McCain should distance

himself from televangelist

who can't stand Catholics

Even though Protestants outnumber Catholics in the United States by an approximate 2:1 margin, the number of practicing Catholics remains a force to be reckoned with. One would think that 75 million-plus faithful with political savvy would be worth paying attention to by presidential hopefuls.

It appears the presumptive Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., hasn't received the message.

McCain recently earned the endorsement of Texas televangelist John Hagee. Hagee long has called the Roman Catholic Church a "cult," anti-Semitic, an "apostate church" and much more offensive terms not fit for print in this paper.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue went so far as to say: "Indeed, for the past few decades, (Hagee) has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church."

In an era in which religion does matter in national politics, we find it incredulous that McCain would not denounce such a loose cannon's endorsement. Particularly when requested to do just that by Catholics.

To date, McCain has refused. He defends his decision by saying: "It's simply not accurate to say that because someone endorses me that I therefore embrace their views."

The GOP hopeful misses the point. McCain is not being accused of sharing the same anti-Catholic sentiment that Hagee espouses. McCain simply has been asked to put appropriate distance between himself and the long-established vitriol spewed forth by the televangelist.

We encourage McCain to recognize what is one of the country's largest organized blocs of traditionally Republican-leaning voters: The Catholic Church. To not repudiate Hagee's offensive positions is the same as McCain saying Catholics are not worth defending.

Why a national leader would risk alienating such a large portion of the population defies our imagination.

Editorial by Patrick Lowry

plowry@dailynews.net