From the Desk of Catholic Action President, Thomas McKenna

Your gift will make a difference in helping to Preserve Fidelity to the Holy Eucharist!

Dear Friend, 

For 16 years, Catholic Action for Faith and Family has diligently battled on the front lines to spread the Hope and Light of Christ amid the darkness and confusion of our times. We strongly believe with moral lines being blurred because of the Catholic voice being conspicuously absent from the public square, this is a critical time in history in the United States, and your generous support is crucial to building maximum awareness for this new initiative dedicated to restoring the Catholic Voice and to preserving fidelity to the Holy Eucharist.

You might recall reading in our annual appeal about a forthcoming major outreach and educational initiative scheduled to commence in first quarter of 2023. It should be noted that in order to maximize the impact of this campaign, we held what we expect to be our most impactful action-oriented initiative since our founding in strict confidence.

This massive roll-out is poised to be national in scope and garner major and multi-national news, and the impact will be eternal.

Now, I am pleased to announce that Catholic Action for Faith & Family is – TODAY – launching a nationwide, laity-led campaign that will deliver a copy of Raymond Cardinal Burke’s New book entitled Deny Holy Communion? to every Catholic bishop, priest, and deacon in the United States! 41,000 copies to our clergy!

This campaign is the fruit of more than a year of preparation and careful planning on the part of our staff, and it has been supported by a number of generous benefactors whose deep love for the Church has inspired them to “strengthen the brethren” (Luke 22:32) by reaching out to our clergy with Cardinal Burke’s wisdom. 

Again, I did not disclose this campaign so as not to provoke public discussion before the book was sent out to the clergy. But now it is out, and we intend to reach significant numbers of Catholics at every level of media in order to spread it far and wide together with you.

As you can imagine, the costs were considerable to produce and distribute these books to 41,000 Catholic clergy members (bishops, priests, and deacons) in the United States in stealth mode; so, please consider making a generous donation to not only help replenish our resources for the path forward, but to ignite a national and sustainable conversation across all levels of the Church and across our American society.

But what, precisely, is this book about?  

Deny Holy Communion? is a concise, powerful look at the Catholic Church’s teaching on worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. The relevant statute from Church law about this issue is canon 915, which is why you will be hearing a lot about it as the unique campaign unfolds.

Cardinal Burke is exceptionally qualified as a leading canonist in today’s Church. He was called by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in the Vatican for six years. He was essentially the Chief Justice of the Catholic Church’s Supreme Court.  

In this 65-page book, Cardinal Burke – literally – lays down the law! But he does it in his own amazingly balanced and charitable style.  

He provides a definitive guide for pastoral ministers on cases in which Holy Communion must be denied. He articulates the Church’s well-grounded reasoning – canonical, theological, and pastoral – for the denial of Holy Communion to obstinate, public sinners.  He shows how and why this has been the consistent teaching, one derived from care and charity, of the Catholic Church since the founding by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are always people – Catholics and non-Catholics alike – who think this is not such a big deal. But they couldn’t be more mistaken. Just consider this summary from the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue. In the newly-elected Congress:  

• 65 Democrats in the House of Representatives claim Catholic affiliation, and 54 of these have a perfect pro-abortion voting record; all ten of the newly-elected Catholic Democrats are pro-abortion; 
• Of the 15 Catholic senators, twelve of them (80%) have perfect pro-abortion records. (Read Donohue’s full article.) 

This is a scandal!

In other words, the timing of this book couldn’t be better and the subject matter couldn’t be more vital. I also believe the launch of this book is especially relevant in this period of Eucharistic Revival (the 3-year period leading up to the National Eucharistic Congress in June 2024 initiated by the USCCB).  

So prayer warriors, this is the first day – and phase – of our campaign, but there is much more to come, and we will need your ongoing support! Be sure to bookmark the Deny Holy Communion? landing page and check in regularly for news, resources, and ways to get involved.

For this monumental and unique undertaking we need your prayerful support for the success of this campaign, such has never been done before, so click here to offer your prayer intentions: 

And stay tuned for ongoing updates about the Why Deny Communion? book movement campaign as well as information about our upcoming “Faithful Echo of the Eucharist” diocesan conferences – and much more!  

The momentum from this book launch presents a unique opportunity to put forth a true teaching of the Catholic Church to every clergy member, the average Catholic in the pew, and the world without ambiguity. You can also obtain a copy of Why Deny Communion? by visiting our special book and donations page:

You can also sponsor a book for seminarians.

Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Thomas McKenna

Founder and President

Catholic Action For Faith And Family
http://www.catholicaction.org/