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Rudolph Giuliani and Silvio Berlusconi share more than just Italian roots and an off-the-cuff approach to politics. The former mayor of New York and current Prime Minister of Italy also have the same beef with Pope Benedict XVI and the rules of the Catholic Church. Both political leaders are divorced and remarried Catholics, which shuts them out from receiving Holy Communion because of longstanding Church doctrine that forbids divorce. The ban, however, has not stopped either Berlusconi or Giuliani from receiving communion - and getting caught on camera doing so, with much tsk-tsking from the Church...
...communion at the 2000 private funeral in Tunisia of former Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi. Giuliani for his part was much more bold in his defiance of the ban, lining up for communion (offered in the pews by a priest) at the St. Patrick's Cathedral Mass during the Pope's visit to New York in April. New York's Archbishop, Cardinal Edward Egan, later publicly scolded the former mayor and presidential candidate, saying they had "an understanding" that he would not take Communion. A spokeswoman for Giuliani said his faith "is a deeply personal matter and should remain confidential...
...rumblings on the specific issue of divorced Catholics were in large part stirred by the Pope himself. Shortly after rising to the papacy, Benedict said the problem needed "study." During a July 2005 meeting with priests from the Italian mountain region of Valle d'Aosta, the Pope said: "We all know that this is a particularly painful situation. None of us has a ready-made solution, because each person's situation is different...
...called for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in all cases, the men who have run on those platforms have been careful to use more measured language. George W. Bush's frequent references to "the culture of life" fit that mold, borrowing a phrase made famous by Pope John Paul II that resonated with social conservatives but sounded innocuous to most pro-choice voters. When pressed in presidential debates, Bush even refused to say whether he wanted to see Roe overturned, choosing instead to talk about the importance of "changing hearts" about abortion...
Back when he was just starting in television--and ever since, but particularly back then--Tim Russert was astounded by the joys of the job. Early on, he helped arrange an interview with the Pope for the Today show--and Tim did it up right: he took along red nbc News baseball caps for the Cardinals and a white one for the Holy Father. "He put it on!" Tim told me when he came home. "We have pictures!" Then he said, more quietly, "But, you know, it was really something being in his presence. You felt something holy...