Cardinal Gregory on Communion: priests are pastors, not police (Crux)

Questioned about the controversy over administering Communion to politicians who support abortion, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC, told the Crux news site that “we’re not there as police; we’re there as pastors.” The cardinal said that he was encouraged by recent remarks on the subject by Pope Francis, and “very grateful for the Holy Father’s words.”

During an exchange with reporters on his return flight from Slovakia on September 15, Pope Francis did not explicitly answer a question about withholding Communion, but advised: “Be a pastor; don’t go condemning.” The Pope said that “abortion is murder,” but also that “I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone.”