ROME — President Joe Biden received Holy Communion at St. Patrick’s Church in Rome this weekend, after claiming Pope Francis told him to keep taking part in the sacrament despite his promotion of abortion.
Together with his wife, Jill, Biden attended a Saturday Vigil Mass at the English-language church that caters to the American Catholic community in Rome, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Father Joe Ciccone, the vice rector of St. Patrick’s parish and a member of the Paulist order, told AP that Biden’s support for abortion and its relation to Holy Communion was not an issue for him or the parish.
“Communion is what brings us together in the Lord,” the priest said. “None of us are pure and perfect. We struggle through life. We’re all saints and sinners.”
“And when you’re a public figure you have to make certain decisions, especially in a democracy, on behalf of more than just your own personal feelings,” he declared.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks on from his car as he leaves the Vatican on October 29, 2021 following a private audience with the Pope. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
Canon Law, the Catholic Church’s legal code, stipulates that priests should deny Holy Communion under certain circumstances.
Those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion,” Canon 915 states.
In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI — issued instructions declaring that a Catholic politician supporting permissive abortion laws should not present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin.
“When these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible, and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it,” wrote Ratzinger, who was head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office at the time (emphasis added).