This is the bishop I was talking about last week.
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DENYING COMMUNION
Bishop draws line for voters
BY DAVID KELLY
LOS ANGELES TIMES
May 15, 2004
DENVER - In stark and dramatic language, the Roman Catholic bishop of Colorado Springs has declared that anyone voting for a politician who supports same-sex marriage, abortion rights, stem cell research or euthanasia will be denied Communion in the church.
The upcoming presidential election, Bishop Michael Sheridan said in a three-page letter to the diocese newspaper May 1, will be one of the most important in history - "critical in the battle to restore the right to life to all its citizens, especially the unborn and the elderly and infirm." While other bishops across the nation have said politicians who favor abortion rights would be denied Communion in their diocese, Sheridan is the first to threaten voters with the sanction.
"Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside of full communion with the church and so jeopardize their salvation," Sheridan wrote. "Any Catholics who vote for candidates that stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences."
The letter said nothing about Catholics' stand on capital punishment, but Sheridan in the past has said that the death penalty was not as weighty as the other issues.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, is a Catholic who supports abortion rights. His candidacy has ignited controversy over church teachings and how they apply to politics. The archbishop of St. Louis, Raymond Burke, said he wouldn't give Communion to Kerry because of his political views. Bishops in Boston, Portland and New Orleans have agreed that politicians who favor abortion rights shouldn't take Communion.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called such politicians "dishonest" witnesses for Christ.
Sheridan, who heads a diocese of 125,000 members, did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
His letter likely will have little practical effect, since most people receiving Communion aren't quizzed about their political beliefs beforehand.
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Co. newspaper.
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