Monsignor Issues Statement After Priest Asks Parishioners To Do Penance For Obama Vote

In the statement, The Rev. Msgr. Martin T. Laughlin, P.A., Administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, stated the priest -- The Rev. Jay Scott Newman -- doesn't speak for the church.

By: Kevin Justus | WSPA-TV
Published: November 14, 2008

After a Greenville County priest said his parishioners shouldn't take Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama, the monsignor of the diocese issued a statement on the priest's comments on Friday.

In the statement, The Rev. Msgr. Martin T. Laughlin, P.A., Administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, stated the priest -- The Rev. Jay Scott Newman -- doesn't speak for the church.

"The recent comments of Father Jay Scott Newman, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C., have diverted the focus from the Church’s clear position against abortion," Laughlin stated in the release. "If a person has formed his or her conscience well, he or she should not be denied Communion, nor be told to go to confession before receiving Communion."

Laughlin did continue in his statement to encourage Catholics to support the president-elect "with a view to influencing policy in favor of the protection of the unborn child."

Newman said Thursday church law doesn't allow him to refuse parishioners the sacrament at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville, but he said his congregates shouldn't take Communion until they do penance for supporting "the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president."

In their annual meeting, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.

Read Laughlin's complete statement here.