[Coleus]

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[SuziQ]

The senator is aligned with his church on many social justice issues, including immigration, poverty, health care and the death penalty. But he diverges on the litmus issues, like abortion and stem cell research, that animate church conservatives and many in the hierarchy

Kerry, like many post-Vatican II Catholics, put more stock in the Beatitudes than the Ten Commandments. They stress the 'feel-good; parts of Christ's teachings, and ignore the nasty 'judgmental' parts like "Go, and sin no more".

[SuziQ]

Senator Kerry is a person of faith, he's a practicing Catholic, and his religion is an important part of his life and of Teresa Heinz Kerry's life," Mr. Wade said. "And they've always recognized that separation between the public and the private."

If he's going to call himself a Catholic and run for office as such, then he is NOT separating his faith from his public life. He should be held accountable by the public for whether or not he truly accepts and represents the tenets of his faith, and this means HOW he votes in relation to those tenets.