While saying the priest who denied Joseph R. Biden communion "had a good point," Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he would not have done so himself.

When is it permissible, acceptable or prudent to deny the Eucharist to someone?

"Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden," Father Robert Morey wrote in a statement responding to queries from the Florence Morning News.

“Up until the last five or 10 years, Mass was offered every day. Then it was hard to get priests [every day]; then it was hard to get priests on the weekend. There were [fewer priests] in the parishes and they were being stretched thin.”

“These options are in no way Christian: to anonymously scatter ashes in nature, air or water; to install an urn in a private home or apartment; to bury remains in a private garden; or to divide ashes into multiple ‘remembrance objects,’” the bishops wrote, also criticizing the trend to convert loved ones’ ashes into jewelry.

Two more Australian states have passed legislation criminalizing priests who fail to report the abuse of children disclosed during confession.