Cardinal Ladaria’s Letter on Reception of Communion: An Explainer

National Catholic Register, 12 May 2021

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prefect’s May 7 letter offers guidance for the discussion the U.S. bishops intend to have on the issue in June and counsels caution on several grounds.

As divisions heightened along the Pacific Coast Highway about pro-abortion Catholic politicians — President Joe Biden first among them — being denied Holy Communion, a bucket of water from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) arrived to cool things off.

In recent weeks, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego have publicly taken opposing positions on whether the bishops of the United States ought to adopt a national policy on the matter. No one disputes that a bishop has the authority to take measures in his own diocese. 

In the middle — geographically at least — is Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who wrote to the CDF in March explaining that the U.S. bishops were examining the matter and were considering a possible statement. The entire matter is expected to be discussed at the bishops’ June meeting.

The May 7 response from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the prefect of the CDF, to Archbishop Gomez offered guidance for the discussion the U.S. bishops intend to have. It counseled caution on six grounds: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s 2004 intervention; the authority of episcopal conferences; relevant moral evils; unity among the bishops; general worthiness to receive Holy Communion; and the experience of bishops in other countries. 

The exchange of letters addresses an issue that already caused public division last year, when Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia accused Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., of undermining the process set in place by Archbishop Gomez concerning Biden.

Ratzinger’s Memorandum

In 2004, when the U.S. bishops were debating the question in light of the presidential candidacy of John Kerry, a Catholic in favor of the abortion license, a committee was struck. It was headed by then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the then-CDF prefect, wrote a memorandum to McCarrick on general principles to be observed. It argued that if, despite repeated corrections from his bishop, a politician “obstinately persisted” in promoting abortion or euthanasia, then he should be denied Holy Communion.

The 2004 Ratzinger memorandum argued that political officials promoting abortion was that type of “manifest grave sin.” It did not mandate a national policy or a public statement of any kind.

That memorandum was not fully shared by Cardinal McCarrick with his brother bishops; evidently he thought it undermined his own position. The memorandum was subsequently leaked. So while publicly known, it was not a public document.

Since then, the personal 2004 memorandum has often been invoked to argue that there is Vatican support for a stricter national policy on denying Holy Communion. Indeed, as recently as last December, Archbishop Chaput suggested, “to my knowledge, that statement remains in effect.”

The CDF letter explains that the personal memorandum is not “in effect,” if it ever was in the way often claimed. The CDF makes clear that the 2004 Ratzinger memorandum was advice on how to proceed, but not a governing directive.

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