01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 19, 2006

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has a message for Catholic politicians -- such as U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty -- who see their public duties as clashing with the tenets of their faith.

Ditch the job.

The bishop is stung by the attitude of pols, like these two Democrats, who personally think abortion is wrong but who, in their government roles, support abortion rights.

He told me, "We need some moral courage among our politicians. Where are the people who stand up and say, 'This is what I believe and I will live this and I will proclaim it regardless of where it leads in the electoral process'?"

He'd say the same kind of thing about you and your employment.

The bishop asserted, "Anybody should be moved by their conviction of conscience, and if they find that their conscience conflicts with their job they should quit their job, because their salvation is at stake."

When I spoke later with Reed and with Fogarty, who is about to announce for governor, they voiced respect for the bishop's views but defended their stands.

Reed said, "The bishop has laid out his position very clearly." But, "I have an obligation to the people of Rhode Island and to the country to do what I think is best in the context of the Constitution." He said he has to represent people of varying viewpoints. He said part of America's genius is that it "recognizes the role of faith but doesn't make that the only tenet of civic life."

Fogarty agreed with the bishop that is important to listen to one's conscience. But, "We are in a democracy . . . I don't have the right to impose my religious beliefs and faith traditions on other people . . . We need to tread very lightly about looking down the road to having religious beliefs imposed by law."

Fogarty's abortion views figured in another situation last week. He and I planned to walk around inside La Salle Academy, his alma mater, in regard to a coming "roots" column in connection with his candidacy announcement. But Fogarty aide Adam Bozzi said that when he called to alert the school we were coming, he was told Fogarty wouldn't be welcome because of his stance on abortion.

Michael Guilfoyle, diocesan communications director, confirmed that for me. But also, Guilfoyle said, the school's hosting such a visit would violate diocesan policy regarding political use of facilities. Through a misunderstanding, Guilfoyle said, Bozzi was not told about this policy, which is designed to maintain compliance with IRS regulations.

Bishop Tobin's comments came in an interview that focused on the church's opposition to abortion, gay marriage, and physician-assisted suicide.

He said he personally would not vote for a candidate who was wrong on any of those issues. "I would either write in a candidate or not vote," he said as we spoke in his office last Tuesday. He said he would not vote for someone whose views in those areas are "morally illicit."

In fact, he said Catholic politicians who support abortion rights or gay marriage or assisted suicide should refrain from taking communion.

He said, "Receiving Holy Communion presumes that someone is well disposed and that they have both a structural union and a spiritual union with the church. If they find themselves outside of that spiritual and structural union with the church, then they shouldn't receive Holy Communion."

As for the church taking the initiative and telling a specific politician to stop showing up for communion, the bishop said it might come to this, but "I don't feel that need yet."

Reed -- also a La Salle alum -- and Fogarty told me they do indeed take communion.

When I asked Reed if he'll keep doing so, he replied, "This involves, ultimately, a searching examination of conscience and your duty, and it's an ongoing process, I can tell you that."

Fogarty said he has had only one chance to talk with Bishop Tobin, who came here last year, and that if the bishop wants to speak with him on "personal matters of faith" he will make himself available.

Both men said it is the bishop's right to decide not to vote for candidates he considers wrong on a given issue.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, whose record on abortion is mixed but who is outspoken in his support of gay marriage, says he hopes to be able to continue taking communion. He said he strongly identifies with the mission of the church. "The social gospel is something that instructs my position on many issues on poverty and discrimination," he said. In his view, the way society for so long has treated gays has made them a modern version of the lepers to whom Jesus reached out.

Kennedy laughed good-naturedly when I asked about the bishop's voting criteria. The Democrat said he stands ready to serve all constituents, whether they vote for him or not.

The most dramatic moment of the Tobin interview related to the role of an officeholder's conscience.

