No Communion for Abortionist Politician

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July 17, 2024

An Irish pro-abortion politician has been refused Holy Communion by a Catholic priest during a funeral service.

Father Gabriel Burke denied Communion to Fine Gael Minister Colm Burke during a Requiem Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Whitechurch, a village close to Cork City, on July 12. Father Burke told local news outlet Corkbeo that he denied Communion to Burke because of his support for abortion and that any politician who votes for pro-abortion laws is “participating in evil.”

The priest said, “He (Minister Colm Burke) put out his hand, and I gave him a blessing, and I told him that nobody was entitled to receive (C)ommunion. I then gave him to the count of three to move on before I went to the next person.”

“He as a senator voted the abortion legislation in – he didn’t have to, he chose to vote for abortion. He didn’t do it in any way to lessen the demand for abortion in Ireland. He could have done differently as a Catholic.”

Father Burke also said this was the third time that Colm Burke was refused Communion in the diocese.

According to The Irish Times, the minister said that Fr. Burke told him, “You have been excommunicated” when he presented himself for Holy Communion.

“I have been in contact with the Cloyne Diocesan Office and I intend writing to Bishop Crean seeking clarification as to my status in attending future Church ceremonies in the Diocese,” the politician said.

Diocese spokesman Fr. Jim Moore confirmed to The Irish Times that Minister Burke had contacted them and that Bishop William Crean would contact the minister the following week.

“As a senator, Colm Burke voted for abortion after the 2018 referendum, and he knows the teaching of the Church that any politician who voted abortion cannot receive (C)ommunion – Archbishop Eamon Martin made that very clear before the vote on abortion,” Fr. Burke told The Irish Times.