John Kerry Speaks out on Catholic Faith

Revisiting a subject of the 2004 Presidential race, John Kerry gave a speech on his Catholic faith (Kerry Talks of Loss, Renewal of His Catholic Faith, Washington Post Sept. 9, 2006):

In a speech he said he wishes he had given before the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) yesterday described his religious life in greater candor and detail than ever before.

Kerry said in Malibu, Calif., that he "wandered in the wilderness" after the Vietnam War but came back to the Roman Catholic Church after a sudden and moving revelation in the late 1980s.

Here is the text of the speech. Naturally the queestion of abortion is raised, and the Senator hasn't budged a bit: nary a mention of the incompatibility of reconciling his staunch Catholic faith with his staunch support of Roe v. Wade. (Via Amy Welborn, whose blog already features a bevy of responses).

Update! - Good commentary from Insight Scoop's Carl Olson as well.

Q: Can you be Catholic and a Democrat?

Former Democratic Committee Chairman asks, can you be Catholic and a Democrat?

Manchester, N.H, Sep. 15, 2006 (CNA) - David Carlin has been a Democrat nearly his entire life. The former Rhode Island State Senator and Chairman of his local Democratic Party, began voting for Democrats in 1960, when John F. Kennedy was elected the first Catholic President of the United States. Nearly 50 years later Carlin is still a registered Democrat, but has written a book wondering if his Catholicism can still be reconciled with the party of his youth.

Carlin, who even received his party’s nomination for a U.S. Congressional seat in 1992, told the Catholic News Agency that he was motivated to write his new book, Can a Catholic be a Democrat: How the Party I Loved Became the Enemy of My Religion after years of frustration with his changing party.

While he notes that the power and leadership of the party has been shifting for years, Carlin now wonders if reconciliation between his faith and his party is possible any more. . . .

Source: Catholic News Agency. Sept. 15, 2006.