When Catholics Withhold Communion

Roman Catholic bishops weigh whether to withhold communion from pro-choice government officials and politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. But then they get pressure from higher up in the food chain to relent. Atop the pyramid sits a Progressive pope, so that stands to reason. Gone are the days when Americans worried that electing John Fitzgerald Kennedy would mean the pope was actually running our country. But never you mind when Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey decide what former President Trump can and cannot say. This all should give us pause, and we ought to ask some hard questions about the legacy of the Roman Catholic church and tradition. How should the church relate to political power? And how much of the old Roman empire is still with us thanks to the legacy of Constantine the Great? The Protestant Reformation really was all about the question of authority. And still today, Christians of every stripe wrestle with how to relate to authorities - whether civil or ecclesiastical - in light of our need to recognize and submit to God's authority.