(CNSNews.com) — Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is “not permitted to receive Holy Communion” under the law of the Catholic Church, according to Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, who heads the diocese of Springfield, Ill., which is Durbin’s home city.
Bishop Paprocki affirmed this point concerning Durbin, who supports abortion, in a post at the blog Renew America by Matt C. Abbott on Apr. 3 and confirmed it separately to CNSNews.com on Apr. 4.
The bishop, in a recent letter to an Illinois pro-life activist, said, “Senator Durbin was informed several years ago by his Pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish here in Springfield that he was not permitted to receive Holy Communion per canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law. My predecessor upheld that decision and it remains in effect. It is my understanding that the Senator is complying with that decision here in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.”
The pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish at the time Durbin was told not to present himself for Communion was Rev. Kevin Vann, now the bishop for the diocese of Orange, Calif.
In a 2004 article, Rev. Vann said, “I respect Senator Durbin. I’ve known him for many years. I know he works hard in many fields. But his pro-choice position puts him really outside of communion or unity with the church’s teaching on life. And that’s why I would be reticent to give him Holy Communion.”
Early in his political career, Durbin was pro-life. But in 1989, several years before he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996, he changed his position. Since then he has supported pro-abortion laws. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America give Durbin a 100% rating while the National Right to Life Committee gives him a 0% rating.
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