Don’t weaponize the Eucharist for political ends, bishop warns A priest gives the Eucharist to a communicant during a Mass at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, N.Y., in 2020. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz) By Mark Pattison • Catholic News Service • Posted May 7, 2021 WASHINGTON (CNS) — “The Eucharist must never be instrumentalized for a political end, no matter how important,” said Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego in a May 5 essay published on the website of America magazine, the Jesuit journal. Because of efforts by some U.S. bishops to exclude Catholic politicians — including President Joe Biden — from receiving Communion, “the Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen,” the bishop said.