The bishop had called my attention to a 2004 essay in which he decried the "sad spectacle" of Catholic politicians "betraying their faith for the sake of political gain." He wrote, "This happens especially as they tiptoe around the abortion issue. How often have we heard a Catholic politician whimper, 'I'm personally opposed to abortion but don't want to impose my beliefs on others'?" He argued that they could not get away with this "pathetic cop-out" on matters like racism or sexual abuse.

When work and faith collide, he wrote, the only resolution is to leave your job "and save your soul."

I wanted to make sure how Bishop Tobin's attitude related to prominent Catholic politicians, especially Reed and Fogarty. I noted that Reed believes abortion is wrong but says his foremost obligation as a senator is to his reading of the Constitution and that Fogarty opposes abortion but says the decision should be made by the woman and her doctor.

The bishop called the idea of not imposing your own beliefs on others a "really lame excuse." He spoke of the need for politicians to show courage and so on. So I said, for instance, in regard to Reed, the bishop was saying the senator's obligation to God is more important than his obligation to the Constitution?

"Absolutely. And isn't that self-evident, that nothing should be more important than our faith and our relationship with God, whatever the consequences are? It's that kind of conviction that led to great martyrs over the history of the church, and we probably need some more martyrs today."

Incidentally, the bishop said that if the State House is used for various public causes and rallies -- and indeed it is -- he has no problem with its being the site of a "pro-life" rosary service, as it was on Feb. 2. And he thought it "most appropriate" for First Lady Sue Carcieri to address the participants and support their cause. She and Republican Governor Carcieri are Catholic.

Mrs. Carcieri, who told the folks at the service that she believes in the power of prayer, made a point Wednesday of telling me that she sees abortion as a moral issue, a view she said coincides with, but is not specifically inspired by, Catholic theology. She sees it as a matter of "human rights" and science.

The interview with Bishop Tobin initially focused on assisted suicide. A move is starting in the General Assembly to win enactment of a bill inspired by Oregon law, which permits the practice.

But Bishop Tobin was emphatic in stating the Catholic view that this is wrong:

"We don't believe that we are the lords of our own life. That originates from God, and ultimately God is responsible for it . . . God decides when life begins and when life ends."

I asked about the idea, expressed by former state Sen. John Roney, who sponsored an assisted suicide bill years ago, that a just God would not require people to endure and to grovel, coping with psychic pain even if physical pain could be eased.

The bishop said, "God required his own son to grovel and to suffer and go through intense physical and emotional pain. If God required that of his own son, why would we think that it would be inappropriate for other Christians to suffer in their lives?"

He added, "The goal is not to avoid suffering but it's to integrate it in our lives."

As for the church's opposition to gay marriage legislation -- even though no clergy would be required to officiate at such weddings -- the bishop said, "God created marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It's a matter of natural law and, on some levels, a matter of common sense."

He brushed aside arguments that gay marriage would combat promiscuity and contribute to the stability of society. He said, "Marriage has a very particular definition. It's a union of one man, one woman, together for life and for love, and if any part of that equation is removed, then it starts to undermine what marriage is. Perhaps it would be called something else -- which we still wouldn't approve of morally -- but it's certainly not a marriage."

As for what Catholics should make of a Catholic politician who supports gay marriage, the bishop said, "Being Catholic isn't something you do, it's something you are once you're baptized . . . We would say in that particular situation a particular Catholic has an erroneous opinion or an erroneous view."

Then we discussed abortion, and then the conversation turned to the state budget -- and abortion came up again.

Bishop Tobin said he hopes legislators will do their best to avoid hurting the "poor and weak and struggling," and that the religious community must stand up for the powerless.

I mentioned that I had recently visited a food pantry supported by two parishes and that it reminded me that some day I might need its services.

Bishop Tobin said, "That line between prosperity and poverty is sometimes very thin. And that's . . . the same reason, by the way, that we speak on behalf of unborn children. They don't have a voice, and the line between life and death is very thin."

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

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

AUDIO: Hear Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst's interview with Bishop Tobin, on topics ranging from the Steelers' Super Bowl win to the Catholic Church's stance on gay marriage.

http://projo.com/bakstaudio