Biden’s communion denial shows conflict
COLUMBIA, S.C.» A Catholic priest’s denial of communion to Joe Biden in South Carolina on Sunday illustrates the fine line presidential candidates must walk as they talk about their faiths: balancing religious values with a campaign that asks them to choose a side in polarizing moral debates.
The awkward moment for Biden came during a weekend campaign swing through South Carolina, a pivotal firewall in his hopes to claim the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice president on Sunday visited St. Anthony
Catholic Church in Florence, a midsized city in the state’s largely rural northeast. As he frequently does on the campaign trail, Biden — a lifelong Catholic — made a stop at a local Catholic parish, attending services without the press before stopping at other churches with reporters.
But the Rev. Robert Morey at St. Anthony opted not to serve communion to Biden. The priest said in a statement to media outlets that his decision was based on Biden’s support of abortion rights — something Morey said the church cannot condone by way of sacrament.
The episode recalled the divisive debate that erupted in 2004, when then-Sen. and future Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry grappled with public warnings from several Catholic officials that abortion-rights supporters should not receive communion. As Biden joins other Democratic candidates in making his faith a key element of his pitch to 2020 voters, Morey’s communion denial also raises questions about whether other Democrats might face similar tests of their ability to balance personal beliefs and their public stances on key issues.
“I practice my faith,” Biden said when asked about it Tuesday on MSNBC. “But I’ve never let my religious beliefs, which I accept based on church doctrine ... impose that view on other people.”
The denial prompted Faithful America, a liberalleaning grassroots Christian group, to launch an online petition calling on South Carolina’s Catholic bishop to direct Morey to apologize to Biden and direct other priests in the state not to deny communion based on politics.
“It isn’t about politics,” the Rev. Nathan Empsall, an Episcopalian priest and Faithful America’s campaigns director, said Tuesday. “Jesus said, ‘Take, eat, when you do this, do this in remembrance of me.’ He didn’t say, ‘Take, eat, but only if you agree with certain American political positions.’ ”