RI Bishop Asked Kennedy To Avoid Communion

The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island says he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop receiving Holy Communion in 2007 because of the lawmaker's stand on what he called moral issues.

Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Bishop Thomas Tobin "instructed" him not to receive Communion because of his abortion rights stance. Kennedy said diocesan priests have been told not to give him Communion, but he did not explain how he knew that.

Tobin said in a statement Sunday that he "has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese."

The bishop says he confidentially asked Kennedy to stop receiving the sacrament in early 2007. Kennedy supports abortion rights, which the Roman Catholic Church considers a grave moral evil.

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