01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Yes it offended me that anti-abortion activists held a Rosary for Life prayer service in the State House last week and that first lady Sue Carcieri immersed herself in it.

This unacceptably commingles church and state. It also offends me when Jews go to the State House to light menorahs, as they did again last December. (In an ecumenical touch, Governor Carcieri, who, like his wife, is Catholic, attended.)

I don't assert that a brief menorah ceremony is as heavy as a lengthy rosary service with phrases like "Hail Mary, mother of God" filling the air. But neither do I defend it.

Such theological exercises do not belong in the State House. Any person of any faith -- or no faith -- should at all times feel welcome and comfortable in this public facility.

I have earlier denounced the companion problem of public officials holding or promoting events in religious settings. Perhaps you recall Attorney General Patrick Lynch honoring his predecessors in a ceremony at the First Baptist Church in America, or Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams using his office's prestige to urge judges to attend a Mass at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.

I must say, in participating in and addressing last Thursday's service, Sue Carcieri was being true to herself. I am disappointed that she opposes abortion rights, but that's how she feels -- and how the governor feels -- and if this had escaped your notice, let it register now.

She's a passionate, committed, religious foe of abortion and brings a variety of perspectives, including that of mother/grandmother, sometime participant in Washington marches, and a former student nurse who says she was taught that there were two patients -- mother and fetus -- and that she had an obligation to both.

I spoke with her in the rotunda just before the service began.

I asked why she thought this event was a good and appropriate use of her time and of the State House. She told me, "I feel very strongly about the issue of 'pro-life,' and I am 'pro-life.' But I also feel that it is appropriate to express it in a public forum."

She said the right to live is a civil right. She's always felt that way, but she says sonograms offer additional insight. "Because of sonograms, we are absolutely sure this is a human life equally worthy of anybody and not less valuable," she said, a theme she'd echo at the service.

Standing at a lectern that bore the image of Mary, a few feet from a portrait of Jesus, she told the worshippers, many of them with rosary beads, that she appreciated their presence. "I support your cause."

Obviously smarting from U.S. Supreme Court abortion rulings, she cited the old expression about being safe in a mother's womb, and asked, "What's changed but the laws that have been tampered with?"

She said she believed in the power of prayer. But she was not as sectarian as was Joanne McOsker, president of Catholics for Life, in introducing her: Rhode Islanders are fortunate "to have a governor and his wife who are not afraid to stand up for the truth of Jesus Christ." (Indeed, McOsker told me the purpose of the service was "to end abortion and to establish the teachings of Christ in our government.")

The service far transcended in religiosity, duration and impact on State House comings and goings the brief bland prayers that mark the start of legislative sessions (though I could do without those invocations also). I commend Senate President Joe Montalbano for criticizing the rosary event in yesterday's Political Scene column.

This issue deserves thorough, unemotional debate. Too many people are afraid to speak up.

M. Charles Bakst is The Journal's political columnist.

mbakst@projo.com / (401) 277-7638