Kennedy barred from communion

Bishop Tobin out in Rhode Island has apparently decided to bar Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving communion.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/22/paper-bishop-bars-kennedy-from-communion

I'm shaking my head in disgust right now.

but I'm sure he has the support of Catholic bishops everywhere.

To me, there's a line between advocating an abortion for someone you know, and simply agreeing that women who don't
share Catholic beliefs have a right to make their own determination.

We in the West don't agree that Sharia law should be imposed in non-Muslim countries, and this is really no
different. The Church has no right to try to enforce its beliefs on those of other faiths, or none.

this has to be a private conversation between the priest and kennedy.

he is holding something that most catholics believe to be sacred hostage for political purposes.

was asked a direct question. Now the Bishop is mad because Kennedy didn't keep it a secret that the Bishop was using blackmail to attempt to control his votes.

I think Bishop Tobin is trying to get some "street cred" among the hard righties both in and outside the church. Of course the way to do that is to go after high profile Democrats.

This business of barring people who have divorced and remarried has got to go, also.

In this article on "Clerical Whispers", Bishop Tobin is quoted as asking "How can you be Catholic and support
abortion?". For me, this wording goes to the core of the issue.

http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2009/11/kennedy-abortion-debate-puts-politics.html

To support a woman's right to choose whether or not to abort a pregnancy does not mean that one supports abortion.
Abortion is never a good thing, and few women would take such a course lightly. But in some circumstances it seems
to be the only way out of an impossible situation - a pregnancy that has resulted from rape, pregnancy in a girl
too you to bear the responsibility of a child, another pregnancy in a family that already has more children than
can be adequately cared for, a pregnancy that could endanger the life of the mother. These are choices that only a
woman in such a situation can make, after consultation (if she wishes) with her spouse, parents, or doctor. She is
the one who will have to live with the consequences of her decision, whatever she chooses, and nobody has a right to
demand that she makes that choice based on what somebody else, however well-intentioned, believes she should do.
Some women who choose abortion are Catholic, some non-Catholic Christians, some of other faiths, and some of no
faith at all. In such a situation, they are all sisters under the skin, and external circumstances are secondary.

Not so long ago, the Church branded suicide as a mortal sin (and the state declared it a civil crime). Today, the
Church understands that someone who takes their own life is acting under acute pressure that lessens their ability
to make a clear moral judgment against the taking of their own life, and is acting, as it were, under the influence
of an outside entity. Instead of being condemned to a grave in unconsecrated ground, they are offered the offices
and prayers of the Church for the peace in death that they were unable to find in life. And this is the humane and
Christian way of looking at a difficult subject.

Why then, is it so impossible for the Church to understand that a woman who sacrifices her unborn child would do
so only under extreme pressure, and instead of condemnation, offer counselling, support and prayer in her time of
need?

And one might also point out to the Church that in many instance the question of abortion would never arise if the
Church allowed contraception and the dissemination of reliable information to women who need it.