Against The Grain

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Ratzinger to meet with U.S. bishops to discuss communion issue?

According to the Associated Press, Cardinal Ratzinger has requested a meeting with the U.S. bishops to discuss the issue of distributing communion to politicians:

Bishop Donald Pelotte of Gallup, N.M., said Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke of proceeding cautiously on the issue, Catholic News Service reported. Ratzinger said he would like Vatican officials to meet soon with a U.S. bishops' panel reviewing how church leaders should interact with Catholics in public life.

Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, did not say whether the sacrament should be used as a sanction, said Pelotte, who was among a group of bishops participating in the meeting this week in Rome.

Pelotte was traveling and could not be reached for comment Friday, his spokesman told The Associated Press. American bishops have been at the Vatican for "ad limina" visits, which prelates must make every five years.

For further coverage, as well as a detailed critique of Catholic News Service' reporting on the subject, we refer you to the insightful Oswald Sobrino at Catholic Kerry Watch.

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