In case you didn't know, Rudy Giuliani is a practicing Catholic who just happens to be running for President. Scary, isn't it? The former "Mussolini of Manhattan" ruled New York with a strong hand and even nastier temper when confronted with the press. But what will he do when the Pope threatens to excommunicated him? Pope Benedict XVI has threatened to excommunicate any politician in favor of abortion and withhold communion. Yet the former mayor has another problem, he's living in sin.
From WCBS-TV:
But even without the abortion issue, Giuliani can't take communion anyway. It seems he never got a church annulment of his second marriage to Donna Hanover. Church sources said that means he's living in sin with third wife, Judith.
Will that affect the race?
"It may affect, it may not," political guru Henk Sheinkopf said. "For those Catholics who listen to the pope they won't vote for him."
A spokesman for the New York Archdiocese refused to comment on Giuliani's status in the church, saying that would involve a private communication between Cardinal Edward Egan and the former mayor in Manhattan.
Of course this is a private matter. Who cares if he is "living in sin," what matters for deciding on the next leader of the free world is if he or she can govern our nation effectively. Idealistically speaking that is. Some Catholics will vote whatever way the Pope tells them and others will not. That is just plain common sense.
However, it is just another piece of 'questionable ethics' to add to his already considerable ethics problem. Being a Republican in New York City tends to be a tough sell in middle America. Not being from middle America, I wonder just how much flak he can get over not getting the church to annul the marriage....and why the hell he let that one slip in the first place.
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