Catholics want bishops to stay out of politics

WASHINGTON — As the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops gather in Colorado to discuss how to handle Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, a vast majority of U.S. Catholics say the bishops should stay out of politics.

A new Time magazine poll shows 75 percent of American Catholics disapprove of threats to deny communion to pro-choice politicians, and 70 percent don’t want the bishops to try to influence their votes.

The poll makes clear that neither presumptive Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry’s public support of abortion rights nor some bishops’ public criticisms of his position will make much difference for the country’s 62 million Catholics when they vote in November.

Seventy-one percent of Catholics in the poll disagree that abortion-rights politicians should stop seeking communion, and 83 percent said Kerry’s support of abortion would not impact their vote.