LJWorld.com

Topeka — The leader of the Catholic Church in northeast Kansas is criticizing Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius for her support of abortion rights and suggesting Sebelius move her inauguration interfaith service from a Catholic church to another location.

Archbishop James Patrick Keleher wrote in a recent edition of The Leaven, a Catholic newspaper, that he was confident Sebelius, a Catholic, would work diligently as the new governor to help the needy, but Keleher added, "I must note that Gov.-elect Sebelius is at odds with our Catholic faith on that most fundamental moral issue of respect for the right to life of the unborn."

Sebelius will not move the interfaith service, her spokeswoman, Nicole Corcoran-Basso, said, explaining that the Jan. 13 service is too close to make any changes.

"Everything has been set up, announced and publicized," she said.

Keleher wrote that when Sebelius was a state legislator she voted in favor of liberalizing abortion laws in Kansas.

"This is particularly distressing, since she is a Catholic and as such has a moral responsibility to embrace the Gospel of life and to work for the human and civil rights of all, including the unborn," he said.

Keleher said he was upset that Sebelius was planning to hold the interfaith service at Assumption Church in Topeka, a historic Catholic Church across the street from the Capitol. Sebelius is a parishioner at the church.

Keleher said the plans for the service were made without his knowledge, and that if he had known, he wouldn't have approved them. He recommended that an alternate site be chosen, but that if it was too late for that, then he would allow the service to be staged there as long as it was conducted solely by religious leaders.

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Keleher leads the diocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 21 counties, including Douglas County, and has a population of nearly 1 million people, including 188,700 Catholics.

Mary Kay Culp, acting director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, said many Catholics, including herself, had complained to the diocese about the use of Assumption Church by Sebelius.

Referring to Sebelius, Culp said, "This is a woman who got donations from Dr. George Tiller." Tiller is an abortion doctor in Wichita.

"This really rubs pro-life people, including Catholic pro-life people, the wrong way," Culp said.

Culp said she was satisfied with Keleher's handling of the situation.

Sebelius' spokeswoman, Corcoran-Basso, said Keleher's comments "I'm sure were disappointing to her (Sebelius). It's unfortunate, but all we can do is move on."

The issue of Catholic politicians who support abortion rights has generated heated debate. In 1984, then-New York Cardinal John O'Connor criticized Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro for her pro-choice views.

In the 2002 governor's race in Kansas, anti-abortion groups worked for Republican Tim Shallenburger, who opposes abortion. Late in the campaign, Sebelius wrote letters to supporters, saying that she was not "pro-abortion," a move that enraged anti-abortion advocates who cited her legislative abortion rights votes.

Sebelius has said she would propose no changes to Kansas' current law, which anti-abortion advocates believe is too liberal because it has been interpreted to allow late-term abortions in cases when the mother's physical or mental health may be in jeopardy.

"I'm hopeful that what we can do is focus our energy and opportunities that we have on some of the common ground initiatives on making children's lives better in this state," Sebelius recently said.

The Rev. Charles Polifka, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, said the abortion issue was important to Catholics because of the "sacredness of life."

"I wish she (Sebelius) had a stronger pro-life stand. I'm going to look at her in terms of all her issues, but abortion is one issue that is very important," Polifka said.