by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer While speaking at a dinner in Washington DC last Friday evening, Archbishop Raymond Burke said funeral rites should not be given to pro-abortion Catholic politicians. Archbishop Burke, Prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura, told a gathering of about 200 guests at the 14th Annual Partnership Dinner sponsored by Inside Catholic that while "we must speak the truth in charity," Catholics also "should have the courage to look truth in the eye and call things by their common names." In an obvious reference to the Kennedy funeral, he said that “neither Holy Communion nor funeral rites should be administered to such politicians," who support abortion or same-sex marriage. "To deny these is not a judgment of the soul, but a recognition of the scandal and its effects," he said. He went on to say that  when a politician is associated "with greatly sinful acts about fundamental questions like abortion and marriage, his repentance must also be public." He added, "Anyone who grasps the gravity of what he has done will understand the need to make it public." Catholic pro-life leaders across the nation pleaded with Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley not to allow the highly publicized and laudatory Catholic funeral that Sen. Ted Kennedy received because of the late Senator’s long history of support for abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research.   Many people believe that calls for the denial of Communion or a Catholic funeral to Catholic politicians who oppose Church teaching is judgmental and uncharitable, but Archbishop Burke does not agree. During his talk, he said it is not uncharitable to point out the scandal caused by Catholic politicians. "The Church's unity is founded on speaking the truth in love,” he said. “This does not destroy unity but helps to repair a breach in the life of the Church." © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com