St. Louis prelate says voting for candidate who backs abortion a sin

Archbishop Burke publicly stated that Catholics sin by voting for candidates who favor abortion during an interview June 24 with St. Louis radio station KMOX-AM. It was in response to one of many questions he was asked about a variety of subjects.

He said later that his answer to the question on voting for candidates who favor abortion merely reiterated what the church teaches.

"I didn't say anything novel or extraordinary," the archbishop said. He added that Pope John Paul II has touched on such matters in writings such as his 2003 encyclical, "Eucharistia de Ecclesia," on the Eucharist and its relation to the church.