There's a piece in today's edition of Roll Call entitled "Church Scrutiny More Prevalent for Members." There have been literally dozens of these stories in the national press in recent weeks. Long, complex, thorough stories. And most of them mention Senator Daschle's conflict with the Bishop of Sioux Falls. None of these stories have been reported in the Argus Leader. None. Here's an excerpt from the Roll Call story:
In the wake of Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) standoff with some church officials over abortion, some Catholic activists are warning that other Roman Catholic lawmakers at odds with the church’s anti-abortion stance should be prepared to face considerable scrutiny and even the potential of sanctions from church officials this election year....
“A lot of people for years have been saying ‘Stop giving Communion to the Kennedys and Kerry,’” said Father Robert Carr, a Boston-based priest whose writings are frequently featured on the Web site Catholic Online.
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But Carr — who is doing his part to gin up opposition to pro-abortion rights Catholics holding political office — said he’s tired of Democrats making Catholics feel “that we’re not even second-class citizens” and he contends that pro-abortion rights Democrats like Kerry should “stop making Communion some kind of an election rite.”
In a recent Internet column, Carr defended those bishops who are “excommunicating elected officials for not voting their baptismal beliefs.”
“The bishop who turns to a Catholic politician and demands he either bring his faith to the political arena or he stop practicing his faith is not strong arming the elected official,” Carr wrote for Your Catholic Voice’s Web site. “He is, rather, calling him to understand that there is a certain truth and if he does not live it, he will make choices that will bring this nation down. He is calling him off the Catholic fence.”
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