As previously noted, a Bishop's Conference can't change Canon Law, and the South African Conference doesn't claim to have tried. The press then asked Mr. McCurry whether the President regretted having taken communion. This would have been a fine opportunity to offer a dignified apology for an unintentional misdeed. Instead, the White House showed once again that mea culpa is as foreign to the President as a Latin Mass by remarking that the President had no regret and was, to the contrary, happy he did it. So much for Catholic contrition.
Religion is far too important to be relegated to a mere gesture.
As potentially uncomfortable as it may have been for the priest and the President, the priest should not have offered, and the President should not have received communion. All Christians hope, as I'm sure the President does, that Protestants and Christians will one day be united on this important question. Until then, if the President is in a Catholic Church and finds himself unsure of whether or not to receive the Eucharist, he should follow the advice of this fellow Southern Baptist, and reverently have a seat. Robert Alt is an adjunct fellow at the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. The Ashbrook Center is a Member Organization.