Rhode Island‘s top Roman Catholic leader has asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop taking Communion over his support for abortion rights.

It is true that the Catholic church is against abortion. But using a political figure to influence the debate on health care is hypocritical. There are so many issues that the Catholic church has failed to denounce publicly such as child molestation allegations. I don’t see how denying Communion will make the congressman change his mind.

The world is changing, the Catholic church must change as well. Congressman Kennedy certainly understands that. His decision to support abortion is between him and his God, not between him and the Catholic church. As the Zulu of South Africa say, “No one drinks medicine on behalf of a sick person.”