Abstract
In his 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry, a Catholic, was threatened with being denied Holy Communion because of his pro-choice voting record. This article investigates the extent to which communion denial impacted Catholic elected officials and analyzes public attitudes regarding communion denial for Kerry. The results of our analysis suggest that, despite heavy media coverage, few bishops endorsed the communion denial and few pro-choice Catholic officials were threatened. While the data also indicate there are meaningful political implications for public attitudes on communion denial, the tactic does not command support from many Catholics.
About the authors
William D. Blake is Assistant Professor of Political Science at IUPUI. He has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Justice System Journal, PS: Political Science and Politics, and the Journal of Church and State.
Amanda Friesen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and faculty research fellow with the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI. She has published in Political Behavior, Politics and Religion, Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, Social Science Quarterly, and PS: Political Science and Politics.
- 1
While Kennedy’s approach to a potential conflict between conscience and public duty may have assuaged enough Protestant voters, Brennan’s pledge angered some Catholic leaders. The former dean of the Notre Dame Law School, Thomas Shaffer, has argued that when a Catholic judge privileges the Constitution above his faith, he has committed a form of idolatry (as cited in Levinson 2003, p. 215).
- 2
The search was performed in the US Newspapers and Wires database with the terms “Catholic AND (denied OR denial OR deny) W/5 communion.”
- 3
Oddly enough, since John William McCormack became the first Catholic elected House Speaker in 1962, six of the last nine speakers have been Catholic, including the incumbent John Boehner.
- 4
The data were downloaded from the Association of Religion Data Archives, www.TheARDA.com on October 28, 2013, and were collected by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
- 5
For information on methodology and weighting, see http://www.people-press.org/2004/08/24/gop-the-religion-friendly-party/2/#about-the-survey or http://www.thearda.com/Archive/Files/Descriptions/RELPUB04.asp.
- 6
An ANOVA revealed a statistically-significant difference of groups at the p<0.05 level.
- 7
Through Stata, we created the variable by “alpha viewkerry votekerry, gen (kerryness).”
- 8
Effect sizes were computed separately from the models and are not reported in the tables.”
References
Allinsmith, Wesley, and Beverly Allinsmith. 1948. “Religious Affiliation and Politico-Economic Attitude: A Study of Eight Major U.S. Religious Groups.” The Public Opinion Quarterly 12 (3): 377–389.10.1086/265969Search in Google Scholar
Appleby, R. Scott, and Kathleen Sprows Cummings. 2012. Catholics in the American Century Recasting Narratives of U.S. History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.10.7591/cornell/9780801451409.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Benedict XVI. 2007. “Sacramentum Caritatis”. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.wf-f.org/SacramentumCaritatis.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Blake, William. 2012. “God Save This Honorable Court: Religion as a Source of Judicial Policy Preferences.” Political Research Quarterly 65 (4): 814–826.10.1177/1065912911421015Search in Google Scholar
Burnham, Walter Dean. 1965. “The Changing Shape of the American Political Universe.” The American Political Science Review 59 (1): 7–28.10.2307/1976117Search in Google Scholar
Clark, Hunter R. 1995. Justice Brennan: The Great Conciliator. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group.Search in Google Scholar
Deam, Jenny, and Colleen O’Connor. 2005. “A Global Truth, A Local View: An Ocean Away, Old Rules Clash with Modern Sensibilities.” Denver Post, July 24.Search in Google Scholar
Goodstein, Laurie. 2013. “Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control.” The New York Times, September 19, sec. World/Europe. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/pope-bluntly-faults-churchs-focus-on-gays-and-abortion.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Kennedy, John F. 1998. “Remarks on Church and State.” In A Wall of Separation?: Debating the Public Role of Religion, edited by Mary C. Segers and Ted G. Jelen, 140–44. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Search in Google Scholar
Levinson, Sanford. 2003. Wrestling with Diversity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.10.1515/9780822385141Search in Google Scholar
Mulligan, John E. 2009. “Kennedy: Barred from Communion.” Providence Journal, November 22, sec. News.Search in Google Scholar
National Election Pool. 2004. “2004 Election Exit Poll Results.” BeliefNet. http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/11/2004-Election-Exit-Poll-Results.aspxSearch in Google Scholar
O’Connor, Philip. 2004. “Roman Catholic Church Raises Some Eyebrows by Warning Politicians.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 8.Search in Google Scholar
Perry, Barbara Ann. 2008. “Catholics and the Supreme Court: From the ‘Catholic Seat’ to the New Majority.” In Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension Between Faith and Power, edited by Kristin E Heyer, Mark J Rozell, and Michael A Genovese. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2012. “How the Faithful Voted: 2012 Preliminary Analysis.” http://www.pewforum.org/2012/11/07/how-the-faithful-voted-2012-preliminary-exit-poll-analysis/.Search in Google Scholar
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2013. “Public Opinion on Abortion”. http://features.pewforum.org/abortion-slideshow/slide3.php.Search in Google Scholar
Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. 2012. “Latino Voters in the 2012 Election”. http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/11/07/latino-voters-in-the-2012-election/Search in Google Scholar
Ratzinger, Joseph. 2002. “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life”. Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. http://www.wf-f.org/CDF-Politicians.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Religion News Service. 2013. “Pope Francis Removes Former La Crosse Bishop Raymond Burke.” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, December 16. http://www.jsonline.com/news/religion/pope-francis-removes-former-la-crosse-bishop-raymond-burke-b99165146z1-236134851.html.Search in Google Scholar
Tatalovitch, R., and D. Schier. 1993. “The Persistence of Ideological Cleavage in Voting on Abortion Legislation in the House of Representatives, 1973–1988.” American Politics Research 21 (1): 125.10.1177/1532673X9302100108Search in Google Scholar
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2007. “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops.” http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/FCStatement.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
Williamson, John B. 1974. “Beliefs about the Motivation of the Poor and Attitudes toward Poverty Policy.” Social Problems 21 (5): 634–648.10.2307/799639Search in Google Scholar
Wuthnow, Robert. 1989. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.10.1515/9780691224213Search in Google Scholar
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston