A South Carolina priest who denied former Vice President Joe Biden from receiving communion earlier this month was within his rights, but there was most likely a better way to handle the issue, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Thursday.
"If only saints could receive Holy Communion, we wouldn't have anybody at Mass, including myself," Dolan, who serves as the archbishop of New York, told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" about the priest at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, who denied Biden communion because of his pro-abortion stance
"I think that priest had a good point," Dolan said, as the matter of abortion is one of "critical substance" within the church.
"We're talking about life and death in the church. You personally, out of integrity should not approach Holy Communion, because that implies that you're in union with all the church beliefs," he added.
However, there were other ways the priest could have handled the situation, and Dolan said he would have used a more personal approach rather than making a quick decision.
He added that he's never denied someone from receiving communion, as it's "never come up."
Dolan also said he does admire people who hold back from receiving communion if they are not fully following the teachings of the church and Jesus. However, he noted that the Eucharist is "medicine for the soul" and said all should feel welcome.
"I'm not there as a tribunal, as a judge in distributing Holy Communion," Dolan said. "I'm there as a pastor, as a doctor of souls."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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