Governor general rebuked over communion

OTTAWA, Canada — Catholic church officials say Canada’s Anglican governor general, Adrienne Clarkson, should not be taking communion in Roman Catholic churches.

The controversy surfaced in January after it was revealed that Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais gave Clarkson communion last September, when she came forward at a memorial service in Notre Dame Cathedral.

Church officials said last week that with a few narrow exceptions its practice is to refuse communion to non-Catholics.

Bill Kokesch, a spokesman for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said sometimes non-Catholics are not refused the sacrament “just for civility.”