The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has “unambiguously condemned” the refusal of communion “to a public representative in the diocese of Cloyne” and described as “a particularly aggravating factor” that it happened “in the context of a funeral Mass”.
The ACP statement followed a refusal by Fr Gabriel Burke, a priest in Bantry parish Co Cork, to give communion to Minister of State Colm Burke at the funeral Mass of a constituent because of his support for repeal of the Eighth Amendment.
Fr Burke said that “as a senator, Colm Burke voted for abortion after the 2018 referendum and he knows the teaching of the [Catholic] Church that any politician who voted [for] abortion cannot receive communion”.
Mr Burke explained how he had recently attended the funeral Mass “of a person who I knew for over 35 years and who was a long-standing member of Fine Gael and party supporter” and that Fr Burke “refused to give to me Holy Communion”.
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The priest further advised him that “you have been excommunicated”, Mr Burke said. He is seeking clarification on the matter from Bishop of Cloyne William Crean.
In their statement the ACP noted how, previous to the Eighth Amendment being repealed, “Irish women were travelling abroad to avail of abortion services, while legislators and citizens looked the other way”.
It continued that “procurement of an abortion is complex, morally and medically. Legislators have to balance two sets of rights, the right of the unborn child to life and the free decision-making right of the mother. Public representatives are tasked with finding a balance between both.”
It said that “like every member of the Catholic Church, public representatives must act in accordance with their conscience. It is not the role of the priest to judge the conscience of another person. The priest does not own the Eucharist and would do well to ponder the statement of Pope Francis that he has never refused the Eucharist to anyone.”
In 2021, Pope Francis said that denying Communion to politicians who support abortion must be handled in a pastoral way, not by public condemnations that seek to “excommunicate” Catholics who are not in line with church teaching.
Fr Burke told The Irish Times that Pope Francis was not in a position to comment on the matter of refusing communion to politicians who legislated for abortion as abortion only became legal in Argentina after he left Buenos Aires to become pope.
Fr Burke also stressed that he had not excommunicated Mr Burke but rather the politician had excommunicated himself when he voted in the Senate in 2018 to introduce legislation permitting abortion after the people had voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
“I haven’t excommunicated Colm Burke, the Pope hasn’t communicated Colm Burke, Colm Burke excommunicated himself when he voted for the legislation – it was a Latae Sententia excommunication which is a penalty that automatically occurs.
“Say, I slapped the Pope across the face, automatically I would be excommunicated by the very act of assaulting the Bishop of Rome and similarly by voting for legislation allowing the introduction of abortion, Colm Burke excommunicated himself,” he said.
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