Not Just Any Catholic

John Kerry is a Catholic, and of course he's not just any Catholic. If the Massachusetts senator continues his victorious march through the Democratic primaries, he will be the first Catholic nominated by either major party for president since John F. Kennedy in 1960. That makes him the first Catholic nominee since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision -- a decision Kerry supports and the Church doesn't.

America's Roman Catholic bishops have begun to talk recently about holding politicians who claim to be Catholics to Catholic doctrine on issues like abortion and marriage. Some of them seem to be responding to a Vatican "instruction" issued last year that said politicians who call themselves Catholic have a "grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life." But even before the Vatican document appeared, word had leaked that bishops had privately counseled some pols--Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle reportedly among them--to hew closer to the tenets of the faith they advertised on their campaign literature.

So far bishops have chosen to persuade with words rather than deeds. But during last week's Missouri primary campaign, St. Louis's new Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke addressed Kerry's liberal views. "I would have to admonish him [Kerry] not to present himself for Communion," Burke said on a local television news show. "I might give him a blessing or something." As bishop of Wisconsin, Burke had also said he would withhold Communion from local Catholic politicians.

Forty-four years ago, the controversy about Kennedy's Catholicism centered on whether his faith would unduly influence U.S. policy. Then, abortion was illegal in all 50 states. Today, when abortion is widespread and vigilantly defended, and, thanks to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, same-sex marriage is growing more likely, Kerry's "Catholic problem" may be how little influence his religion may have.

Kerry tends to be a straightforward "Massachusetts liberal" on social issues. He not only supports abortion, but has repeatedly voted against restrictions on partial birth abortion. He has said that, if elected, he would not nominate a pro-life candidate to the Supreme Court. On gay marriage he has ducked and weaved a bit, voting against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, but trimming his public statements since then, perhaps in deference to polls showing that same-sex marriage is unpopular.

A Kerry campaign aide told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that the senator disagreed with Burke, but accepted his right to make such a decision. "The archbishop has the right to deny Communion to whoever he wants, but Sen. Kerry respectfully disagrees with him on the issue of choice," said a spokeswoman.

Kerry will have less freedom to disagree in Boston, where he normally attends church. Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, like Burke a newcomer to the role, has been more cautious. "A Catholic politician who holds a public, pro-choice position should not be receiving Communion," said O'Malley a few days before his installation. However, he added, "the Church presumes each person is receiving in good faith. It is not our policy to deny Communion. It is up to the individual." Both Massachusetts senators, Kerry and Ted Kennedy, attended O'Malley's installation ceremony last July, and both received Communion.

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