c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) What do a former legal counsel for Ronald Reagan and a Democratic governor have in common? As you might expect, it’s not the same politics.

Douglas Kmiec, an esteemed constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University, is a staunchly conservative pro-life Republican. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is a moderate known for consensus building.

They both also happen to support Sen. Barack Obama.

Kmiec and Sebelius are the most recent targets of clergy who use Communion as a political weapon to effectively blacklist respected Catholic leaders. It happened to Sen. John Kerry in 2004, and this year, it’s time for Catholics and all Americans to speak out against this spiritual McCarthyism.

When Kmiec endorsed Obama, conservative Catholic blogs buzzed with outrage. How could a pro-life conservative support a pro-choice liberal? In a recent column published on Catholic Online, Kmiec describes how he was declared “self-excommunicated” by many fellow Catholics. An angry college chaplain denounced his “Obama-heresy” from the pulpit and denied him Communion.

In Kansas City, Archbishop Joseph Naumann has ordered Sebelius not to receive Communion after she vetoed abortion legislation riddled with constitutional red flags. The bill in question made it easier for prosecutors to search private medical records, allowed family members to seek court orders to stop abortions and failed to include exceptions to save the life of the mother.

Along with many public officials, Sebelius recognizes the profound moral gravity of abortion and has supported prudent public policies that have reduced abortions in Kansas. Yet in his diocesan newspaper, Naumann pulled few punches, blasting Sebelius for her “spiritually lethal” message and her obligation to recognize the “legitimate authority within the Church.”

The archbishop has a right, and indeed an obligation, to speak out against abortion; Catholic public officials look to the church to help form their conscience. But the archbishop is on dangerous ground when he tells a democratically elected official how to govern when it comes to the particulars of specific legislation. The proper application of moral principles in a pluralistic society rarely allows for absolutes.

Using a holy sacrament to punish Catholics has troubling political implications, especially during an election year. In 2004, Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis warned Kerry not to receive Communion because of his support for abortion rights. Just a month before the election, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver sent signals that Catholics who voted for a pro-choice candidate were cooperating in evil.

Kerry, of course, narrowly lost the Catholic vote to President Bush, a crucial difference in a closely contested election. Catholics make up a quarter of the American electorate and are quintessential swing voters in key battleground states. It’s essential that Catholic voters recognize that their faith defies easy partisan labels and is not a single-issue faith.

While a handful of bishops make “wafer wars” headlines, and some prominent lay Catholics reduce a rich faith tradition to a few hot-button social issues, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops warns in an election year guide that particular issues must not be misused as a way of ignoring “other serious threats to human life and dignity.” Those threats include racism, the death penalty, war, torture, lack of health care and an unjust immigration policy.

If we remain silent when respected Catholic leaders are publicly attacked and denied Communion, the proper role of faith in our public square is grossly distorted.

This election year, let’s have a better debate about faith and political responsibility that reclaims the vital role religion has often played in renewing our most cherished democratic values.

(Lisa Sowle Cahill is a professor of theology at Boston College and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. David O’Brien is the Loyola Professor of Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.)

KRE/CM END CAHILL