This Just In: Bishop Tobin to Patrick Kennedy - THOU SHALT NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION IN RI

You read that right. I just heard on FoxNews that Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights.

This morning the Providence Journal posted an interview with Rep Patrick Kennedy with the following headline: Kennedy: Barred from Communion.

Here is the 1st part of the article:

"WASHINGTON — Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights, the Rhode Island Democrat said Friday.
“The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion,” Kennedy said in a telephone interview.
Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him “that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I’ve taken as a public official,” particularly on abortion. He declined to say when or how Bishop Tobin told him not to take the sacrament. And he declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop’s injunction.
Bishop Tobin, through a spokesman, declined to address the question of whether he had told Kennedy not to receive Communion. But the bishop’s office moved quickly to cast doubt on Kennedy’s related assertion about instructions to the priests of Rhode Island.
“Bishop Tobin has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese,” spokesman Michael K. Guilfoyle said in an e-mailed statement.
This latest exchange between Bishop Tobin and Kennedy, the only remaining public official in the nation’s most prominent Catholic family, escalates their heated public debate over how the eight-term congressman’s work for abortion rights bears on his standing in the church."

Given the response from the Bishop's office, it seems pretty likely that Tobin did ban Kennedy from recieving communion, but that nothing has been officially sent out yet. From what the news reports say, Church law permits Tobin to ban Kennedy from receiving Communion within the Diocese of Providence, which covers Rhode Island. However, he cannot stop Kennedy from receiving Communion elsewhere since he cannot tell order priests to not give Communion to Kennedy But Kennedy still should not receive Communion elsewhere either. When your Bishop tells you not to receive Communion you have an obligation to obey even if you are not in your own diocese.

They also say that Kennedy could appeal to the Vatican, but it is highly unlikely it will be overturned. I agree with that last statement, esp since Archbishop Burke is the top honcho & told Kerry in 2004 that he would tell him not to receive Communion if he showed up in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

& while other active Bishops probably won't comment, you can bet that you will be hearing plenty from the usual gang of dissenters, aka Catholics in Name Only, including the Non-Catholic Reporter criticizing Bishop Tobin for his courageous stand. The irony here is, these same CINOs would have applauded New Orleans Bishop Joseph Rummel when he excommunicated 3 Louisiana Catholics for their diehard stances against integration on 31 March 1962.

Rummel's actions provide a guideline that it looks like Tobin followed.

That having been said, I am also sure that Archbishop Wuerl will not doing anything about Kennedy just as he has done anything about Kathleen Sibelius despite the actions of her Bishop in Kansas that banned her from Communion when she was governor. Nor do I expect to see anything happen in Boston or the other Massachusetts dioceses.

It will be interesting to see what happens next. Esp if this will give any more Bishops the courage to face up to CINO elected officials in their dioceses. (Not holding out hope for LA & a few other dioceses at this point however.) But it looks like the pass that the Kennedys & other pro-abortion Catholic politicians have gotten in the past is being revoked in at least some dioceses.

Note: at this point there is nothing on the Diocese of Providence website. But stay tuned, as they have put up past correspondence between Bishop Tobin & Patrick Kennedy.

Sources for additional info: Kennedy says RI bishop banned him from Communion .

Report: Kennedy Barred From Communion for Stance on Abortion