Source: CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/29/kerry.faith.tm/index.html
On March 29, 2004 CNN.com posted an article from TIME Magazine that reported, "The last time a major political party put forward a Roman Catholic candidate for President, he had to confront bigotry and suspicion that he would be taking orders from Rome...[but] Kerry's positions on some hot-button issues aren't sitting well with members of the church elite. Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: 'People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion.' But it's far from clear whether the greater political problem is Kerry's or the church's. 'I don't think it complicates things at all,' Kerry told TIME in an interview aboard his campaign plane on Saturday, the first in which he has discussed his faith extensively. 'We have a separation of church and state in this country. As John Kennedy said very clearly, I will be a President who happens to be Catholic, not a Catholic President.'"