In Ireland, a politician has been refused communion and told he has excommunicated himself from the Catholic Church because he voted to legalize abortion.
Fine Gael TD Colm Burke voted in favor of repealing the Eighth Amendment, which had provided legal protection for unborn children.
At Whitechurch in Blarney parish on Friday, Burke attended a funeral where three Catholic priests were providing communion and he went to Fr Gabriel Burke to receive the sacrament.
The politician Burke said: “He gave me a blessing. I advised him that I was here to receive holy communion, and he said you are not getting holy communion.
“He then leaned forward and said, ‘You have been excommunicated’. This was in front of the family. I decided there was no point in any further discussion as it wasn’t appropriate, so I moved off at that stage.”
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According to news reports, “Fr Burke said the politician had voted for abortion and knew that the teaching of the Catholic Church was that any politician who voted for it cannot receive Holy Communion.
The priest pointed out that prior to the referendum in 2013, Archbishop Eamon Martin had made this very clear.
Fr Burke stressed the archbishop said any politician who voted for abortion in Dáil Éireann was ‘co-operating with evil’ and should not present for communion.
Burke said he attends Mass in his local church most weekends but has not been refused communion until now.
