Former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday refused to address a report that he was denied Holy Communion at a South Carolina church over the weekend because of his support for abortion rights.
"I'm not going to discuss that," Biden told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell when she asked about the incident. "That's just my personal life, and I'm going to get into that at all."
Biden was visiting South Carolina for a weekend of campaigning, during which he reportedly attended a Sunday Mass.
"Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden," the Rev. Robert E. Morey of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, S.C., told The Morning News. "Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching."
Biden, who is Roman Catholic, has said he personally opposes abortion but is committed to protecting Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.
"I'm a practicing Catholic, I practice my faith," he told Mitchell, but added he won't "impose that view on other people."
Morey told the Morning News that "I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers."
