Joe Biden (Getty Images/Saul Loeb)

“This past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Father Robert E. Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church in South Carolina said Monday.

Father Morey denied Democrat presidential frontrunner Biden Holy Communion because of his persistent and vocal public support for the grave sin of abortion, Father Morey told The Florence Morning News:

“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.” Even though Biden, a self-professed Catholic, was denied Holy Communion at Sunday’s 9 a.m. mass, Father Morey says he will continue to pray for the former vice president.





The case of a “Catholic politician” who is “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” would constitute “formal cooperation” in grave sin that is “manifest” and when that individual perseveres in grave sin and still presents himself for Holy Communion, "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it," then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in a 2004 letter, the Catholic News Agency reports.



