Kerry's bishop said that he should not present himself for communion as long as he supports abortion, and Kerry shot back: "I don't tell church officials what to do, and church officials shouldn't tell American politicians what to do in the context of our public life.".

* Kerry's bishop said that he should not present himself for communion as long as he supports abortion, and Kerry shot back: "I don't tell church officials what to do, and church officials shouldn't tell American politicians what to do in the context of our public life." Does Senator Kerry really mean to suggest that the Catholic archbishop of New Orleans was wrong to excommunicate Catholic politicians who favored segregation? The church has no power to force Kerry to vote in a particular way. But it may say that he commits a grave sin in denying justice to the unborn, that he should form his conscience according to church teachings, and that in violating those teachings he is wounding the unity of the church in a way that makes him ineligible for communion. Not only "may"; must. To rebuke a churchgoer for a grave sin and to ask him to mend his ways is an act of charity that the church cannot refuse. Ideally, that rebuke would be delivered in private. But if the sinner denies the sinfulness of his action and, worse, distorts Catholic teaching to justify himself, that rebuke must be delivered in public to maintain the integrity of that teaching. A public rebuke may hurt Kerry's career or, by generating a backlash, help it. But the bishops would fail their flocks if they did not insist that the church be the church, whatever the political consequences.