Catholic politicians who supported the legalisation of abortion will
not be excommunicated or refused communion, the future Primate of all
Ireland has indicated.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme,
Eamon Martin, presently coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, said he had
never refused Communion to anyone, but reiterated the Church's position
that it is not possible to be a person of faith and actively promote
abortion.
Archbishop Martin said every individual who voted in favour of the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act - which allows terminations
where there is a threat to the mother's life - should question whether
they had actively promoted the killing of the unborn.
However, he said
he did not believe that "the altar rails are the place to be making a
public statement," on the issue.