Non-catholic Prime Minister Takes Communion

[Resurrexi]

[b]Canadian Non-Catholic PM Says he Did Consume Communion after Offered, Will Meet Pope Saturday[/b]

By John-Henry Westen and Patrick Craine

OTTAWA, July 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in hot water over a video that caught him taking Holy Communion in a Catholic Church, despite being a non-Catholic Christian. To make matters worse, the video** shows him [the priest] walking away without consuming the host - although a spokesman for the Prime Minister told LifeSiteNews.com that the PM did consume the host off-camera.

The incident took place last Friday at the funeral of former Governor General Romeo Leblanc in Memramcook, New Brunswick.

In the video Harper is shown being offered communion by the Archbishop of Moncton, André Richard. The Archbishop commented, regarding what Harper did with the host, that "I didn't see anything wrong there because I was busy doing something else," according to the Telegraph-Journal.

According to Catholic teaching the communion wafer becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ after it is consecrated by the priest. The Church teaches that only practicing Catholics who are properly disposed to receive Holy Communion should present themselves to receive the sacrament.

Catholic officials are blaming Prime Minister Harper for the incident. Monsignor Brian Henneberry, Vicar General and Chancellor for the Diocese of St. John called for an explanation from the Prime Minister's office. "If the prime minister is not a Catholic, he should not have been receiving communion," he said, "and if he comes up it places the priest in an awkward position, especially at a national funeral because everyone is watching."

He says that if Harper took the host without consuming it, "it's worse than a faux pas, it's a scandal from the Catholic point of view."

"If I were the prime minister," he said, "I would at least offer an explanation to say no offence was meant, and then (clarifying) what happened to the consecrated host is in order. I would hope the Prime Minister's Office would have enough respect for the Catholic Church and for faith in general to make clear whatever happened."

Msgr. Henneberry said that if Harper was unclear about what was appropriate at the funeral Mass, it "would say to me it's time to get new protocol people."

Rev. Arthur Bourgeois, who preached the homily, however, said he did not have a problem with the prime minister receiving communion. "Usually, to partake in holy communion in the Catholic Church, you have to be a member of it," he said, "but if you're not, exceptionally sometimes at major occasions (it is different)."

"If you are up there and giving holy communion," he said, "you are not going to stop and asked everyone if they are Catholic or if they are not Catholic. You say the Lord provides."

Archbishop James Weisgerber, Archbishop of Winnipeg and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed regret over the incident. He said, "I would feel very sorry for the prime minister if he wasn't informed about what the procedure is. I would find it terrible if we put him in an embarrassing situation. My concern is at a funeral of that level everyone knows what the protocol is."

The Church is clear, however, about the duty of pastors in conferring the sacraments. According to the 1982 Code of Canon Law, "Pastors of souls and other members of the Christian faithful, according to their respective ecclesiastical function, have the duty to take care that those who seek the sacraments are prepared to receive them by proper evangelization and catechetical instruction, attentive to the norms issued by competent authority" (Can. 843 §2).

Further, Canon Law states, "Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone, who likewise receive them licitly from Catholic ministers alone" (Can. 844).

LSN attempted to contact Archbishop Richard for comment, but was told the Archbishop was on vacation, had no spokesman, and had not made any statements.

LSN was able to speak with Harper's spokesman Dimitri Soudas, who explained that the Prime Minister was offered Communion and therefore "accepted it and consumed it." He said, "Any allegation that he put it in his pocket is absurd and ridiculous."

When questioned about the video showing the PM walking away without consuming the Host, Soudas replied: "He was holding a program in his hand and he went to put the program down and then consumed it." That took place, he said, after the camera stopped following the PM.

Asked why the PM as a non-Catholic would receive Communion, Soudas replied: "Who is the Prime Minister to judge once Communion has been offered to him?"

Soudas added, "It is a well known fact that he's a Christian."

Soudas then turned to the Prime Minister's upcoming meeting with Pope Benedict XVI Saturday. "He's very much looking forward to his audience with the Pope this Saturday," said Soudas. He would not state if the PM had any agenda for that meeting, but did acknowledge that Mr. Harper would be accompanied by his wife and children.

[url="http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09070801.html"]News article and video[/url]

Edited July 9, 2009 by Resurrexi

[CatherineM]

This is being talked about more for political reasons than theological ones.

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1914917' date='Jul 8 2009, 08:49 PM']This is being talked about more for political reasons than theological ones.[/quote]

I am pretty sure that most posters on Phatmass would be most concerned that the most holy Sacrament was treated improperly.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Resurrexi

[CatherineM]

There are people who receive improperly everyday at weddings and funerals. This is what the homilist was referring to. The only reason this was publicized on youtube is because of political purposes.

[CatherineM]

I'd also like to add that the folks who are publicizing this to cause trouble for the Prime Minister are those liberal types, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage types that you usually don't like.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1914935' date='Jul 8 2009, 11:12 PM']There are people who receive improperly everyday at weddings and funerals. This is what the homilist was referring to. The only reason this was publicized on youtube is because of political purposes.[/quote]

Public officials are held to a higher standard. It's always been that way.

And most 'regular' people aren't caught on camera. He's prime minister, camera's follow him around. It's what happens.

Political motives? Maybe. But I think it should be publicized.

The simple fact is that there needs to be better instruction at Masses such as those. People need to be told explicitly that if they are not Catholics in the state of grace, they ought not to be receiving Holy Communion.

[jeffpugh]

What a chump. Like, just cause he's a politician, doesn't mean he can just walk up and do whatever. On the other hand, the priest should not have given into the cult of celebrity by just giving the host so he doesn't look like he's dissin' the PM publicly.

[prose]

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Sacred Music Man' post='1914960' date='Jul 8 2009, 09:35 PM']What a chump. Like, just cause he's a politician, doesn't mean he can just walk up and do whatever. On the other hand, the priest should not have given into the cult of celebrity by just giving the host so he doesn't look like he's dissin' the PM publicly.[/quote]

That was my problem with it. Big fancy public events like this are great opportunities for us to educate those who aren't Catholic why we have a closed communion.

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1914935' date='Jul 8 2009, 09:12 PM']There are people who receive improperly everyday at weddings and funerals. This is what the homilist was referring to. The only reason this was publicized on youtube is because of political purposes.[/quote]

Is it terribly regular for someone to take the Host without consuming It?

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1914975' date='Jul 8 2009, 09:57 PM']Is it terribly regular for someone to take the Host without consuming It?[/quote]

There is no proof that he did that, and he publicly denies doing so.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1914975' date='Jul 8 2009, 10:57 PM']Is it terribly regular for someone to take the Host without consuming It?[/quote]
Ever heard of Paul Myers?

Edited July 9, 2009 by USAirwaysIHS

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1914982' date='Jul 8 2009, 10:01 PM']There is no proof that he did that, and he publicly denies doing so.[/quote]

Why should I believe him when a video shows otherwise?

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' post='1914984' date='Jul 8 2009, 10:02 PM']Ever heard of Paul Myers?[/quote]

Of course I have.

[Kitty]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1914987' date='Jul 8 2009, 11:06 PM']Why should I believe him when a video shows otherwise?[/quote]

All the video shows is the 3 seconds in which he takes it from the priest. That's not proof that he didn't eat it. At least he was respectful when he took it, and didn't throw it across the room or something. Maybe he thought that he wasn't supposed to eat it if he wasn't Catholic.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Kitty

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1914987' date='Jul 8 2009, 10:06 PM']Why should I believe him when a video shows otherwise?[/quote]

Have you watched the video? I didn't see him put it in his pocket.