A Roman Catholic bishop has banned Representative Patrick Kennedy, a scion of the Kennedy dynasty, from receiving Communion because of his support for abortion rights. The move escalates the battle between the Catholic Church and one of the most prominent Catholic families in the United States.
Mr Kennedy, a son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy and nephew of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, revealed 2007 decision of Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island in an interview.
"The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," he told The Providence Journal.
Church law permits Bishop Tobin to ban Mr Kennedy from receiving Communion within the Diocese of Providence but he cannot prevent him from receiving Communion elsewhere.
Mr Kennedy said the bishop had explained his decision by telling him "that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I've taken as a public official", especially on abortion.
Bishop Tobin said in a statement that he had confidentially asked Mr Kennedy in 2007 not to take Communion but had "never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese".
The bishop and the Rhode Island congressman have been engaged in dispute recently after Mr Kennedy criticised Catholic bishops for threatening to oppose a huge expansion of the American health care system unless it included tighter restrictions on publicly funded abortion.
Mr Kennedy voted against an amendment to a Democratic health care plan sought by the bishops, though he later voted for a health care plan that included that amendment.
Bishop Tobin, the spiritual leader of the most heavily Catholic state in America, demanded an apology from Mr Kennedy for his remarks.
"While I greatly respect the Catholic Church and its leaders, like many Rhode Islanders, the fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic," Mr Kennedy told Bishop Tobin in a letter. "I embrace my faith which acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity."
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