Influential Cardinal Weighs in on Debate, Says Catholic Church Shouldn't Deny Joe Biden Communion

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty; Franco Origlia/Getty President Joe Biden (left) and Cardinal Peter Turkson

An influential cardinal who works at the Vatican with Pope Francis is weighing in on the debate in the church about President Joe Biden receiving communion, given his political views on abortion.

Some U.S. Catholic bishops have suggested that Biden, a practicing Catholic, should not be allowed the sacrament, also known as the Eucharist, because of his support for abortion access.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, who works closely with the pope and leads the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said in a new interview that denying the Eucharist should only be done in "extreme cases."

"The Eucharist should not in any way become a weapon," Turkson said Sunday on the HBO series Axios. "If you say somebody cannot receive Communion, you are basically doing a judgment that you are in a state of sin."

When asked directly if a "state of sin" applied to the U.S. president, the cardinal said no but gave the example of a priest denying communion to a known murder, according to a Washington Post report.

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In June, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in favor of creating a formal document on the meaning of the Eucharist after conservative bishops said Catholic politicians like Biden should not be allowed to participate in the sacrament if they support abortion rights, which goes against the church.

Biden, the second Catholic elected to president in the U.S., responded to the cardinals' vote in June and the idea that the church could deny him communion. "That's a private matter and I don't think that's going to happen," he told reporters.

A vote on the new document is expected next month, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty From left: Jill Biden and Joe Biden

Whether the bishops decide in favor or against making their official stance against Biden receiving communion, individual bishops would still be able to decide for themselves who can or cannot receive the Eucharist. That means Biden would likely be able to do so at the churches he regularly attends.

The pope appears to support allowing politicians to take communion regardless of their positions on abortion rights. Although he didn't address the U.S. bishops' debate directly, Francis said in September that the question should be "pastoral" rather than political.

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"What should a shepherd do? Be a shepherd and not going around condemning or not condemning," he said, according to the National Catholic Reporter. "They must be a shepherd with God's style. And God's style is closeness, compassion and tenderness."

"If we look at the history of the church, we will see that every time the bishops did not act as shepherds," Francis added, it was a "problem."