Bishop Urges Talk of Polticians at Vatican

Tuesday October 4, 2005 4:16 PM


By NICOLE WINFIELD

Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The senior American at the Vatican has urged a meeting of the world's bishops to discuss whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should receive communion, saying the issue had divided many in the U.S. church.

Archbishop William Levada, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the appeal during a debate late Monday at the synod of bishops, the Oct. 2-23 meeting of bishops discussing major issues facing the Church.

Levada also asked to hear the experiences of other church leaders on the topic, according to the Rev. John Bartunek, briefing reporters on developments in the closed-door meeting.

``This issue has caused some divisions among the people in the church'' during the 2004 presidential election, the briefer quoted Levada as saying. During the campaign, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said he would deny Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5320627,00.html

This is only an issue because most of the US bishops are very narrow minded becuase they like their power trips.

There are many, many, many issues that get swept under the table for crap like this, mostly becasue the abortion issue is framed so narrowly for this to even be an issue. Yet a broad discussion about abortion would put self determination more in the hands of the people.