MEXICAN CARDINAL SAYS NO COMMUNION FOR FOX

MEXICO CITY, Jul 4, 01 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Norberto
Rivera of Mexico City said on Tuesday that President
Vicente Fox and his new wife should not receive Communion
since both are previously divorced without have received
annulments.

Fox, who is ironically the most religious man to hold the
office of president in Mexico in 70 years, married his
long-time spokesman, Martha Sahagun, on Monday. Critics
said Fox risked looking like a hypocrite after touting his
religious values during his campaign last year. However,
Fox had been in a tough spot as Mexicans had grown
increasingly critical of Fox and Sahagun living together
without being married.

Cardinal Rivera, the highest-ranking churchman in Mexico,
told reporters, "Neither are they excommunicated, nor are
they in sin but as long as they are not married in the
Church they cannot take Communion." Critics said the
cardinal was meddling in politics and blurring the
separation of church and state, but the cardinal's
spokesman replied on Tuesday that the cardinal is well
within his rights as pastor to speak about spiritual
matters. In any case, the spokesman added, the cardinal was
simply restating Church teaching that a divorced person may
receive Communion, but a remarried Catholic who has not
received an annulment may not.

Church officials in Mexico said they did not know the
status of Sahagun's and Fox's annulment petitions before
the Church. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said on
Tuesday he was sure that Fox's marriage had not been
annulled.