The Mayor and the Cardinal

Bob Novak chastised the archbishops of Washington and New York in his Washington Post column today . Novak argued that the bishops invited pro-abort politicians to attend the Papal Mass, which implicitly included a welcome to the communion rail. And in doing so they had subverted Benedict’s teachings.

Turns out, out least in the case of New York’s Cardinal Egan, that this isn’t the case. And for those who have been critical of Egan’s lack of public repudiation of pro-abortion Catholic politicians, this statement may provide some helpful context. Egan has gone about things with Guiliani in private, in a primarily pastoral, not political, vein. And so, while Mayor of New York, Guilliani was asked not to receive communion. Egan assumed that understanding would continue at the Papal Mass.

Egan released the following today:

“The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God. Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind. Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion. I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.”