Providence Bishop Tobin says Kennedy ‘erratic’ — but he’s not referring to mental-health issues

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin on Monday said Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy has shown “increasingly erratic and unpredictable behavior” during their escalating dispute, but said he was “not at all” referring to the congressman’s well-publicized mental-health issues.

The bishop also said he was not suggesting that Kennedy was unfit for office. He said he was “not familiar” or only “generally familiar” with mental-health and drug-addiction problems Kennedy has openly acknowledged and sought treatment for — most recently four weeks of addiction treatment at a medical facility in June.

“His fitness for office is nothing that I would ever comment on,” said Bishop Tobin. “I think that’s up to the voters to make that decision. But I am concerned about his statements and his reactions to some of these recent events. No, I’m concerned about him and I’m praying for him. As I said before, my door is always open, and I hope we can bring a good reconciliation to all this.”

The bishop said the real issue is “the special responsibilities of a Catholic in public life.”

Neither Kennedy nor his spokeswoman, Kerrie Bennett, could be reached for comment Monday. Meanwhile, Bishop Tobin made a round of national TV appearances, including on CNN and MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” (see related story, Page A8), and spoke on local talk-radio programs. More were scheduled today.

The bishop’s comments came amid continuing controversy over whether Kennedy’s support for abortion rights affects his standing in the Catholic Church. It began when Kennedy, a Democratic four-term representative and the only remaining public official in the nation’s most prominent Catholic family, criticized the Catholic stance on abortion clauses in the health-care overhaul legislation pending before Congress.

In a story in The Sunday Journal, Kennedy alleged that Bishop Tobin forbade him from receiving Communion and that the bishop had “instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion.” Bishop Tobin said Kennedy’s statement “has no basis in truth,” and that in 2007 he sent a letter to Kennedy that was “a respectful and gentle request,” not an order.

Bishop Tobin commented about Kennedy’s behavior during interviews with the Associated Press and on the John DePetro show on WPRO talk radio on Monday. He was asked about them later Monday, during an unrelated appearance at La Salle Academy.

“This debate with the congressman is very unfortunate,” he said on the DePetro show. “I’m praying for him, I wish him well. I need to say, honestly, I’m very concerned about the congressman’s increasingly erratic and unpredictable behavior. I think a lot of us are concerned about that. It’s very hard to get a handle on that.

“As his bishop and pastor and also, one of his constituents, by the way, I’m really concerned how he’s responding to this situation. I really hope, I really hope and pray that his friends and supporters and his staff are giving him the help and assistance he needs at this time.”

The bishop took questions at La Salle after a bill-signing ceremony authorizing a Rhode Island license plate for the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, and a kickoff to the 2009-10 “Keep The Heat On” campaign, a five-year-old diocesan program.

He was asked several times to elaborate on his characterization of Kennedy’s behavior as “erratic,” in the context of Kennedy’s long-acknowledged struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and bipolar disorder, or manic depression. Kennedy sought addiction treatment after a 2006 automobile accident. He spent four weeks in addiction treatment this summer, he said, “to ensure I am being as vigilant as possible in my recovery.”

The bishop said he was talking about Kennedy’s “behaviors,” but “not him personally.”

“No, it has no reference at all to his mental-health issue or his drug issue. I’m not even familiar with all that background. I’m talking about his behaviors recently that are very hard to predict and very hard to respond to …”

The bishop said, “For example, two weeks ago here in Providence, he said he wasn’t going to talk any more about his faith or his status in the Church, and then he returns to Washington and gives a major interview about that.”

Bishop Tobin added, “His statement that was released over the weekend — that somehow I’d instructed all the priests to refuse to give him Holy Communion — has no basis in truth. Again, I’m not in a position to analyze him at all. But I am concerned. I hope he’s doing OK. I’m concerned about his personal, and ultimately his spiritual well-being. That’s what this is all about.”

At the heart of this debate, said Bishop Tobin, “is what it means to be a Catholic in public life ... Being a Catholic in public office carries extra responsibilities. It’s public behavior that affects the community — someone who is in a position to pass legislation and so forth. A person in a public position has a special responsibility, when he or she doesn’t act properly, it can cause scandal and confusion in the community …”

The bishop also reiterated his disappointment Monday that Kennedy had decided to go public with what the bishop said he intended as a private pastoral discussion. “I certainly didn’t relish the idea of discussing his faith or his membership in the church in public. That’s something he put on the table, or erroneously put on the table, I think, so I had to respond.”Bishop Tobin said he still hopes for a private discussion with Kennedy, “after the dust settles.”