Bishop Says No Communion For Some Voters

A Catholic bishop in Colorado Springs , Colorado, USA, says Catholics who vote for politicians who support abortion rights, stem-cell research, euthanasia and gay marriage should not receive holy communion. Bishop Michael Sheridan says voters could receive communion only if they recant and repent in confession. But, he added, no one will be enforcing the rule as parishioners line up for communion. Several other Catholic bishops have issued similar warnings to politicians who support such issues. But Sheridan is believed to be the first Catholic official to extend the warning to voters. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis said previously he would not give Communion to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry because the senator backs abortion rights. Also, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans and Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston are among those who say Catholic politicians who dissent from church teaching shouldn't receive communion either. Some quarters heavily criticized Sheridan's warning. "I think it is an outrageous intrusion into what is supposed to be the separation of church and state. It is frightening," said Michael Merrifield, a Democratic state lawmaker who is not Catholic but represents part of the heavily religious Colorado Springs area. "It goes against everything that we believe is important to democracy since we founded this country," he said. Sheridan told The Denver Post newspaper he singled out abortion and the other issues because they are "intrinsically " evil.

Kerry Derides American 'Arrogance' in Iraq

On the heels of the beheading of American contractor Nick Berg by Islamic extremists in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry refocused attention on the abuse of detainees, labeling as "arrogance" America's overall attitude. "What has happened is not just something that a few, you know, privates and corporals or sergeants engaged in," Kerry said of the detainee abuse scandal, speaking at a fundraiser Thursday in Louisville, Ky. "This is something that comes out of an attitude about the rights of prisoners of war. It's an attitude that comes out of how we went there in the first place, an attitude that comes out of America's overall arrogance as policy," he said. The Pentagon has already begun the process of court martial for a number of U.S. soldiers allegedly involved in embarassing some Iraqi detainees, some photos of which were released earlier this month. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said the Pentagon began investigating the charges of abuse immediately upon learning of them last fall. But Kerry, who is in a dead heat with President Bush in most presidential polls, still blames the administration for "alienating" the rest of the world with its policies. "We've alienated countries all around the world, and I believe as president I know how to run a war on terror that actually makes America safer and stronger, and lives up to our values," Kerry said. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has denounced Kerry's exploitation of the prison abuses, including mass e-mailings that attacked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and begged for money, as a "creepy fund-raising gimmick." And Marc Racicot, the Bush-Cheney campaign chairman, said, "It's striking to see the ease with which John Kerry thrusts an important moment for our country into the campaign's daily spin cycle." "At a moment when America and Americans stand strong behind our troops on the battlefield, John Kerry is attacking President Bush and the military and seeking to divide along party lines," Racicot said.

Gore endorses "The Day After Tomorrow"

Former Vice President Al Gore  says people should see the upcoming movie  "The Day After Tomorrow",  in which global warming suddenly creates a new ice age that freezes entire cities. Scientists and Gore agree that the movie is loose with the scientific facts, but the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000 said he hopes the film will get people to start talking about climate change. "It's an emergency that seems to be unfolding in slow motion, but it actually is occurring very swiftly — not as swiftly as the movie portrays, but swiftly in the context of human history," Gore said Tuesday in a conference call organized by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org. Gore and MoveOn.org are promoting a leafletting campaign, where volunteers will distribute fliers when the film opens on Memorial Day weekend. Gore said he has read the script and seen the trailer and anticipates seeing an advance screening of the film.The fliers describe the weather crisis in the movie as "over the top," but say global warming is real and that President Bush is doing nothing to stop it. Republican National Committee spokesman Christine Iverson said given that Gore chose Howard Dean to win the Democratic primary race, "it's doubtful that the American people will be willing to rely on him as a movie critic."