Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Mark O’Connell this Monday as the new head of the Diocese of Albany, in the state of New York. O’Connell, until now auxiliary bishop of Boston and close collaborator of Cardinal Seán O’Malley, became known in 2021 for his refusal to support the initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that sought to warn against the communion of politicians favorable to abortion, including President Joe Biden.
At that time, O’Connell voted with the minority of bishops opposed to drafting a document on the so-called “eucharistic coherence,” arguing that this debate should not be resolved through a doctrinal letter but through pastoral accompaniment and personal correction.
In a letter published on July 25, 2021 in the parish bulletin of St. Theresa’s Church in North Reading, Massachusetts, the then-pastor O’Connell explained his stance as follows:
“We must not turn the Eucharist into a political weapon”
Peace be with you.
I asked you to send me questions to answer during the summer, and you have presented me with some very challenging ones. Thank you for that.
The first question I will answer comes from someone concerned about the controversy over denying Holy Communion to politicians. […]
President Biden, a practicing Catholic who regularly attends Mass, holds many positions in accord with the Magisterium, with the clear exception of some key issues, especially abortion. His stances are not in conformity with Catholic teaching, and hence the question arises: should he be denied Communion?
Among the bishops and the faithful, there are those who answer “yes” and those who believe that no one should be excluded, since the Eucharist is the sacrament that unites us as redeemed sinners.
My vote did not refer to whether Biden should or should not be admitted, but rather that I consider it inappropriate to address that matter publicly. I have never based my pastoral decisions on political positions.
[…] I do not think that a doctrinal letter on the Eucharist is the appropriate place for that debate. There are other paths, already outlined by Canon Law. And I fear that this whole process will only increase division among the faithful and among the bishops themselves.
It is not for me to decide whether President Biden should receive Communion. Canon Law entrusts that decision to his bishop and his pastor, in a private conversation.
If I could reorient the conversation, I would not focus so much on who should be excluded, but on who should receive worthily. When the priest says “The Body of Christ” and we respond “Amen,” we affirm our faith in the real presence of Christ and in the teachings of the Church. That “Amen” means that we are in communion with the Church and in grace with God.
As a priest and bishop who distributes Communion, I welcome the humble “Amen” of each faithful person who approaches the altar, and I leave the judgment of souls to private conversations between the pastor and the person.
Blessings upon you and your families,
+Mark O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of Boston
O’Connell’s elevation by Leo XIV is interpreted in the United States as a continuity with the line set by Francis, who stated in 2021: “No, I have never denied the Eucharist to anyone”, urging the clergy not to politicize the sacrament or turn it into an ideological battleground.
O’Connell, 60 years old, has insisted that the Eucharist “is meant to unite, not to divide,” and that every faithful person who approaches with humility recognizes, as he himself has said, that “we are all unworthy to receive.” His appointment to Albany, a diocese marked by years of crisis and internal divisions, reinforces the new pontiff’s intention to promote a reconciled Church, though not without doctrinal tensions.