THE ASSOCIATION OF Catholic Priests have condemned a priest’s refusal to give Holy Communion to Minister of State Colm Burke at a funeral mass last week.

The Fine Gael TD was attending the funeral mass of a constituent he had known for over 35 years in Whitechurch, Co Cork on Friday. 

The livestream of the service showed Burke queueing to receive Communion. When he reaches the priest, Fr Gabriel Burke blesses him but places his hand over the Communion chalice. 

Burke, who is Minister for State at the Department of Health, can then be seeing speaking to the priest as other people wait to receive Communion.

In a statement to The Journal, Burke said: “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”,” Burke said.

“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.”

Fr Gabriel Burke told CorkBeo on Sunday that the reason he refused to give the junior minister Communication was because of his work on abortion legislation. Minister Burke voted in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment in 2018.

Fr Burke told the news site: “He as a senator voted the abortion legislation in – he didn’t have to, he chose to vote for abortion. He didn’t do it in any way to lessen the demand for abortion in Ireland. He could have done differently as a Catholic.”

Minister Burke said the priest refused to give him Communion in February 2022, but he understood at the time that it was in respect of wearing face masks in church.

He said Fr Burke made no reference to the abortion referendum on Friday, or during the previous incident in 2022. 

In a statement yesterday, the Association of Catholic Priests said it “unambiguously condemned” the refusal of the Eucharist “to a public representative in the Diocese of Cloyne”.

The association said that before the Eighth Amendment was repealed, “Irish women were travelling abroad to avail of abortion services, while legislators and citizens looked the other way”.

“Procurement of an abortion is complex, morally and medically. Legislators have to balance two sets of rights, the right of the unborn child to life and the free decision-making right of the mother. Public representatives are tasked with finding a balance between both.”

They said that like every member of the Catholic Church, public representatives must act in accordance with their conscience. 

“It is not the role of the priest to judge the conscience of another person. The priest does not own the Eucharist and would do well to ponder the statement of Pope Francis that he has never refused the Eucharist to anyone.”

They added that a “particularly aggravating factor” in the incident was that it occurred in the context of a funeral Mass.

Burke said what is of importance is that there was a family grieving, including the man’s sister, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

“The incident that occurred must not deflect from the purpose of the funeral Mass – to support the family of the person who died, to celebrate the person’s achievements and the valuable contribution he made to both his immediate family and the wider local community of Whitechurch throughout his life.”