Bishop urges prayers to patron saint of politicians to stop abortion

WILMINGTON, USA, October 19 (CNA) - Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., has distributed a prayer to St. Thomas More to parishes and Catholic schools, asking Catholics to pray that politicians be "courageous and effective in their defense and promotion of the sanctity of human life."

Bishop Saltarelli hopes Catholics will pray for the intercession of the patron saint of even after the Nov. 2 elections, in hopes that elected pro-abortion officials might have a "change of heart," reported the Religion News Service.

Bishop Saltarelli said he has met with dissenting politicians and urged all Catholics not to seek Communion if they are unworthy to receive it.

St. Thomas More, a close associate of King Henry VIII, was beheaded in 1535 when he refused to acknowledge the king as head of the church in England. In 2000, Pope John Paul II named him the patron saint of lawyers, politicians and statesmen.