By Josh Mercer, FIDELIS, May 29th, 2008

After his May 9 decision asking Catholic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to denounce abortion or voluntarily not receive Holy Communion, there’s been a firestorm in Kansas. The Archbishop has fielded a bunch of questions about his decision. You really need to read the whole Q&A http://www.cjonline.com/stories/052408/rel_282379261.shtml

Here’s a great excerpt:

QUESTION: Are not the actions of the church requesting Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion not to receive Communion really an attack on Democrats?

ANSWER: No. Cardinal Edward Egan of New York has made a similar request of former Republican presidential candidate and former mayor Rudy Giuliani. I encourage Catholics who are Democrats to remain Democrats, but to change the extremist position of the party on abortion. If the majority of Catholic Democrats objected to the platform of the party supporting legalized abortion, it would change tomorrow. In the end, to create an enduring public policy that will protect the right to life of innocent unborn children, we need to build a consensus that includes both Democrats and Republicans.

It’s really not a partisan issue. It’s about opposing the killing of babies. And the Catholic Church has a right to establish rules for its membership. Just as the Teamsters can demand that its members not cross the picket line, the Catholic Church can demand that its members not support baby killing.