"Archbishops have a right to their opinion, you know. There's freedom of religion in this country. There's no established religion, and archbishops have a right to their opinion. Everybody has a right to their opinion."What an astonishingly stupid response.
It IS astonishingly stupid - but the US bishops have allowed Catholic politicians to get away with it for 40 years (and many other less visible Catholics, too, of course).
The "matter of opinion in a free society" defense was invented by a Catholic priest (Fr. Drinan) for the benefit of Senator Kennedy and has spread far and wide since then.
It's my opinion (as a non-Catholic) that unless there is some public act of refusal of communion by other than the occasional bishop that the practice of apostates receieving communion will continue unabated.