Bishop Would Deny Communion to Giuliani (pre-emptive war.....more complicated)

[Flabbergasted]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071003/giuliani-communion/

Bishop Would Deny Communion to Giuliani
CHERYL WITTENAUER | October 3, 2007 05:08 PM EST

ST. LOUIS — Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who made headlines last presidential season by saying he'd refuse Holy Communion to John Kerry, has his eye on Rudy Giuliani this year. Giuliani's response: "Archbishops have a right to their opinion."

Burke, the archbishop of St. Louis, was asked if he would deny Communion to Giuliani or any other presidential candidate who supports abortion rights.

"If any politician approached me and he'd been admonished not to present himself, I'd not give it," Burke told The Associated Press Wednesday. "To me, you have to be certain a person realizes he is persisting in a serious public sin."

Asked if the same would apply to politicians who support the death penalty or pre-emptive war, he said, "It's a little more complicated in that case."

Asked about Burke's comments Wednesday while campaigning in New Hampshire, Giuliani said:

"Archbishop have a right to their opinion, you know. There's freedom of religion in this country. There's no established religion, and archbishops have a right to their opinion. Everybody has a right to their opinion."

Burke says that anyone administering Communion _ ordained priest or lay minister _ is morally obligated to deny it to Catholic politicians who support an abortion-rights position contrary to church teaching.