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Rudy Giuliani Not Receiving Communion

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Back in 2004 several Catholic bishops in the U.S. said they would deny Holy Communion to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry because of his pro-choice stance on the abortion issue.

Now presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who is Catholic and shares similar views on abortion, may be seeking to avoid controversy by choosing not to receive communion. Catholics believe Holy Communion is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and it is one of the main sacraments (Eucharist) of the Catholic Church.

Some church officials said it might also be that Giuliani "refrains from taking communion because he had married a third time without receiving a church annulment for his second marriage," according to the New York Times.

But there's no doubt that Giuliani's views on abortion upset many Catholic leaders. Archbishop John Myers of Newark said: "I think he's being illogical, as are all of those who take the stand that ‘I'm personally opposed to abortion but this is my public responsibility to permit it.' To violate human life is always and everywhere wrong."

Last month Pope Benedict XVI said Catholic legislators in Mexico who had voted to allow abortion had in effect excommunicated themselves from the church. A Vatican spokesman quickly amended that view by issuing a statement saying lawmakers who voted for abortion rights should "exclude themselves from communion," the Times reported.

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The Rev. Frank Pavone, leader of the pro-life group Priests for Life, believes the reason more bishops have not spoken out about Giuliani is that after the last campaign season, many were advised not to violate IRS rules barring churches from supporting or opposing political candidates.

But Joseph Cella, president of the Catholic advocacy organization Fidelis, told the Times that it is "just a matter of time" before more bishops criticize Giuliani because "he shares the identical position on abortion as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton."

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