John Kerry (and my BF’s) Catholic pastor
Go to Boston.com‘s front page right now, or to this specific link, and see a story on John Ardis, pastor of John and Teresa’s parish on Beacon Hill.
Make no mistake: The Rev. John B. Ardis, the Catholic priest whom
Senator John F. Kerry has chosen to give the benediction at tonight’s
closing session of the convention, opposes abortion.But he also opposes capital punishment, the war in Iraq, and public policies he views as unjust toward the poor or hungry.
Although several Catholic cardinals have declined to speak at
Democratic conventions because of the party’s support for abortion
rights, Ardis, the director of the Paulist Center of Boston, will speak
tonight without reservation, noting that neither the Republicans nor
the Democrats are fully in step with Catholic teachings.
Exactly. If the rageful Christian Right focused on any issue besides
abortion, virtually all national politicians would be sorely lacking.
Speaking at the convention is not Ardis’s first bold move. In April,
just before Easter, Ardis said he would welcome Kerry to Communion,
despite declarations by some bishops that they would deny Kerry the
sacrament because of his support for abortion rights. Ardis instead
cited the position of other bishops, including O’Malley, that
individual Catholics should examine their consciences to decide whether
to seek Communion.“We will not deny Communion to anyone who presents themselves in a respectful manner,” Ardis said.
Not the whole story. The day before Easter, when the controversy
was at its highest, the Paulist Center received a call from the
archdiocese, instructing them to not deny the Eucharist to Kerry.
I’m sure that the archdiocese would deny this if you were to ask them,
but they made it very specific that Kerry be able to receive the
Eucharist if he presented himself.
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