BOSTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Two candidates for a U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts defended Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., in his very public dispute with a Catholic bishop in Providence.
Kennedy said last week he was banned by Bishop Thomas Tobin from receiving the sacrament of communion and the cleric instructed priests in the diocese not to give communion to Kennedy because of his stance on abortion rights. Tobin says he never ordered priests in his diocese to deny communion to Kennedy.
"It seems to me a little bit ironic that a church that was willing to overlook the victimization of many, many children over several years is now turning around and saying to people who are good Christians, good Catholics, that, 'You can't join this,'" Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Catholic, said during a debate for the seat of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., also seeking Kennedy's seat, commented, "And they wonder why people stop going to church."
Patrick Kennedy is the youngest son the late senator.
