Rudy Giuliani was in Iowa this week, pressing the flesh and kissing babies, and at one point was asked about his faith:

Addressing a town-hall meeting in Iowa, the former New York mayor was asked whether he considered himself a “traditional, practicing Roman Catholic.” An audience member also called on Giuliani to discuss the role his faith played in making decisions on issues such as abortion.

“My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests,” Giuliani said. “That would be a much better way to discuss it. That’s a personal discussion and they have a much better sense of how good a Catholic I am or how bad a Catholic I am.”

Giuliani is alone among the major Republican candidates in favoring abortion rights, a practice that the Catholic Church opposes. Some church officials have suggested that candidates who favor abortion rights should be denied the sacrament of communion.

On a personal level, Giuliani has been married three times, with one annulment and one divorce. Catholics who are divorced and have remarried are not permitted to receive communion.

It occurs to me that Rudy might have a much tougher time if he wanted to teach high school in Dubuque. Wonder if he ran into Tom Girsch…?

Photo: Rudy Giuliani in Iowa, by Kevin Sanders, AP