Correct me if I am wrong, but what some bishops don’t get or refuse to understand is the impact of the politician’s reception of the Eucharist to the faith community. The politician who defies the bishops’ and pope’s teaching, guidance and orders about defending life goes and receives the Communion as though she did nothing wrong or was unaware of any wrongdoing scandalizes the community.
There is a pastoral approach to help the politician by tolerating that until she sees the light. But what about the pastoral approach to the faithful who are confused and scandalized into wrongdoing. They would think, “The bishop allows her to receive communion even if she supports abortion, so abortion might not be that bad. Then, they go and procure it themselves or advise others of the moral relativity based on that praxis. And all this from the perception that the local bishop gave when he relegated the duty of spiritual guidance to another bishop and worse when he neglected his pastoral responsibility to control scandal in his local faith community.
H/T: Pro Ecclesia
