The last presidential contest put Sen. John Kerry in the Catholic debate spotlight. Kerry is pro-abortion rights, yet Catholic. That caused some (myself included) to call for correction and direction from the Roman Catholic Church.
At the time, then Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl said he would not deny Sen. Kerry communion and would not ask any priest to do so. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis publicly disagreed with Wurel and his position.
The time around the candidate has changed but not the controversy. Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, was asked by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch if he would deny Communion to Rudy Giuliani (who is Catholic and pro-choice) if the former New York mayor approached him for the sacrament.
"If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law, and I know that person knows it, yes I would," the paper quoted the archbishop as responding.
Burke has said of Giuliani: "I can't imagine that as a Catholic he doesn't know that his stance on the protection of human life is wrong. If someone is publicly sinning, they should not approach to receive Holy Communion."
Asked about it Wednesday while campaigning in New Hampshire, Giuliani said: "Archbishops have a right to their opinion, you know. There's freedom of religion in this country. There's no established religion, and archbishops have a right to their opinion. Everybody has a right to their opinion."
Giuliani clashes with the church on abortion and gay marriage. He also is twice divorced, though one marriage was later annulled.
Burke says that anyone administering Communion is morally obligated to deny it to Catholic politicians who support an abortion-rights position contrary to church teaching.
He is expected to push the nation's bishops to take that stance in a document on political responsibility they will issue to Catholics before the 2008 election. A number of other Catholic presidential candidates also have abortion-rights stances in apparent conflict with church teaching.
This highlights the overdue need for clear teaching on this. When you have Archbishops disagreeing on a sanctity of life issue such as this there is a problem.
In August, when a voter in Iowa asked if he was a "traditional, practicing Roman Catholic," he said: "My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not-so-good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests." But apparently not an Archbishop who tells him he is wrong.
AP
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