The Week

President Clinton receiving Communion—all the more reason for the Church not to have women priests.

“Here we stand; we can do no other.” Thus, in effect, said the Clinton Administration to John Cardinal O’Connor during the furor over the President’s reception of Holy Communion. After the cardinal clarified the Church’s understanding of the sacrament, White House spokesman Mike McCurry snippily said that the cardinal “might not be familiar” with the Southern African bishops’ “doctrinal attitude toward the Holy Eucharist.” As it happens, the relevant document produced by the Southern African bishops’ conference, entirely orthodox, bears the cardinal out. Not only must the communicant be free from serious sin, but he must also share the Catholic understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In fact, the bishops’ overtures were aimed at Anglican relatives of Roman Catholics, not at Southern Baptist Presidents dropping by for some empathy.

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President Clinton receiving Communion—all the more reason for the Church not to have women priests.

“Here we stand; we can do no other.” Thus, in effect, said the Clinton Administration to John Cardinal O’Connor during the furor over the President’s reception of Holy Communion. After the cardinal clarified the Church’s understanding of the sacrament, White House spokesman Mike McCurry snippily said that the cardinal “might not be familiar” with the Southern African bishops’ “doctrinal attitude toward the Holy Eucharist.” As it happens, the relevant document produced by the Southern African bishops’ conference, entirely orthodox, bears the cardinal out. Not only must the communicant be free from serious sin, but he must also share the Catholic understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In fact, the bishops’ overtures were aimed at Anglican relatives of Roman Catholics, not at Southern Baptist Presidents dropping by for some empathy.