McCain comments on pastor

McCain comments on pastor

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday repudiated any views of a prominent televangelist who endorsed him last month “if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics.”

McCain has come under fire since televangelist John Hagee endorsed him Feb. 27, but until Friday, his response had been tepid. The Arizona senator merely said he doesn’t agree with everyone who endorses him. He said Friday he had been hearing from Catholics who find Hagee’s comments offensive.

Hagee, leader of a San Antonio megachurch, has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as “the great whore” and called it a “false cult system” and “the apostate church” — “apostate” means someone who has forsaken his religion.

On Friday, McCain took a stronger stance on Hagee’s views in an interview with The Associated Press.

“We’ve had a dignified campaign, and I repudiate any comments that are made, including Pastor Hagee’s, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics,” McCain said.

“I sent two of my children to Catholic school. I categorically reject and repudiate any statement that was made that was anti-Catholic, both in intent and nature. I categorically reject it, and I repudiate it,” McCain said.

“And we can’t have that in this campaign,” McCain said. “We’re trying to unite the country. We’re uniting the country, not dividing it.”

He was responding to one critic in particular, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, who raised the issue in a Thursday conference call with reporters.

“She made the attack. I am responding by saying that I am against discrimination and anti-Semitism, anti-Catholic, anything racial, and I have proved that on the campaign trail,” McCain said.