The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island says he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop taking Holy Communion in 2007 because of Kennedy's support for abortion rights.
That revelation yesterday proved an ugly climax to a simmering feud between Kennedy and his staunch critic, Bishop Thomas Tobin.
Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published yesterday that Tobin "instructed" him not to receive Communion because of his abortion-rights stance. Kennedy said Tobin told diocesan priests not to give him Communion.
Tobin says he asked Kennedy to stop receiving communion, but he never instructed his priests not to give the sacrament to Kennedy.
The men have clashed over abortion restrictions in a proposed overhaul of the health-care system.
Kennedy did not say where or how he received those instructions. He declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop's request.
"The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy told the paper in an interview Friday.
Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him "that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I've taken as a public official," particularly on abortion.
Tobin said in a statement yesterday that he "has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese."
Tobin and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family, have feuded since Kennedy in an interview last month criticized Roman Catholic church leaders for threatening to oppose a health-care overhaul unless it included tighter restrictions on abortion.
Kennedy voted against an amendment tightening abortion restrictions that was sought by the bishops. But he voted in favor of a health-care plan with the amendment he opposed.
Tobin urged Kennedy not to take communion in a February 2007 letter, a portion of which was released publicly by Tobin's office yesterday.
"In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so," Tobin wrote.
It was not immediately clear whether Tobin and Kennedy spoke further about the request. Kerrie Bennett, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the letter.
Tobin, the spiritual leader of Roman Catholics in Rhode Island, the nation's most heavily Catholic state, demanded an apology from Kennedy after the congressman criticized church leaders who opposed universal health care unless the plans included more restrictions on abortions. He also requested a meeting with Kennedy.
"While I greatly respect the Catholic Church and its leaders, like many Rhode Islanders, the fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic," Kennedy wrote in a letter to Tobin, agreeing to a sit-down. "I embrace my faith which acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity."
Their meeting fell apart. While Tobin called it a mutual decision, Kennedy accused Tobin of failing to abide by an agreement to stop discussing the congressman's faith publicly.
Tobin followed up with a biting public letter published in a diocesan newspaper.
"Sorry, you can't chalk it up to an ‘imperfect humanity.' Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your Communion with the Church," Tobin wrote.
Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said officials with the archdiocese didn't know whether Kennedy attends Mass in the nation's capital. Anyone who does not believe in core Catholic teachings would be asked not to come forward for Communion, she said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement