Carcieri

PROVIDENCE — Taking sides in the escalating public dispute between Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Governor Carcieri on Wednesday accused Kennedy of making “outrageous statements about the Catholic church” that left the bishop with “no choice except to come back and defend the church.”

Speaking on WPRO and to reporters after an unrelated news conference later in the day, Republican Carcieri said he would not comment specifically on whether Democrat Kennedy should refrain from taking Communion if he disagrees with — and feels compelled to vote in his public life against — church teachings on such “core” issues as abortion.

He said that is a private matter between the bishop and the congressman.

And, when asked if he believes an elected Catholic’s first allegiance is to his or her church, Carcieri said: “No, I am not saying that … When I am elected, sworn to uphold the laws of the state and the nation, that’s what I do … [But] if there are conflicts between positions that I am advocating as governor and my church and my faith, then that is something I have to sort out.”

“It may be that I can’t be a member of the church that I am a part of,” he said. “Everybody has to sort those issues out personally.”

But he left no doubt who he thought was in the right when he defended the bishop’s public comments about Kennedy on both local talk radio and in a round of national TV appearances. Along the way, Bishop Tobin said he was “very concerned about the congressman’s increasingly erratic and unpredictable behavior,” and “praying for him.”

Carcieri said: “I think the Bishop had no choice … because if you go back to how this all started, it was basically Congressman Kennedy making pretty outrageous statements about the Catholic Church” and the church’s position on “protecting the sanctity of innocent human beings. So I think the bishop had no choice except to come back and defend the church, which I think he did very well.”

He lamented what he called the “rudeness” with which he said the bishop was greeted on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”

The governor’s comments came amid continuing controversy over whether Kennedy’s support for abortion rights affects his standing in the Catholic Church. It began when Kennedy, the only remaining public official in the nation’s most prominent Catholic family, criticized the Catholic stance on abortion clauses in the health-care overhaul legislation pending before Congress.

Kennedy told an interviewer on Oct. 21, “I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social-justice issue of our time.” He said, “If the church is pro-life, then they ought to be for health-care reform because it’s going to provide health care that is going to keep people alive.”

At the start of the dispute, Bishop Tobin called Kennedy’s comments “irresponsible and ignorant of the facts” and asked for an apology. As the dispute escalated, Kennedy alleged that Bishop Tobin forbade him from receiving Communion and that the bishop had “instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion.” Bishop Tobin said Kennedy’s statement “has no basis in truth,” and that, in 2007, he sent a letter to Kennedy that was “a respectful and gentle request,” not an order.

Carcieri said what needs to be remembered is that Kennedy “instigated” the dispute.

On the Communion debate, he said he has no position: “I am only responding to one point, which is that the church was attacked by the congressman ... [as] being inconsistent and not pro-life. I fully support and understand the bishop wanting to do what he has to do. He is the spokesperson for the church and the statements that were being made did not convey the church’s position and he felt he had to respond.”

kgregg@projo.com