Not Fit to Receive Communion

Cardinal Francis Arinze declared from the Vatican today that "pro-abortion politicians" should be denied communion because they are "not fit" to receive it. What does this kind of statement have to do with what Jesus taught? Almost nothing. Jesus was one who embraced the outcasts of society and welcomed them at his table. It leads me to believe that he would have included even pro-abortion politicians. For his day to say that there was a "good Samaritan" would be like an American today saying there is a "good pedophile." Jesus accepted everyone as a child of God, and that meant no one excluded. It seems he was a Universalist. The Gospels are full of stories where he went out of his way to welcome those that were deemed impure. So, how is it that an organization purporting to carry his mission forward decides that some are not fit to be at the table? The Eucharist is a reenactment of that outcast community accepted at Jesus' table, so it seems genuinely blasphemous to distort it the way Cardinal Arinze has. Considering the scandals that have plagued the Catholic church involving pedophiles and their protection, one might think that the church would embrace the "good pedophile" but reject the Samaritan. What kind of organization can justify such contradictory positions? I can only conclude that it must be a corrupt one.
- posted by Marcos @ 8:47 PM