Communion and Politicians

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who oversees the USCCB Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians, issued a statement today indicating that the Conference has agreed to take up the matter of Church teaching on the proper disposition for politicians and others to receive communion.  I confess to not being overwhelmingly sympathetic to his complaint about criticisms of the bishops' behavior during the presidential campaign.  To say that "bishops can come to different prudential and pastoral judgments about how to apply our teaching to public policy," is not to say that every public statement made by the various bishops during the campaign is defensible and one can see how the media and the public could have legitimate concern about some of the statements that were made.   

Susan