Minister refused communion at Cork funeral Mass over ‘his support for abortion’, says priest

Minister of State and Fine Gael TD Colm Burke was refused Holy Communion by a priest at the funeral mass of a constituent in Co Cork because of his support of repealing the Eighth Amendment.

Fr Gabriel Burke, curate in the parish of Blarney, confirmed that he had refused Mr Burke Holy Communion at the funeral mass of an elderly local man in St Patrick’s Church in Whitechurch on Friday because of “his support for abortion”.

“Colm Burke voted for abortion and he knows the teaching of the [Catholic] Church that any politician who voted abortion cannot receive communion – Archbishop Eamon Martin made that very clear before the vote on abortion in 2013,” said Fr Burke.

“Archbishop Martin said that any politician that voted for abortion in Dáil Éireann was ‘co-operating with evil’ and should not present for communion and Colm Burke knew that because he was here twice before, and he’s been refused communion on both those occasions.”

Contacted by The Irish Times, Mr Burke, a TD for Cork North Central which includes the parish of Blarney, confirmed that he had been refused communion by Fr Burke because of his support for abortion. He also said that Fr Burke told him he had been excommunicated.

“I recently attended a funeral Mass in Whitechurch of a person who I knew for over 35 years and who was a long-standing member of Fine Gael and party supporter. An incident occurred during the ceremony involving Fr Burke where he refused to give to me Holy Communion.

“He further advised that ‘You have been excommunicated’. 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.”

Mr Burke said that he was not aware of Archbishop Martin’s statement before the Dáil vote but he believed that Fr Burke was incorrect in interpreting it to mean that any politician who voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment could not present for communion.

“That means so that no politician is entitled to get Holy Communion and the other thing is that it was a democratic process and there was a referendum on this issue and people voted overwhelmingly to repeal the legislation”.

Mr Burke said it was also important to remember that there was a family grieving the loss of a loved one and the incident should not deflect from the funeral mass.

He rejected Fr Burke’s suggestion that his decision to go to him rather than the other priests for communion was with the intention of creating a scene, saying he simply went up the right side of the church for communion was because that’s where he sat when he entered the church.

Contacted by The Irish Times, Diocese of Cloyne spokesman, Fr Jim Moore confirmed that Mr Burke had been in touch seeking clarification on the matter from Bishop William Crean and that Bishop Crean would be in contact with Mr Burke next week.