Will Catholic Bishops Start Denying Communion to Gay Marriage Supporters?

The leadership of Roman Catholic Church seems in some ways Hell bent to turn the Church into a mirror image of the whacky far right evangelical Christians who obsess over three issues to the exclusion of all else: abortion, stem cell research and, of course, demonizing the gays. The long history of a social ministry aimed at feeding the hungry and clothing the poor seems to be slowly sliding into irrelevance as the womb and legal relationships between same sex couples trumps all else. And the weapon of choice against non-compliant Catholics? The denial of communion, the center piece of the Catholic mass. Change.org has a story that looks at this trend which has been highlighted by the dust up between Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Bishop Thomas Tobin. Is this new obsession sincere in light of the Church's age old effort to depict all things sexual as dirty and sinful or merely a means to try to remove news coverage focus from the continuing sex abuse scandal debacle? Here are some highlights:
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U.S. Catholic Bishops have made a giant leap toward using Communion as their next political weapon, with Rhode Island's bishop telling Rep. Patrick Kennedy that he is no longer welcome to receive Communion during Mass at any church in the entire state. The move by Bishop Thomas Tobin follows through on previous threats by many U.S. Catholic bishops that they would ban pro-choice and pro-gay politicians from partaking in one of the Church's most important sacraments.
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"The bishop instructed me not to take communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me communion," Kennedy said.
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Today [this past Sunday] happens to be the 46th anniversary of the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, the nation's only Catholic head of state. What a difference four decades make in reshaping Catholic identity. Back then Catholics celebrated President Kennedy's leadership. Today, Kennedy and his family would be told by many bishops that they're not welcome to the table.
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The announcement by Bishop Tobin to control Communion like a mafia leader stems from debate during the 2004 election, when Sen. John Kerry (himself a Catholic) was running for President. During that year, conservative U.S. Catholic leaders put together what they considered a list of "non-negotiable" issues that they said Catholics could not waver on.
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It was a narrowing of Catholic theology to strip issues like poverty and social justice from the forefront of the Church, and replace them with opposing abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research. It was also a call to Catholic politicians: oppose abortion and gay marriage at all costs, or risk the threat of the Church denying you Communion and publicly tarring and feathering you as a sinner.
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There's no reason to think that Church leaders won't head to even deeper depths, politicizing one of their oldest traditions in Communion to simply toe a line on gay marriage that is increasingly out of step with public opinion.

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As I have said before, the best thing those in disagreement with the Church's drift toward a 13th century mindset under the Nazi Pope is to "vote with their feet" and exit the Church for denominations not at war with modernity itself. Options ARE out there and should be pursued.