Sebelius in trouble with Catholic Church

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By Julia Duin

President Obama's nominee to head the agency that guides federal abortion policy is the latest Roman Catholic politician to find herself torn between her political beliefs and her faith.

Already admonished against receiving Communion because of stands she has taken on abortion as governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius now faces even closer scrutiny from the church since she was nominated to serve as secretary of health and human services earlier this month.

What began as a local matter between Mrs. Sebelius and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the archbishop of Kansas City, Kan., has taken on larger dimensions with the prospect that Mrs. Sebelius could reside in Washington.

Earlier this month, Archbishop Raymond F. Burke - formerly the archbishop of St. Louis but now prefect for the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest court - declared that Mrs. Sebelius should not approach the altar for Communion in the United States.

"After pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin," he told CatholicAction.org, a conservative Web site.

Archbishop Naumann, meanwhile, has been in contact with Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of the Washington Diocese to inform him of the Kansas City prelate's discussions with Mrs. Sebelius.

A spokesman for Archbishop Wuerl said church officials in Washington would act in accordance with the admonition from Kansas City. A church official in Washington said the admonition does not prohibit priests from serving Mrs. Sebelius if she does present herself, but declined to speculate on what would happen in that event.

Baptist theologian and Mercer University professor David P. Gushee said the situation between Mrs. Sebelius and the Catholic bishops "is a very uncomfortable situation for those of us who are concerned about the role of faith in the public square. I take seriously the concerns of Catholic leaders about one of their own flock. It's not intrinsically disqualifying but it is a concern.

"Whoever gets named HHS secretary will have to be somebody who will move ahead with concrete abortion-reduction policies. I hope she'll be asked about that."

Mrs. Sebelius has vetoed bills restricting abortion and received considerable support from Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kan., abortionist who specializes in third-trimester abortions. That disturbs Lou Engle, the evangelical Protestant founder of the Call, a youth prayer movement based across the state line in Kansas City, Mo.