference could not come to a consensus view on the issue...

• Link

____________________________________________________

Card McCarrick Downplays Ratzinger Letter on Denying Holy Communion
Sept 12, 2004

Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick downplayed a letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops from the Vatican's chief doctrinal watchdog on whether priests should refuse Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians.

(The Washington Times, 7 July 2004) Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent his letter in early June to Cardinal McCarrick and Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in the context of dealing with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic whose positions on several issues, including abortion, contradict church teachings.

But its full text, which was published Saturday in the Italian newspaper L'Expresso, contains much stronger language than Cardinal McCarrick used last month at a meeting of the country's Catholic bishops near Denver.

Cardinal McCarrick's nuanced speech during the meeting from June 14 to 19 paraphrased the Ratzinger letter to say that the Vatican had left the issue of Communion in the hands of the U.S. bishops.

As the chairman of a task force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians, it was his job to convey what Vatican officials had told him during meetings in Rome.

"I would emphasize that Cardinal Ratzinger clearly leaves to us as teachers, pastors and leaders WHETHER to pursue this path" of denying Communion, Cardinal McCarrick told the bishops in his speech, the text of which is posted at the U.S. bishops' Web site, on www.usccb.org.

"The question for us is not simply whether denial of Communion is possible, but whether it is pastorally wise and prudent," the cardinal said.

As a result, bishops voted 183-6 on a compromise statement allowing each bishop to decide whether to give Communion to pro-choice politicians.

Before the meeting, 15 bishops had released statements suggesting that pro-choice politicians refrain from taking the Eucharist, and four bishops forbade such politicians from doing so.

However, the Ratzinger letter says that denial of Communion is obligatory "regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia."

Cardinal Ratzinger also says a priest should warn "the person in question" of the consequences, including the denial of Communion.

If "the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it," Cardinal Ratzinger wrote.

The letter's last paragraph also takes on Catholics who vote for candidates because of their pro-choice stance.

"If he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia," that Catholic too "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion," it reads.

That statement supports Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan, who on May 1 sent out a letter to his diocese saying Catholics who vote for candidates who support abortion, stem-cell research or euthanasia also should not take Communion.

But Catholics who vote for that politician on other grounds should not be penalized, the Ratzinger letter adds.

"Ratzinger's letter was stronger and firmer than we were led to believe," said Michael Novak, a Catholic theologian and author of many books on the church, who is in Italy this week. "It's pretty dynamite stuff."

Before leaving for Italy, he had heard of "dissatisfaction" in Rome over how Cardinal McCarrick was representing the church's teachings.

"I had heard Rome was much tougher than Cardinal McCarrick was letting on," he said. "Some people in the Vatican were upset that McCarrick was putting on too kind a face on it."

Cardinal McCarrick was out of town yesterday, but a spokeswoman released a statement saying he had not read L'Expresso reporter Sandro Magister's report on the letter.

"From what I have heard, it may represent an incomplete and partial leak of a private communication from Cardinal Ratzinger, and it may not accurately reflect the full message I received," the cardinal said.

"Our task force's dialogue with the Holy See on these matters has been extensive, in person, by phone and in writing. I should note I was specifically requested by the cardinal not to publish his written materials, and I will honor that request."

Raymond Flynn, the ambassador to the Vatican from 1993 to 1997, said American prelates often downplay the Vatican's instructions.

"The American church has been reluctant to speak out forcefully on a lot of these issues, whereas Pope John Paul II has instructed the Catholic Church to be more assertive," said Mr. Flynn, a conservative Democrat and former mayor of Boston.

"A lot of these American bishops aren't willing to get involved because of the backlash, because it's not politically correct, and the criticism they will receive from the liberal media," he said.

• Link

Archbishop Chaput responds to Pelosi-Pope meeting

Denver, Colo., Feb 19, 2009 / 07:31 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is in complete agreement with the message that Pope Benedict XVI delivered to Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday. The archbishop also went so far as to say that since she disagrees with the Church on the "black and white issue" of abortion, she should not present herself for Communion.

The comments by Archbishop Chaput were made following Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Pope Benedict, at which the Pope reminded the Speaker of the House that all legislators, but especially Catholics, are bound to protect human life from conception to natural death.

FOX News’ Neil Cavuto invited Archbishop Chaput to give his reaction to the Pope-Pelosi meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Cavuto began by pointing out the disparity between Pelosi’s statement about the meeting and the Pope’s.

"I got very different reads from both the Pope’s message of that meeting and the speaker’s, but the gist of the Pope’s is that, she has a duty to respect life, what did you make of that?" said Cavuto.

"Well it’s true," replied the archbishop. "Every Catholic, whether you’re famous or anonymous, whether you’re a public official or a private citizen, has a responsibility to be faithful to what the Church believes about human life, and we believe that human life is sacred and precious from the moment of conception. So that applies to the Speaker as well as it does to me and to you and to anyone who’s Catholic."

Referring to a previous interview regarding Pelosi’s comment that when life begins is not agreed upon by Catholic teaching, Cavuto asked, "isn’t it a fairly black and white issue?"

Chaput responded, "Well it’s not a fairly black and white issue, it’s a clearly black and white issue.

"The Church without a doubt believes that human life begins at the moment of conception," he said.

Cavuto also asked Archbishop Chaput if he would deny Holy Communion to Pelosi.

To which, the archbishop responded:

"Well, I’d like to talk to her if she’s coming to church in the Archdiocese of Denver and I’d say to her what I’d say to anyone, if you don’t accept what the Church teaches, you shouldn’t present yourself for Communion, because Communion means you’re in agreement with what the Church teaches, and, as I said to you earlier, that applies to all of us..."

Isn’t she boxed in by Catholic beliefs on the one hand and by a society that is pro-choice? Cavuto queried.

"Well I don’t think it’s a box to defend the truth and to stand up for what you know to be right, even if others in the community disagree with you, and being honest about our moral principles is a sign of maturity, is a sign of being a statesman.

"And I think that politicians are required to be both good Americans and good Catholics at the same time and to be convincing when they present the position of the community on basic human rights," the archbishop replied.

Referring to the issue of abortion, Archbishop Chaput said, "This is a human rights issue, from the point of view of the Church, and not a theological or religious perspective. Our religious perspective supports that, but that’s not the source of our belief about the sacredness of human life."

• Archbishop Chaput responds to Pelosi-Pope meeting
• Pope lectures Pelosi on Abortion Stance