From the NY Times:<\/p>\n
One American bishop, Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I., recently wrote a caustic column for his Catholic newspaper calling Mr. Giuliani\u2019s position \u201cpathetic,\u201d\u009d \u201cconfusing\u201d\u009d and \u201chypocritical.\u201d\u009d Other bishops said that they would not criticize a candidate by name but would not hesitate to declare Mr. Giuliani\u2019s stance contrary to Catholic teaching.<\/p>\n
Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said: \u201cI think he\u2019s being illogical, as are all of those who take the stand that \u201d\u02dcI\u2019m personally opposed to abortion but this is my public responsibility to permit it.\u2019 To violate human life is always and everywhere wrong. In fact, we don\u2019t think it\u2019s a matter of church teaching, but a matter of the way God made the world, and it applies to everyone.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The presidential campaign of John Kerry, a Democrat, suffered in 2004 when about a dozen of the nation\u2019s more than 200 bishops declared that they would deny him communion because of his abortion stance. A debate ensued among the bishops over whether it was right to enforce doctrine at the communion rail and whether the church had ventured too far into partisan politics.<\/p>\n
But some American bishops who favored denying communion said that recent comments by the pope would bolster their approach. Pope Benedict XVI told reporters last month that Catholic legislators in Mexico who had recently voted to allow abortion had effectively excommunicated themselves from the church. A Vatican spokesman immediately issued a clarifying statement saying that politicians who voted for abortion rights should \u201cexclude themselves from communion.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Bishop Robert J. Baker of Charleston, S.C., said of the pope, \u201cThe general thrust of his statement was, it\u2019s within the bishop\u2019s right to take a strong stand in this regard.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n