Catholic Democrats. I have really been enjoying the spat between Catholic Democrats who are pro-abortion and Catholic Bishops who are trying to get them excommunicated from the church unless they repent and vote pro-abortion no more. World has a link to an article stating that 48 Catholic democrats sent a letter to the Cardinal of Washington that it's actions will bring back anti-Catholic bigotry and hatred. Catholics won't be able to get elected because everyone will fear that they are getting orders from the Pope on how to vote.
Come on. What a bunch of winers. As Catholics they should be taking their cues from the Pope (and more importantly from the Bible), but there are only so many issues that this covers. Really the only areas that are affected by this would be areas of direct morality, like abortion and gay rights. As a religious person, specifically a Christian, you should be making decisions, like voting, on how you see the world through the lens of your faith. Otherwise it's not much of a faith at all is it?
The article goes on to detail the Democrat's arguments about why they shouldn't be blacklisted just because of Abortion, when they agree with the Pope and Church on many other issues, like the death penalty and the war in Iraq. They just don't understand why this issue is such a big deal to some people, it seems.
Democrats also see this as the Church trying to influence the legislative process as a violation of the establishment clause (when it's quite the opposite. The Est. Clause was created to protect the church from politicians). Really this is just the Church reacting to decades of behavior, not the Church trying to influence votes.