Saturday, August 24, 2013

Archbishop will not refuse communion to politicians who backed abortion bill

Catholic politicians who supported the legalisation of abortion will not be excommunicated or refused communion, the future Primate of all Ireland has indicated.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme, Eamon Martin, presently coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, said he had never refused Communion to anyone, but reiterated the Church's position that it is not possible to be a person of faith and actively promote abortion.

Archbishop Martin said every individual who voted in favour of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act - which allows terminations where there is a threat to the mother's life - should question whether they had actively promoted the killing of the unborn. 

However, he said he did not believe that "the altar rails are the place to be making a public statement," on the issue.