Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:17 AM ET
Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A conservative U.S. lawyer's attempt to enlist the Vatican in his drive to declare Senator John Kerry a heretic over his abortion views backfired Wednesday when the Holy See said it had been hoodwinked.
Marc Balestrieri, head of a conservative Catholic group called De Fide, has been pushing for the Church to rule that the Democratic presidential candidate has inflicted excommunication on himself because he supports a woman's right to an abortion.
Balestrieri caused a stir in the United States this week when he asserted in interviews and on his Web site that he had won an unofficial and indirect green light from the Vatican.
But Wednesday, the Vatican denied his assertions, which received widespread coverage in major U.S. media.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6557315