Michigan: A Michigan diocese said it supports a priest who told a parishioner that because of her same-sex civil marriage she should not receive the Eucharist.
“Inclusion and acceptance have been a hallmark of Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Grand Rapids throughout the diocese’s history. They remain so. They presume, however, respect on the part of individuals for the teachings and practice of the wider Catholic community,” the Diocese of Grand Rapids said in a statement Thursday. The diocesan statement came after a November 26 report from local news channel WOOD TV 8, which claimed that Rev. Fr. Scott Nolan of St. Stephen Parish in East Grand Rapid had “denied Communion,” to Judge Sara Smolenski, chief judge of the Kent County District Court.
Smolenski, 62, did not apparently tell the news channel that she had been denied communion during Mass, but rather that Nolan had instructed her by telephone not to continue receiving the Eucharist at the parish. The priest did administer the sacrament to Smolenski on November 17, according to a letter some parishioners sent to Grand Rapids’ Bishop David Walkowiak.
Smolenski told the news station that: “The way he said it was ‘because you’re married to Linda in the state of Michigan, you cannot accept communion.” Smolenski reportedly told a fellow parishioner that she was attending the November 17 Mass to see whether Nolan would administer communion to her, according to sources in the parish.
The priest told WOOD TV 8 on November 27, that he “taught what all of the popes who have ever said something about the emergent family have said up to and including Pope Francis,” regarding the reception of holy communion. Nolan said that he is required in his ministry to ensure that those who receive the Eucharist do so in accord with Catholic doctrine and discipline.
The diocese agreed with the priest’s version of events. “Father Nolan approached Judge Smolenski privately. Subsequent media reports do not change the appropriateness of his action, which the diocese supports,” the November 27 statement said. Nolan, 33, was ordained a priest of the Grand Rapids diocese in 2013.
Story Courtesy: CNA
