"Catholic Members of Congress Express Concern"

Here is a statement, issued by various Catholic members of the House of Representatives, "in response to Pope Benedict’s warning that Catholic elected officials risked excommunication from the Church and should not receive communion for their pro-choice views."

Put aside the question whether, in fact, the Holy Father ever suggested that Catholic elected officials risk excommunication for "pro-choice views." Put aside, also, questions -- questions that are well above my pay grade -- about whether or not "pro-choice" Catholic politicians have excommunicated themselves.

This just strikes me as bizarre:

The fact is that religious sanction in the political arena directly conflicts with our fundamental beliefs about the role and responsibility of democratic representatives in a pluralistic America -- it also clashes with freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution.  Such notions offend the very nature of the American experiment and do a great disservice to the centuries of good work the church has done.

What is meant by "religious sanction in the political arena"? A suggestion by the Pope that a politician who agitates in favor of expanding abortion rights has, by that agitation, left communion with the Church is not a "religious sanction in the political arena." Second, how on earth can such a suggestion "clash[]" with, or even implicate, the "freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution"? Next, what are the "notions", exactly, that "offend the very nature of the American experiment" (and why should the Pope care about such offense?) And, finally, words cannot capture the silliness of pro-abortion-rights Congressmen scolding the Pope for -- by reminding Catholics that they ought not to promote the destruction of unborn children -- undermining the "centuries of good work the [C]hurch has done."