Posted on 06/02/2004 3:40:34 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Dick Durbin, a Catholic stunned by a hometown priest's statement that he would refuse to administer Holy Communion to the Illinois Democrat over his support for abortion rights, released a scorecard Wednesday that shows him to be a supporter of the church on many other issues.
With an overall score of 60.5 percent, Durbin ranked second highest among the Senate's 24 Catholics in support of issues of importance to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to the study prepared by his staff.
Durbin said he has provided the study results to Illinois' bishops and cardinals, and to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Washington archbishop heading a task force examining whether there should be church sanctions for politicians who are at odds with the church's teachings.
Bill Ryan, a spokesman for the bishops' conference, said the bishops would have no immediate comment other than to advise voters to read their publication, ``Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.''
Durbin's staff said the scorecard covered 48 votes or actions senators have taken on 24 domestic and international issues in the current 108th Congress, and one from the previous Congress on the Iraqi War Resolution. They said they were as exhaustive as possible in matching lawmakers' records on issues where the bishops have taken positions through various documents.
In April, Monsignor Kevin Vann, the pastor of Springfield's Blessed Sacrament Church, told The (Springfield) State Journal-Register that he would not give Holy Communion to Durbin because of the lawmaker's position on abortion.
Durbin, who once was a Blessed Sacrament parishioner and whose children went through its school, said he has never been denied communion. In recent years, he has attended Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, where he has a condo.
``I would have to say that in my public career of over 22 years now that this has been one of the most painful and difficult experiences in my public life,'' Durbin said at a Capitol news conference recounting the priest's comments.
Kathie Sass, a spokeswoman for Bishop George J. Lucas in Springfield, said the bishop, for now, would have no more to say on the communion issue than he did in an April 25 newspaper column.
``The essence is he feels it's not the Catholic tradition to deny communion,'' she said.
Durbin's study also ranked Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democrats' presumptive nominee for president who has also been under fire for his abortion rights' views, as No. 1 in overall support of Catholic issues, at 60.9 percent.
Durbin's fellow Illinois senator, Republican Peter Fitzgerald, who has been a vocal anti-abortion lawmaker, had the 11th highest overall score, at 51.3 percent.
Fitzgerald had no comment, a spokesman said.
This was heavily covered here in Illinois as well as nationally. /sarcasm
Fine, Dick. From now on, I'll pick and choose which Federal laws I feel like "supporting." Heck, 65% doesn't sound like it's too tough to hit...
Sheesh.
With an overall score of 60.5 percent
Every school I went to a 60% was considered a FAILURE, Dumb Durbin!
What were the issues? I guess as long as it has to do with more foreign aid, or anti-U.S. military, he's all for it.
"With an overall score of 60.5 percent, Durbin ranked second highest among the Senate's 24 Catholics in support of issues of importance to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,..."
I guess that 60.5 percent also represents the percentage at which an infant can be euthanized as it emerges from the womb.
Sorry, Mother Teresa called the infant in utero the poorest of the poor. They are the most defenseless.
Social Justice starts with life. Social Justice is not dished up with tax money nor is it enforced charity nor is it viewing the elderly, disabled, and mentally damaged as useless eaters fit only to be terminated.
Oh my, he was OFFENDED! Well, presumably the pain was small compared with what awaits this baby-butcher in the afterlife.
I think that DICK (remember it's more than just a name)Durbin was right there giving in-state college tuition to illegals and fighting for their rights.
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