A question of faith: Biden, Catholicism and the presidency

Some bishops think America's second Catholic president should be denied the Eucharist. Are Biden's faith and job title an unworkable mix?

By Tara McKelvey, BBC White House reporter
July 13, 2021

On the matter of faith, President Joe Biden is not shy.

Each weekend that he is in town, he goes to
Mass in Washington. A motorcade takes him on Saturday evenings or Sunday
mornings to Holy Trinity, the church where President Kennedy, the only other
Catholic US president, used to attend services. He makes the sign of the cross
at public events, and his Catholicism is woven into his speeches and policies.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57825309


The Bishops Are Wrong About Biden — and Abortion

June 27, 2021
By Garry Wills

What is the worst crime a society can commit? Some people (I among them) would say the Holocaust, the cold methodical murder of six million people just for being Jews.

But some Catholics and evangelicals say they know of an even greater crime — the deliberate killing of untold millions of unborn babies by abortion. They have determined that a fetus is a person and abortion is therefore murder. This is a crime of such magnitude that some Catholic bishops are trying to deny the reception of Holy Communion by the president of the United States for not working to prevent it.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/opinion/biden-bishops-communion-abortion.html


U.S. Catholic bishops OK steps toward possible rebuke of Biden over abortion stance

Decision comes despite appeals from Vatican for more collegial approach on issue

The Associated Press
Posted: Jun 18, 2021

U.S. Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved the drafting of a "teaching document" that many of them hope will rebuke Catholic politicians, including President Joe Biden, who continue to receive Communion despite their support for abortion rights.

The decision, vehemently opposed by a minority of bishops, came despite appeals from the Vatican for a more cautious and collegial approach to the divisive issue. And it raises questions about how closely the bishops will be able to co-operate with the Biden administration on issues such as immigration and racial injustice.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/teaching-document-catholics-bishops-biden-1.6071845


Irish Lawmakers Vote to Allow Abortion, Part of Landmark Liberal Shift

Irish Lawmakers Vote to Allow Abortion, Part of Landmark Liberal Shift

By Ed O’Loughlin
Dec. 6, 2018

DUBLIN — Fighting off last-ditch resistance, Irish lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill introducing free and legal abortion to a nation that was long a bastion of staunchly conservative Catholicism, seven months after voters repealed a constitutional ban on abortion.

An often heated session of the Parliament’s lower house on Wednesday had to be extended several times, as a small number of members — mainly independent conservatives — talked at length on dozens of amendments, almost all of which were voted down by large majorities. The bill’s opponents attempted to prolong the debate even further, which could have derailed the government’s plan to make abortion available in January.

continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/world/europe/ireland-legal-abortion-vote.html


Ireland – Bishops want abortion opt-out for medical professionals

Bishops want abortion opt-out for medical professionals

Updated / Friday, 5 Oct 2018
By Joe Little, Religious & Social Affairs Correspondent

The country’s Catholic bishops have described the Government’s abortion legislation as an affront to conscience.

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for healthcare professionals and pharmacists who oppose it to be allowed opt out on the grounds of their fundamental right of conscientious objection.

Continued: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2018/1005/1001153-abortion/


Ireland: Bishops’ abortion views only equal to ‘any other citizen

Monday, October 03, 2016, Irish Examiner
Joe Leogue

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has said that while bishops have a right to express their opinion on the issue of abortion, their view is only equal to that of any citizen in the country.

Demonstrators at the recent March for Choice in Dublin demand the repeal of the eighth amendment. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews

His party favours access to abortion in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormality and instances where the mother’s health is at risk, said Mr Howlin.

His comments follow remarks by Archbishop Eamon Martin, who said that the taking of a life, whatever that stage in life, is “gravely morally wrong”.

Mr Howlin said that abortion and the eighth amendment was not a “black and white issue”.

[continued at link]
Source: Irish Examiner


Driving Women around the Bend: What’s Really Going on with Abortion Access in Italy?

Ceiling above the spiral staircase at the Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy. © BAILEY-COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Conscience Magazine, 2016 Issue 2

by Rosie Scammel
Posted Aug 22, 2016

In Italy, it has been nearly 40 years since abortion was legalized—confirmed in a referendum by the Catholic-majority populace—but the system for providing abortions has been deemed so severely flawed that both women and doctors are suffering.

“We have a problem in talking about abortion as a right,” says Elisabetta Canitano, president of Vita di Donna, a gynecologists’ organization for women’s health.

After nearly four decades of practice one would expect the rules to be implemented with few hitches, but the Council of Europe recently identified a string of problems. Nationwide, there has been a decrease in the number of healthcare facilities where abortion is available, while women face excessive waiting times. Overall, there is a shortage of doctors who do not object to abortion provision.
Conscientious Objection: Regulation and Rights

In April, the Council of Europe ruled the situation was so dire that women’s right to health was being violated in Italy. Responding to a claim brought by the country’s biggest trade union, CGIL (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro), the council’s committee of social rights also ruled that the government was violating doctors’ right to dignity at work.

The decision was a further blow to Italy, coming two years after the same committee at the Council of Europe backed International Planned Parenthood Federation’s claim that poor regulation of conscientious objectors within the healthcare system amounted to a violation of women’s rights.

[continued at link]
Source: Conscience Magazine