A debate simmers over Kerry and the Eucharist

John F. Kerry has taken Communion for years, but suddenly this simple, central expression of his Roman Catholic faith has become a political issue.

The political world is abuzz over whether the Democratic candidate for president will be turned away when he seeks Communion today, Easter Day, because Kerry is a supporter of abortion rights.

Kerry's archbishop, Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, would not deny Kerry the sacrament. The cardinal who heads a committee on relationships between the hierarchy and Catholic politicians, Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, also would give Communion to Kerry. And Rev. John Ardis, the director of the Paulist Center on Beacon Hill, where Kerry generally worships and plans to celebrate Easter today, says he would welcome Kerry.

But the discussion, on the Internet and in the news media, about Kerry's eligibility for Communion suggests an intensifying politicization of a debate within the Roman Catholic church about how it should respond to officials who disagree with important church teachings.

One conservative magazine, the American Spectator, has suggested that Kerry is seeking to be rejected for Communion to cause a furor; several conservative groups have jumped on his differences with Catholic teachings.

The discussion of Kerry's eligibility for Communion appears to have been driven by comments by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis and Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., who said they would turn Kerry away, and by an apparent misunderstanding of O'Malley's stance.

According to O'Malley's spokesman, the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, the archbishop of Boston does not turn people away for Communion despite his staunch opposition to abortion rights. He said Catholics know they are supposed to be "properly disposed" for the reception of Communion, which means "they are not in a state of serious sin, and have not separated themselves from the church by a public action."

"If someone presents themselves for Communion, unless they're obviously not Catholic, we give them Communion," Coyne said. "The important thing to recognize is that the reception of Holy Communion is not a reward for living an exemplary life; the reception of Holy Communion is, among many things, a remedy and nourishment of the soul for the Catholic Christian, to help them persevere in seeking a life of holiness and becoming more aligned with the church's life."

Coyne said O'Malley had no comment on Kerry, "because, basically, we're not going to allow the Archdiocese of Boston to get embroiled in a national political campaign. The archbishop has made no public statement regarding Mr. Kerry or his Catholicism, and he does not plan on doing so."

A Boston College theologian, Stephen J. Pope, said O'Malley would face increasing pressure to speak out because Kerry is a Bostonian and because the Democratic National Convention is to be held in Boston.

"It puts him on the spot in Rome, because they will expect his prominent position to be used to try to move the American political scene in the direction of the moral vision of the church," Pope said.

O'Malley appears to have sparked speculation that he might deny Kerry Communion through two actions. Last summer, on the day before his installation as archbishop of Boston, he issued a statement declaring: "A Catholic politician who holds a public, prochoice position should not be receiving Communion and should on their own volition refrain from doing so. The church presumes that each person is receiving in good faith. It is not our policy to deny Communion. It is up to the individual."

Then, in January, O'Malley gave an interview to a website called LifeSite News, which quoted him as saying: "These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to Communion." O'Malley said he was misquoted.

O'Malley's practice appears to be in line with that of most Catholic bishops and priests. Cardinal Bernard F. Law publicly gave Communion to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, for example, despite Kennedy's disagreement with a variety of public policy positions of the church.

The archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the head of the bishops' task force examining the relationship between the hierarchy and Catholic politicians, also allows Communion for the many Catholic politicians who support abortion rights and who worship in the nation's capital, according to his spokeswoman, Susan Gibbs.

Kerry, like many American Catholics, disagrees with the church on a variety of matters. Not only does he support abortion rights, but he opposed the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, and he supports civil unions for gays and lesbians. Kerry told The Boston Globe last year that he has "no problem with [the] idea" of priests marrying -- a position that puts him in line with the vast majority of American Catholics. Kerry also violated canon law recently by accepting Communion at a Protestant church, Charles Street AME Church in Boston.

Some conservatives have questioned whether Kerry is eligible for Communion based on his marital status. Kerry's first marriage ended in divorce. Although church officials refuse to confirm or deny whether the marriage was annulled, Kerry and his spokesman told the Globe in 2000 that the senator's first marriage, to Julia Thorne, was annulled by the church at the senator's request. Kerry is now married to Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Priests in two areas where Kerry has worshiped, the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington and the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, say they have no problem with Kerry receiving Communion.

"I feel he is entitled to receive the Eucharist as much as any other practicing Catholic," said Ardis, who said he has been inundated with calls from people asking him to turn Kerry away. Ardis said Kerry and his wife frequently worship at the Paulist Center when they are in town; he said the couple are welcome to pray there.

"I was trained that you do not deny people the Eucharist," he said. "We can't judge the heart or the conscience of the individual who is coming to receive."

In Washington, Kerry has worshiped at Georgetown University's Dahlgren Chapel.

"Am I going to make a judgment about everybody that comes before me? I'm in no position to do that," said Rev. William J. Byron, the former pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, who is acting president of Loyola University New Orleans. "That person is a responsible person who is judging his or her own worthiness."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.