California Congressman Ted Lieu dared Catholic bishops Friday to deny him Communion because he supports the killing of unborn babies in abortions.
Breitbart reports Lieu, a pro-abortion Democrat who professes to be Catholic, posted his defiant statement on Twitter on the same day that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to draft a document about the Eucharistic and adherence to church teachings about the sanctity of human life.
“Dear USCCB, I’m Catholic and I support contraception, a woman’s right to choose, treatments for infertility, the right for people to get a divorce, the right of same sex marriage,” Lieu wrote. “Next time I go to Church, I dare you to deny me Communion.”
He also slammed the bishops as “hypocrites” because they did not deny Communion to former Attorney General William Barr Communion because of his support for the death penalty.
“You are being nakedly partisan and you should be ashamed. Another reason you are losing membership,” Lieu wrote.
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The congressman has a 100-percent pro-abortion voting record from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Right now, Lieu and other Democrat leaders are pushing to force taxpayers to fund abortions by eliminating the Hyde Amendment.
Other Democrats in the U.S. House also tried to justify their support for the killing of unborn babies in abortions last week ahead of the bishops’ vote. In a statement Friday, 60 House Democrats issued a statement describing the “right” to abort an unborn baby as a matter of “primacy of conscience,” according to the report.
The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a grave moral evil that destroys the life of an innocent unborn baby – a unique, valuable human being created in God’s image.
Many Catholics recognize that the church must do something as politicians like Lieu, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden profess to be Catholic while openly defying the church on matters like abortion, the family and religious freedom.
Last week, Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin said Biden has “the most radical pro-abortion agenda in history,” and his professions of faith are confusing people about what it means to be Catholic, the Western Journal reports.
The bishops hope to provide clear guidance on this matter through the new teaching document.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, who chairs the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, said Wednesday that the document will not specifically deny communion to pro-abortion politicians and it may not even directly address how to deal with pro-abortion politicians who want to remain in good standing with the Catholic Church.
Instead, Rhoades said the document will consist of guidelines “on how Communion can be more consistent, while leaving the actual decision about receiving or denying communion to individual bishops.”
The bishops are expected to vote on the document at their November meeting.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who chairs the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and others pushed back against accusations that they are “weaponizing” and “politicizing” the Eucharist.
“It’s not the bishops who have brought us to this point — it’s some of our public officials,” he said, according to AP. “This is a Catholic president doing the most aggressive things we’ve ever seen on life at its most innocent.
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone agreed that the bishops must enforce some measure of accountability.
“The eyes of the whole country are on us right now,” he said. “If we do not act courageously in presenting this teaching document clearly and convincingly on this core Catholic value, how can we expect to be taken seriously on any other topic?”
