Are They Consistent?

WHEN Roman Catholic cardinal John O’Connor indicated that Catholic politicians could be excommunicated if they do not support the church’s position on abortion, syndicated columnist Mike Royko wrote: “Meanwhile, we have a priest [Louis Gigante] going into court and saying that one of New York’s best-known gangsters, a career mug and menace, isn’t really a gangster at all.”

Royko added: “I’ve never read anything about O’Connor announcing: ‘Anybody who is connected with a crime family​—the Genovese outfit, the Gambino mob and the rest of them—​faces excommunication. Just because someone became a member of our church as a tiny tot doesn’t mean that we have to tolerate his anti-social behavior when he becomes the Godfather.’”