Now that polls show that even Catholics are disgusted by this sort of thing, a bishop pretends he didn't really say what he said:

Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said on Friday that he was "deeply disappointed" that his recent criticism of Roman Catholic elected officials who supported abortion rights had been interpreted by some New Jerseyans as a political slap at Gov. James E. McGreevey.

In an interview, Archbishop Myers said Mr. McGreevey was not the target of statements he had made in a pastoral letter saying that Catholic officeholders who did not share the Vatican's opposition to abortion should not seek communion. He said he had apologized to the governor for any misperception by the public.

"I didn't name him specifically in the letter," Archbishop Myers said....

Here's the archbishop's problem: He and other like-minded bishops want to attack Kerry specifically, because Roe will be overturned if Bush wins. But they can't pinpoint Kerry because that gets into dodgy church-state issues. So the archbishop does what all the others have done: He conceals his attack on Kerry as an attack on a category of people. Then, when people come to the obvious conclusion that he's attacking the most prominent person in his state who falls into that category, he's simply horrified. Sorry, Padre -- I'm not sure I see a way around this one.