This week’s Time magazine asks the rhetorical question: Does Joe Biden have a Catholic problem?

Take a look:

On Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops publically called out Biden for comments he made about abortion on NBCs Meet the Press. Even Kerry, whose support for abortion rights is much stronger than Biden’s and who was running at the top of the ticket, never generated attention from more than a handful of the most extreme bishops. The involvement of the bishops conference is a clear signal that the communion wars are not over. And it has Catholics Democrats worriedly asking themselves: Can one of their own ever again win national office?

In many ways, Biden is in a better position to deal with criticisms of his Catholicism than Kerry ever was. The 2004 Democratic nominee was utterly unprepared for the attacks that came his way. He had to contend with a press corps that trailed him to mass each Sunday and practically accompanied him to the communion rail to see if he would indeed be given the Eucharist. And when Kerry’s campaign decided to remain silent about the issue, he left unchallenged the idea that he was a bad or insincere Catholic.

Biden, in contrast, knew what was coming. Delaware’s Catholic leaders have never sought to withhold communion from the senator because of his support for abortion rights. But in 2006, then-Wilmington Bishop Michael Saltarelli pressured Biden’s high school alma mater into dropping plans to name a new student center after him, citing a 2004 statement from the USCCB: “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.”

While he accepted Bishop Saltarelli’s directive, Biden can be feisty about defending his Catholic faith. At one 2005 political event, he memorably vowed that “the next Republican that tells me I’m not religious, I’m going to shove my rosary down their throat.” That spirit, along with his Scranton roots, could attract him more sympathy from fellow Catholics when criticized by church leaders. “His blue-collar background may inoculate him in ways that it couldn’t for John Kerry,” says Bill Roth, president of the Catholic Democrats PAC.

Biden also benefits from the work of progressive groups like Roth’s that didn’t exist in 2004. Catholics United, for example, has developed a specialty in religious rapid response, blasting out a press release “Palin Attacks Catholic Community Organizing by Senator Obama” shortly after the GOP running mate’s speech at the Republican convention. And some conservative Catholics are speaking out as well, venting their disappointment with Bush policies that have not reflected Catholic social teaching and with the Republican Party’s focus on overturning Roe v. Wade as the only way to address the abortion issue. Douglas Kmiec, a former Reagan administration official and Obama’s most famous conservative Catholic supporter, has rushed out a book about his choice in time for the fall campaign: Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question about Barack Obama.

But it’s the renewed confidence and assertiveness of Catholic Democrats that may have gotten Biden in trouble…

You can continue at the link to find out why (as if you didn’t already know…)