Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is one of the most prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians in the United States.

But even Kerry thinks President Barack Obama ought to appoint a U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See who shares the Church’s pro-life convictions.

Some media reports — subsequently denied by the Vatican — have claimed that Caroline Kennedy and some other prominent pro-abortion Democrats were rejected as potential ambassadors by the Vatican because of their support for abortion rights.

The diplomatic post at the Vatican remains empty, apparently because of the difficulty the White House has had in finding a suitable candidate.

In an April 21 interview with USA Today, Kerry denied he had recommended Caroline Kennedy as a possible Holy See ambassador.

Asked by USA Today if his comments disavowing support for Kennedy as ambassador imply that “it just makes for someone who opposes abortion rights to appointed to be the ambassador to the Vatican,” Kerry said this:

“I think that if you’re going to have an ambassador who has access to His Holiness and who has the ability to be able to represent all the other things which you want to come together on, it is best not to, you know, make things difficult from the outset. And obviously given the position of the Church, that’s difficult. And so an honest answer is, you know, I’d try to find someone who doesn’t open up that front, so to speak, and has the ability to represent where we find the common ground.”

Added Kerry, “Does it have to be [a pro-life person]? No, but that would be my recommendation.”

In effect, with his remarks to USA Today Kerry is acknowledging that pro-abortion Catholic politicians like himself are unsuitable to serve as America’s senior diplomatic representative to the Pope, because their pro-abortion beliefs are in complete contradiction to what the Church teaches on abortion.

It should be remembered that it was Kerry’s unsuccessful presidential candidacy in 2004 that focused public attention on the ongoing debate among the U.S. bishops about how best to deal with pro-abortion Catholic politicians who, like Kerry, continue to present themselves for reception of Communion — as Kerry did last April at the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Kerry is right to conclude that a pro-abortion Catholic politician like himself is unfit to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. But if he realizes this, it’s very difficult to understand why he can’t realize he is equally unfit to receive Communion because of that same pro-abortion position.