CHURCH RITES No Communion for liberal voters?

Sen. John F. Kerry is a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
DENVER -- In stark and dramatic language, the Roman Catholic bishop of Colorado Springs has declared that anyone voting for a politician who supports same-sex marriage, abortion rights, stem cell research or euthanasia will be denied Communion in the church.
The upcoming presidential election, Bishop Michael Sheridan said in a three-page letter to the diocese newspaper May 1, will be one of the most important in history -- "critical in the battle to restore the right to life to all its citizens, especially the unborn and the elderly and infirm."
Though other bishops across the nation have said pro-abortion rights politicians would be denied Communion in their diocese, Bishop Sheridan is the first to threaten voters with the sanction.
"Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside of full Communion with the church and so jeopardize their salvation," Bishop Sheridan wrote.
"Any Catholics who vote for candidates that stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences."
The letter said nothing about capital punishment, but Bishop Sheridan in the past has said that the death penalty was not as weighty as the other issues.
Kerry's candidacy
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, is a Catholic who supports abortion rights. His candidacy has ignited controversy over church teachings and how they apply to politics.
The archbishop of St. Louis, Raymond Burke, said he wouldn't give communion to Kerry because of his political views. Bishops in Boston, Portland and New Orleans have agreed that pro-abortion rights politicians shouldn't take Communion.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called such politicians "dishonest" witnesses for Christ.
Bishop Sheridan, who heads a diocese of 125,000 members, did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
His letter likely will have little practical effect, since most people receiving Communion aren't quizzed about their political beliefs beforehand.
Still, it caused some consternation.
Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, a Catholic who personally is against abortion, called Bishop Sheridan's statement tragic.
Here's the concern
"What is disturbing is that he has broadened the field pretty significantly by saying anyone in an elected position, anyone who supports them or votes for them suffers the sanction of having Communion withheld," Ritter said.
"Receiving the sacrament of Communion is the most significant and sacred ritual available to Catholics, so to withhold it is an extremely punitive measure."
Ritter said the bishop's letter offers little nuance and confines voters to single issues without recognizing the complexity of the choices before them. In the state legislative district where he lives, Ritter said, both candidates support abortion rights.
"If I abide by Sheridan, I am disenfranchised in that election," Ritter said.
Withholding sacraments from political enemies has a long history in the Catholic Church.
"It's been a tradition going back to the early popes who, if they didn't like a politician, would deny them Communion," said Lynn Ross-Bryant, professor of Western religion at the University of Colorado.