A prominent Bishop in the state of Illinois has banned pro-abortion lawmakers from taking Holy Communion.
Bishop Paprocki, the Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, took the bold action following the passing of a sweeping pro-abortion law, the “Reproductive Health Act,” which permits abortions up to nine months and also requires insurance companies to provide coverage.
In a strong written decree, Paprocki called out the state lawmakers who supported this horrific new law, and warned that they would no longer be welcome to participate fully in Holy Mass.
“In accord with canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law…Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan, who facilitated the passage of the Act Concerning Abortion of 2017 (House Bill 40) as well as the Reproductive Health Act of 2019 (Senate Bill 25), are not to be admitted to Holy Communion in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois because they have obstinately persisted in promoting the abominable crime and very grave sin of abortion,” he wrote, according to the Catholic News Agency.
The Bishop noted that these individuals would only be permitted to take communion once they had repented of this abomination.
“These persons may be readmitted to Holy Communion only after they have truly repented these grave sins and furthermore have made suitable reparation for damages and scandal,” he wrote.
The new bill declares abortion to be a “fundamental right” and provides provides zero coverage exemptions for churches, religious nonprofits, or pro-life individuals and small business owners who may object to the termination of young lives on religious or moral grounds.
The bill also removes regulations for abortion clinics, rids waiting periods and even lifts the ban on partial-birth abortion. As a result of its extreme nature, many are calling the piece of legislation even more extreme than the widely criticized version that passed through the New York Senate at the start of the year.
‘The Murder of Innocent Children’
For Paprocki, this was enough to banish anyone involved in the bill’s advancement to be prohibited from approaching the Lord’s table.
“I declare that Catholic legislators of the Illinois General Assembly who have cooperated in evil and committed grave sin by voting for any legislation that promotes abortion are not to present themselves to receive Holy Communion without first being reconciled to Christ and the Church in accord with canon 916 of the Code of Canon Law,” he wrote.
The bishop noted that “in issuing this decree, I anticipate that some will point out the Church’s own failings with regard to the abuse of children.”
He added: “The same justifiable anger we feel toward the abuse of innocent children, however, should prompt an outcry of resistance against legalizing the murder of innocent children. The failings of the Church do not change the objective reality that the murder of a defenseless baby is an utterly evil act.”
“A child in the womb is not a problem,” the Bishop continued. “He or she is a gift from God.”