This morning's edition of the Oregonian has a piece on the front page about the local Archbishop's recent ruling on which Catholics can receive the Eucharist. He said that any Catholic who publically opposes Church teaching on abortion or same-sex marriage shouldn't receive the Eucharist. Archbishop sets Eucharist Rule

What troubles me deeply about this and other American Bishops public stances on the issue is that they are singling out just one politically partisan side of the issue. I've yet to hear or read anything stating that Catholic politicians who publically support the Death Penalty should be denied the Eucharist, for example. Is it mere coincidence that Death Penalty supporting Catholics tend to be Republicans and Abortion or Same-Sex Marriage supporting Catholics tend to be Democrats?

This strikes me as very deliberate meddling in partisan politics by the American Catholic Church. Why is this important? I've heard political science experts state that there are only two groups of "swing voters" who really matter - Catholics and political Independents. Presumably because those are the two groups who bring enough voters to the table to swing elections one way or the other. It's sure looking like there is an active move by American Catholic officials to swing the upcoming Presidential election.