Lucy KilleaDuring a special election for the California Senate in 1989, pro-choice Catholic Lucy Killea was barred from communion by Leo Thomas Maher, the bishop of San Diego.[8] This was the first instance of a politician being censured in this way.[9] She received communion in Sacramento with the consent of Bishop Francis Quinn.[10] The incident brought publicity to Killea’s candidacy and gained her the voters’ sympathy, helping her to win the election.[11][12]
[edit] Mario CuomoIn 1984, Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor, then archbishop of New York, considered excommunicating New York Governor Mario Cuomo.[13][14] He also condemned Cuomo’s statements that support for abortion rights did not contradict Catholic teaching, but did not suggest that Cuomo should stop receiving communion.[15]
[edit] Gray DavisIn January 2003, Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento said Governor of California Gray Davis, a Catholic who supported abortion rights, should stop taking communion.[8]
[edit] John KerryIn 2004, Archbishop Burke said he would not give communion to 2004 presidential candidate and Senator John Kerry, in part because of his position on abortion. According to religion experts, such a denial of communion would have been unprecedented.[16][17] Kerry’s own Archbishop Sean O’Malley refused to specify the applicability of his earlier statement that such Catholics are in a state of grave sin and cannot properly receive communion.[16]
The issue led to comparisons between Kerry’s presidential campaign and that of John F. Kennedy in 1960. While Kennedy had to demonstrate his independence from the Roman Catholic Church due to public fear that a Catholic president would make decisions based on Vatican commands, it seemed that Kerry, in contrast, had to show obedience to Catholic authorities in order to win votes.[8][18][19][20][21]
According to Margaret Ross Sammons, Kerry’s campaign was sufficiently damaged by the threat to withhold communion that it may have cost him the election. Sammons argues that President George W. Bush was able to win 53% of the Catholic vote because he appealed to “traditional” Catholics.[22]
[edit] Rudy GiulianiIn 2007, Burke said that he would deny communion to 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani because of his views on abortion, and that Giuliani should not seek the sacrament.[17]
[edit] Kathleen SebeliusIn May 2008, Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann said that Kathleen Sebelius should stop receiving communion because of her support for abortion rights, and that she should not again take it unless she publicly stated that she opposed abortion rights.[23][24][25]
[edit] Joe BidenAfter Joe Biden, a pro-choice Catholic, was nominated as a vice presidential candidate in the 2008 presidential election, Bishop Joseph Francis Martino of Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, said Biden would be refused communion in that diocese because of his support for abortion rights.[7] Biden was not refused communion in his then-parish of Wilmington, Delaware.[26]
[edit] Patrick KennedyIn November 2009, it emerged that in February 2007, Bishop Thomas Tobin asked Representative Patrick Kennedy not to take communion because of his position on abortion.[27] Kennedy told the Providence Journal that Tobin also instructed priests in the diocese not to give him communion; Tobin denied this.[27]
it would be nice if there was some consistency on this!
All bark, no bite.