In his homily in Knock on Sunday, Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, said he would seriously question the "cancelling" of an invitation to Communion.

"When the Eucharist is thought of as a prize, there seems to be winners and losers; there are some who quite comfortably think of themselves as worthy, while judging others to be unworthy," he acknowledged.

The bishop said neither he as a bishop nor any member of the Catholic faithful have "any business in classifying any group of people as unworthy" of receiving Communion.

His stance would appear to be at odds with several US bishops who have targeted pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In May Ms Pelosi was barred from receiving Communion by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in her home diocese of San Francisco..

However, a month later, Pelosi received Communion at a papal Mass while in Rome to meet Pope Francis.

The Pontiff has said he has never denied the Eucharist to anyone.

Last year US president Joe Biden, another Catholic who supports abortion rights, said after meeting Pope Francis in Rome, that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament even as debate continued among US bishops whether the president should be refused Communion.

Dr Doran acknowledged that the Synodal discussions in the Church had made it clear that "many Catholics for various reasons, feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at the Eucharist".

He said this was not just a problem for those people but "a problem for all of us".

Nevertheless, the outspoken bishop said there are times when a person "cannot honestly accept the invitation to come to Holy Communion, because he or she has done something gravely wrong with full knowledge and full consent".

But he added even then, the invitation is not cancelled. Nobody, he said, "should receive the body and blood of the Lord unworthily. But nobody should stay away unnecessarily".

"In the final analysis, it is the responsibility of each woman or man to follow her or his well-formed conscience in deciding whether or not to come to Holy Communion."

Sources

Irish Times

Independent

Twitter said the tweet was removed for "violating our rules against promoting or encouraging suicide or self-harm."

In his 31 January 2021 tweet, Bishop Kevin Doran expressed opposition to efforts to legalize assisted suicide in Ireland.

"There is dignity in dying," the Catholic bishop's tweet said.

"As a priest, I am privileged to witness it often. Assisted suicide, where it is practiced, is not an expression of freedom or dignity, but of the failure of a society to accompany people on their ‘way of the cross.'"

Dolan included a link to a message on the Diocese of Elphin's Facebook page. Doran has led the page since 2014.

The message invited healthcare professionals to add their names to a petition expressing concern about a bill to legalise physician-assisted suicide.

The Iona Institute, which is an advocacy group promoting the place of marriage and religion in society, reported on Monday that Twitter had censored Dolan's post.

"Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision," the Institute reported Twitter as saying in justification.

The Institute noted that while Doran's Twitter profile remained accessible, the tweet had been removed and he had been barred from posting.

Apparently a Twitter algorithm was behind the deletion.

"Although the intent of the post was the opposite of what Twitter claimed, upon appeal, the social media giant doubled down on its stance and said: ‘Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision,'".

David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute, says "Twitter rightly has algorithms which target tweets that seem to promote self-harm and obviously Bishop Doran's message was badly misunderstood as he was doing the opposite."

"What is remarkable, however, is that his [initial] appeal was turned down. I also wonder if the algorithms have ever done the same to someone who is pro-assisted suicide? They always use phrases such as ‘dying with dignity' such as the one used by Bishop Doran."

"Twitter is already strongly suspected of ideological bias and incidents like this do not help its reputation."

A spokeswoman from the Elphin diocese says the tweet has now been restored. Dolan hs not commented about the incident.

Removing Dolan's tweet is the latest in a series of incidents involving Catholics and Twitter.

Last October, Czech Cardinal Dominik Duka's Twitter account was suspended without explanation.

After the account was restored, the Prague archbishop compared present-day censorship to communism suppression in the 1980s. Thisngs are "not much different" today, he said.

Last November, Twitter users criticized the company after a hashtag calling for Catholic priests to be burned was allowed to trend online in Spain.

Just last month, Twitter temporarily locked the Catholic World Report newspaper's account over a post describing Biden appointee Dr. Rachel Levine as "a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman."

A Twitter spokesperson later said that the account was blocked in error.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Catholic Ireland.net

Irish Bishop Kevin Doran says he has come across people - some of whom classify themselves as traditional Catholics and faith-filled people - who say "oh well, these Muslims are putting our civilisation at risk and they pose a threat to us".

He said there's an "implication" that because people are Muslim they are more likely to be terrorists.

Doran's comments were made in the wake of what he described as a "savage attack" on the two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March, that left 50 people dead.

"All of us, of whatever religious tradition, can identify with what that might mean for a congregation gathered to worship," he said.

Doran said it was wrong of people to demonise Muslims for the actions of terrorism that claims to be inspired by Islam.

"To define a whole category of people, or a whole nation, or a whole religious group as being in some way more prone to terrorism than any other group is irresponsible," he said.

Doran said in his experience, Muslim people living in Irish society do so "peacefully and participate fully".

"We have large numbers of Muslim children in our Catholic schools, and they contribute to the ethos in many ways.

"One of the interesting things about Muslims is that, while they are of a different faith, they tend to have a level of commitment to faith that in many ways we might well sit up and pay attention to," he noted.

In February, Doran spoke out after a disused hotel that had been going to house refugees was damaged. The house had been burned in an apparent arson attack.

Not only had the alleged arson caused "significant upset to parishioners," Doran said it was "all the more disturbing since it is suggested that the fires are a response to the proposed use of the hotel to house refugees."

"Militant opposition, expressed in the destruction of property, is simply not consistent with the Gospel," he said.

Source

• Catholic News Service
• The Irish Catholic
• Image: Crux Now