Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
John Kerry and other Catholic politicians do a service to their country and their church by drawing a line between their religion and their duty as public servants. Kerry and others have been criticized recently for supporting policies that conflict with fundamental beliefs of their Catholic faith. But the clamor shows a mistaken impression of the church in the real world. Religious principle can be a source of strength, but it should not close a politician's mind to what's best for a democracy.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been the focus of a wide debate over whether his support for abortion rights makes him unfit to receive Communion. U.S. Catholic bishops are considering the matter, though Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., who heads the study and met with Kerry, said Tuesday he had "not gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable in denying the Eucharist." A top Vatican cardinal has said priests could deny Communion to prochoice politicians, but that Kerry's example was a decision for the American church.
Many critics who question Kerry's fitness as a Catholic do so only to impugn his values and convictions on a broader scale. If the issue is the Catholic belief in the sanctity of life, then why should elected officials who support abortion rights be denied Communion but not those who support the death penalty? When Gov. Jeb Bush, a Catholic, signs a death warrant, his action puts him in conflict with his church's teachings. We have not even mentioned the range of causes that the church holds as sacrosanct, from fighting discrimination and poverty to insisting on workers' rights and health care. Are these issues Kerry's critics want to be scored on?
American Catholics, as others, particularly since the 1960s, have struggled to reconcile the tenets of their faith with changing times and social mores. Catholics have reached a comfort level with making their own decisions about abortion, the death penalty and premarital sex even while participating in the liturgy, church rites and Catholic schools. Polls increasingly show that American Catholics differ with the Vatican on everything from birth control to ordaining women to church accountability. That Rome deferred the Kerry dilemma to the U.S. church, where the bishops control their own dioceses, speaks to the hierarchy's awareness of deep divides within the Catholic Church.
There is no shortage on the national scene of one-trick politicians using religion to polarize the electorate. Were Kerry standing for pope, not running for president, his commitment to religious orthodoxy would be appropriate as a litmus test. We would rather have politicians respect this country's diversity by struggling to reach a balance that serves the broadest public good. If that requires reconciling one's own religion with the obligations of public service, then that is one of the many sacrifices that come with the job.