My priest here in Michigan printed this letter from Bishop John F. Kinney of St. Cloud, MN, in the bulletin.
"Oh Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."
Each of us prays those words at every Mass before receiving Holy Communion. In recent months, however, some Catholics have been asking whether some others are so “not worthy” that they should be denied the sacrament. It has been suggested, for example, that bishops refuse to offer Communion to pro-choice politicians, or to legislators who favor same-sex marriage, or cloning, or stem cell research, or capital punishment, or the war in Iraq, or . . . the list seems to grow longer every day. It has also been suggested that Catholics who vote for politicians who hold certain views on these issues should not present themselves for Communion.
(snip)
You may be wondering about my position on the question of denying Communion to various categories of people. I want you to know that I refuse to allow the Eucharistic liturgy to become politicized. What I mean is that I will not allow Holy Communion to be used as a weapon in ongoing political and ideological battles. For this reason, it is not my intention to reject anyone who comes forward in a respectful manner to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
(snip)
I return to the prayer with which I began. Note that it says, "Oh Lord, I am not worthy." It does not say, "Oh Lord, my neighbor is not worthy."http://www.stcdio.org/bishop/bishop_easter.html
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