Last year, the U.S. Conference of Bishops began exploring what penalties they might impose on politicians who ignored church doctrine. But, thus far, the bishops' task force has left those decisions to local archbishops.
In St. Louis, Bishop Raymond Burke has said he would refuse to give Kerry communion. Kerry's own archbishop, Sean O'Malley of Boston, has said politicians who don't follow church doctrine should refrain from participating in the sacrament, which honors the sacrifice of Jesus and is reserved for those in good standing.
Kerry has generally said little about his faith on the campaign trail, and he declined to comment Friday directly on the Vatican cardinal's comments.
Last week, he met with the Washington archbishop heading the church task force looking into the question of sanctions against nonconforming politicians.
Spokesman David Wade said the candidate's faith was very important to him, as was the taking of Communion, a central element of the Catholic liturgy.
The onetime altar boy tries to attend Mass weekly, Wade said. Kerry, 60, once considered entering seminary.
"His faith has played a very important part in his life and helped him through tough times as a soldier, as a father and as a human being," Wade said.
Kerry typically attends Mass at the Paulist Center on Beacon Hill in Boston, a liberal church where parishioners tend to stand, rather than kneel, in prayer.
The nations' 63.4 million Catholics are far from a monolithic group, and polls show that they are as split on the issue of abortion as America itself.
A November 2003 Los Angeles Times poll found that Catholics' views on abortion were as fractured along similar lines as those of the nation at large. Of all those surveyed, 29% believed abortion should always be legal; 30% of Catholics shared the same view. More than 40% of respondents thought abortion should be illegal with rare exceptions; 43% of Catholics agreed.
Another survey, conducted by Catholics for a Free Choice, found that Catholic voters "are not taking their cues from the Catholic bishops" on how to vote in political contests, with 70% saying the views of church officials were not important on such issues. The survey was conducted before the 2000 election.
Majorities of Catholic voters also disagreed with the church hierarchy on other hot-button issues -- with 80% supporting the death penalty and 56% backing the practice of allowing doctors to assist in the suicide of terminally ill patients.
