Archbishop suggests Sebelius move service from Catholic church because of pro-choice stance

Abortion stirs inaugural spat Archbishop suggests Sebelius move service from Catholic church because of pro-choice stance

Topeka — The leader of the Catholic Church in northeast Kansas is criticizing Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius for her support of abortion rights and suggesting Sebelius move her inauguration interfaith service from a Catholic church to another location.

Archbishop James Patrick Keleher wrote in a recent edition of The Leaven, a Catholic newspaper, that he was confident Sebelius, a Catholic, would work diligently as the new governor to help the needy, but Keleher added, "I must note that Gov.-elect Sebelius is at odds with our Catholic faith on that most fundamental moral issue of respect for the right to life of the unborn."

Sebelius will not move the interfaith service, her spokeswoman, Nicole Corcoran-Basso, said, explaining that the Jan. 13 service is too close to make any changes.

Keleher wrote that when Sebelius was a state legislator she voted in favor of liberalizing abortion laws in Kansas.

"This is particularly distressing, since she is a Catholic and as such has a moral responsibility to embrace the Gospel of life and to work for the human and civil rights of all, including the unborn," he said.

Keleher said he was upset that Sebelius was planning to hold the interfaith service at Assumption Church in Topeka, a historic Catholic Church across the street from the Capitol. Sebelius is a parishioner at the church.

Keleher said the plans for the service were made without his knowledge, and that if he had known, he wouldn't have approved them. He recommended that an alternate site be chosen, but that if it was too late for that, then he would allow the service to be staged there as long as it was conducted solely by religious leaders.

Keleher leads the diocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 21 counties, including Douglas County, and has a population of nearly 1 million people, including 188,700 Catholics.

Mary Kay Culp, acting director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, said many Catholics, including herself, had complained to the diocese about the use of Assumption Church by Sebelius.

Referring to Sebelius, Culp said, "This is a woman who got donations from Dr. George Tiller." Tiller is an abortion doctor in Wichita.

"This really rubs pro-life people, including Catholic pro-life people, the wrong way," Culp said.

Sebelius' spokeswoman, Corcoran-Basso, said Keleher's comments "I'm sure were disappointing to her (Sebelius). It's unfortunate, but all we can do is move on."

The issue of Catholic politicians who support abortion rights has generated heated debate. In 1984, then-New York Cardinal John O'Connor criticized Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro for her pro-choice views.

In the 2002 governor's race in Kansas, anti-abortion groups worked for Republican Tim Shallenburger, who opposes abortion. Late in the campaign, Sebelius wrote letters to supporters, saying that she was not "pro-abortion," a move that enraged anti-abortion advocates who cited her legislative abortion rights votes.

Sebelius has said she would propose no changes to Kansas' current law, which anti-abortion advocates believe is too liberal because it has been interpreted to allow late-term abortions in cases when the mother's physical or mental health may be in jeopardy.

"I'm hopeful that what we can do is focus our energy and opportunities that we have on some of the common ground initiatives on making children's lives better in this state," Sebelius recently said.

The Rev. Charles Polifka, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, said the abortion issue was important to Catholics because of the "sacredness of life."

"I wish she (Sebelius) had a stronger pro-life stand. I'm going to look at her in terms of all her issues, but abortion is one issue that is very important," Polifka said.

His Excellency The Most Reverend James Patrick Keleher, S.T.D. Installed Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas September 8, 1993

Archbishop Keleher at: jpkoffice@archkck.org and ask him to forbid Ms. Sebelius from using a Catholic Church for her inaugural event.

"Bump to everything you said. ;)"

Absolutely! If the Archbishop doesn't have the courage (I believe if he was sincere, he would have put a stop to this when preparations for the "service" were initiated, which, I suspect he was aware of from the onset) to stop this blasphemous use of one of the sacred places of Catholic worship under his control, perhaps the issue of separation of Church and State should be broached by the faithful of the diocese.

I think this would be a great case for the normally worthless aclu to investigate......after, of course, they immediately obtain an injunction to stop this from proceeding as planned. That is their favored method of attack regarding religious issues. I would hope they would be equally as adamant about protecting the "civil liberties" of the devout Catholic members of the parish who would be harmed by having their place of worship defiled by a politician who condones/advocates the murder of innocent children, clearly in direct opposition to Catholic doctrine.

Archbishop Keleher Wary Of Sebelius' Service Plans
Sebelius' Spokeswoman Says Service Won't Be Moved

POSTED: 12:32 p.m. CST January 3, 2003
UPDATED: 1:15 p.m. CST January 3, 2003

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/1867884/detail.html

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The state's archbishop has suggested that Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius move an interfaith service for her inauguration from a Catholic church because of her support for abortion rights.

Archbishop James Patrick Keleher wrote in the Dec. 27 edition of The Leaven, the official newspaper for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., that, "I must note that Gov.-elect Sebelius is at odds with our Catholic faith on that most fundamental moral issue of respect for the right to life of the unborn."

Sebelius is a parishioner at Assumption Catholic Church, located across the street from the Statehouse. Keleher described Assumption as "the mother parish of Topeka."

Keleher said the parish made plans for the service, without his knowledge.

He said that if he had known of the plans, he wouldn't have approved them. He recommended an alternate site, but said if it were too late, he would allow the service to be staged as long as it was conducted solely by religious leaders.

He wrote, "there can be no political agenda put forward."

Keleher also expressed concern that the service's location might be misconstrued as him showing support for a "pro-choice agenda." He also noted that the ceremony is ecumenical.

But Sebelius will not move the interfaith service, spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran-Basso said. She said the Jan. 13 service is too close to make any changes.

"Everything has been set up, announced and publicized," she said.

As a member of the Kansas House in 1987-94, Sebelius was among the Legislature's most vocal supporters of abortion rights. She consistently supported less restrictive legislation and even voted in 1990 for a proposal to permit taxpayer-financed abortions.

"This is particularly distressing, since she is a Catholic and as such has a moral responsibility to embrace the Gospel of life and to work for the human and civil rights of all, including the unborn," Keleher wrote.

Keleher said he supports having ecumenical services to mark the beginning of a governor's term as "an admirable custom."

Keleher leads the diocese of Kansas City in Kan., which covers 21 counties and has a population of nearly 1 million people, including nearly 189,000 Catholics.

Mary Kay Culp, acting director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, said many Catholics, including herself, had complained to the diocese about the use of Assumption by Sebelius.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops maintains that elected officials, especially those who say they are faithful Catholics, should defend the church's position on abortion.

Church leaders have admonished prominent Catholics who favor abortion rights. In Texas last year, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez was banned from speaking in church buildings in his own diocese because he favors abortion rights.

In last year's race for governor, anti-abortion groups worked for Republican Tim Shallenburger, who opposes abortion.

Sebelius has said she would propose no changes to Kansas' current law, which anti-abortion advocates believe is too liberal because it has been interpreted to allow late-term abortions in cases when the mother's physical or mental health may be in jeopardy.
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