PITTSBURGH - John Kerry attended Mother's Day Mass yesterday and took Communion, although some Roman Catholic leaders say he should not receive it because his abortion-rights stance violates church teachings.
Kerry and his wife, Teresa, took Communion from the Rev. Robert G. Duch at St. Scholastica Catholic Church in suburban Pittsburgh, where the Democratic presidential candidate often worships when staying at his wife's estate in the area.
Some Catholic leaders have said they would withhold Communion from Kerry because he supports abortion rights. Kerry declined to answer questions about his taking of Communion.
He mingled with parishioners after the service and greeted Emma Prescott, 8, who received her first Communion. "I remember my first Communion, still," Kerry told her. "It's so special."
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the state's Senate majority leader, Bernard Kenny (D-Hudson), said he told his pastor Saturday that he would leave the Roman Catholic church after 57 years, citing church demands that politicians vote in line with Catholic doctrine.
"If every faith starts trying to impose their rules on elected officials, democracy is going to be factionalized along religious lines," Kenny told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Sunday's editions.
Kenny, who supports abortion rights and stem-cell research, said his pastor told him he would be offered Communion one more time, "but that then he would tell me not to come again."
"I will look for other options to express my faith and will probably join another Christian church," Kenny told The Inquirer.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark declined to comment on Kenny's decision.
Last week, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey said he won't receive Communion at public services. That announcement came after Archbishop John Myers of Newark declared that abortion-rights supporters should not receive Communion and Camden Bishop Joseph A. Galante said he would refuse Communion to McGreevey. The governor said he disagrees with Myers but would honor his request.
http://www.newsday.com
Kerry and his wife, Teresa, took Communion from the Rev. Robert G. Duch at St. Scholastica Catholic Church in suburban Pittsburgh, where the Democratic presidential candidate often worships when staying at his wife's estate in the area.
Some Catholic leaders have said they would withhold Communion from Kerry because he supports abortion rights. Kerry declined to answer questions about his taking of Communion.
He mingled with parishioners after the service and greeted Emma Prescott, 8, who received her first Communion. "I remember my first Communion, still," Kerry told her. "It's so special."
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the state's Senate majority leader, Bernard Kenny (D-Hudson), said he told his pastor Saturday that he would leave the Roman Catholic church after 57 years, citing church demands that politicians vote in line with Catholic doctrine.
"If every faith starts trying to impose their rules on elected officials, democracy is going to be factionalized along religious lines," Kenny told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Sunday's editions.
Kenny, who supports abortion rights and stem-cell research, said his pastor told him he would be offered Communion one more time, "but that then he would tell me not to come again."
"I will look for other options to express my faith and will probably join another Christian church," Kenny told The Inquirer.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark declined to comment on Kenny's decision.
Last week, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey said he won't receive Communion at public services. That announcement came after Archbishop John Myers of Newark declared that abortion-rights supporters should not receive Communion and Camden Bishop Joseph A. Galante said he would refuse Communion to McGreevey. The governor said he disagrees with Myers but would honor his request.
http://www.newsday.com
