Just for the record

You probably know this already but I wanted to mention in passing that Benedict XVI, the Pope formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the one who

intervened in the 2004 US election campaign [by] ordering bishops to deny communion to abortion rights supporters including presidential candidate John Kerry. ...

Ratzinger specified that strong and open supporters of abortion should be denied the Catholic sacrament, for being guilty of a "grave sin."

He specifically mentioned "the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws," a reference widely understood to mean Democratic candidate Kerry....

A footnote to the letter also condemned any Catholic who votes specifically for a candidate because the candidate holds a pro-abortion position. Such a voter "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy communion," the letter read.

And in case anyone missed the point, the June 2004 letter, while supposedly "enunciating principles of worthiness for communion recipients," was sent only to US bishops - nowhere else.