“Biden, Pelosi take communion despite threatened backlash”

The Roman Catholic Fable Continues: Binding and Loosing

But among faithful, obedient Roman Catholics, nobody cares. Even the priests at the papal installation mass poke a finger in the eye of “infallible teaching”:

Interpretations, and outcomes of those interpretations

Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both strong pro-choice advocates, took communion during the papal mass Tuesday in Rome, according to a pool report.

The move could potentially reignite a passionate debate about the propriety of participating in the ritual without fully abiding the Catholic Church's teachings.

Pope Francis has said he is clearly against the practice, particularly by pro-choice politicians.

"We must adhere to ‘eucharistic coherence’, that is, be conscious that they cannot receive holy communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia, and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged," he wrote in 2007. "This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals."

Priests for Life, a U.S.-based Catholic anti-abortion organization, told the Huffington Post on Monday that there would be a "public uproar" if Biden and Pelosi took communion.

"Vice President Biden and Nancy Pelosi should certainly not receive Communion, either at the papal installation or anywhere else. Communion means ‘union,’ and they are not in union with the Church on the most fundamental moral issue of the right to life,” founder the Rev. Frank Pavone said. "Should they receive at this ceremony, there will be a public uproar, and rightly so."

Even the pope winks and nods at official Roman Catholic teaching.

I get castigated for being too hard on Roman Catholicism. But I, at least, take Roman Catholic teaching seriously enough to interact with it as if it takes itself seriously. You may disagree with the reasons why I disagree with it, but at least I take it seriously.

On the other hand, how can anyone take this contemporary Roman Catholicism seriously, when even popes and papal entourages reject this teaching?

For reference: Catholic Bishop: Joe Biden ‘Ought Not to Be Receiving Communion’

But really, Roman Catholic posturing is all about posturing, and not about doing the right thing.