When I was 13, Jack Kennedy was running for president. As a fan, I didn’t understand why his Catholicism was a big deal; but many U.S. citizens feared that their commander-in-chief would be secretly taking orders from the Pope.
We are the U.S., not Iran. Separation of church and state is essential to our form of government.
Some religions are unkind to women: Catholics oppose women’s freedom of choice, but also would deny women contraceptives. (Go figure!) Islamic states often won’t let women drive, show their faces, or be educated. Some societies even mutilate girls’ genitals in childhood. In the U.S., public decision-makers should act for the public good, not obey priests’ or mullahs’ orders.
Pope Francis appears to understand this, as do most clergy. But some U.S. bishops (who insist popes are infallible except when they disagree with a pope) are punishing politicians who honor their oaths of office. Joe Biden (in South Carolina) and our own State Sen. Joe Cervantes (by the local Catholic diocese) were recently denied communion. These Catholic prelates are attacking not just Joe and Joe, but our system of government.