In an interview with Christian publication America Magazine, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, from Illinois, explained that he has been shunned from receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion at his home diocese due to his pro-abortion voting record.
In the interview, Durbin noted that he has been barred from receiving the sacrament in Springfield, Illinois since 2004. That year, his pastor Monsignor Kevin Vann reportedly said he would be “reticent” to give Durbin communion. Since then, the bishops overseeing the diocese have maintained that position and banned other local pro-abortion politicians from receiving Communion as well.
“It’s not a happy experience,” Durbin told interviewer Jim McDermott. “I found another Catholic venue, the Archdiocese of Chicago, and a church where they were willing to let me in and allowed my wife to join me. So it’s become my new faith home.”
Last month, Pope Francis told American Magazine reporter Gerard O’Connell “I have never denied Communion to anyone.” And this year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) planned to convene to draft a statement that would clear up who could receive Communion – which was reported to exclude pro-choice politicians, such as President Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“If we’re going to start down this road of denying Communion, where do we stop?” Durbin said in the interview. He noted that while Trump carried the “Catholic vote” in the 2020 election, he “executed more people on federal death row than any time in modern memory.”
“And here we have Trump in the closing days of his presidency executing more people on federal death row than any time in modern memory, just right and left, and we couldn’t stop it, the courts couldn’t stop it,” Durbin said in the interview. “And to think that these same Catholic leaders didn’t express horror at that outcome, or at least as much as they should have from my point of view, is troubling.”
All in all, Durbin doesn’t see his stance on abortion as a disqualifier for receiving Communion, saying that it is a “fundamentally unfair” and those who think they are worthy of it should be allowed to receive it.
“[M]y views on abortion are publicized regularly with my voting record. Other Catholics may share my point of view — statistics suggest they probably do — but they show up to Communion every week without any questions asked,” Durbin noted. “In the end it is a personal decision to stand at that rail, and I think with very few exceptions, Communion is offered to anybody if the person believes that they are worthy of it.”
In Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis last week, he claimed that the pontiff told him that he should keep receiving Communion and that he’s a “good Catholic.” And in June, Biden’s Washington, D.C. parish came forward and said they would not deny Communion to anybody presenting themselves to receive it.
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