Zip It on Communion Ban: Bishop to Kennedy

The bishop who had the nerve to tell a Kennedy not to take communion—because he supports abortion rights—is steamed that he blabbed about it. “I am disappointed that the congressman would make public my pastoral and confidential request,” says Bishop Thomas Tobin of Patrick Kennedy. He also says the “request” is not new, but was made “nearly three years ago,” reports IrishCentral.

That said, Tobin has “no desire to continue the discussion of Congressman Kennedy’s spiritual life in public.” But “I will absolutely respond publicly and strongly whenever he attacks the Catholic Church,” as Kennedy did when he suggested the church stop meddling with the health care reform bill. Still, Tobin will continue to pray “sincerely and fervently” for Kennedy’s "conversion and repentance, and for his personal and spiritual well-being.” (More Bishop Thomas Tobin stories.)