Archbishop to Obama veep candidate Sebelius: Stop taking Communion

For several months Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, whose father was governor of political bell weather state Ohio, has been among the top tier of potential running mate candidates for Barack Obama. The Democratic National Committee is grooming her for bigger and better things--Sebelius gave the rebuttal to President Bush's final state of the union address.

In fact just yesterday, the Washington Posts' Chris Cillizza just yesterday put her on the top of his list of Obama veepsters. David Finkelstein of the Times of London has her at number four.

But a Papal bullet may may prove fatal to her chances. The last thing the junior senator from Illinois needs is a religion controversy involving his running mate. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas says Sebelius should not accept the sacrament of Communion--until she renounces, publicly, her support of abortion rights.

Rudy Giuliani has faced a similar situation with the Roman Catholic Church for years, but he took Communion just last week at Pope Benedict's mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral last month--which did not escape the notice of New York's Cardinal Edward Egan.

Sebelius' problems with the Church don't end there. She has accepted campaign contributions from Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, perhaps the nation's most notorious late-term abortionist; his nickname is "Tiller the Baby Killer."

Sebelius' son, John, caused embarrassment to the governor and her husband (a magistrate judge) earlier this year when it was revealed that he not only created a prison-themed board game, "Don't Drop The Soap," but the contact address regarding the game was listed as the governor's mansion in Topeka.

A spokesman said in January that the governor and judge "are very proud of their son John's creativity and talent."

Well, maybe they aren't embarrassed.

Jill Stanek, who blogs regularly about pro-life issues, has her take here.

Related post:

UPDATED: Gov. Sebelius' son's "Don't Drop the Soap" prison board game

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