Майк Хукаби, фото Reagan Presidential Library

Mike Huckabee angers some Catholic Christians

Rising Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee risked his standing with Catholic voters Sunday by speaking at the church of a controversial preacher accused of being anti-Catholic, reports ReligionAndSpirituality.com. Huckabee's visit to Cornerstone, pastor John Hagee's "mega-church" in San Antonio, Texas, was fraught with political perils for Huckabee given his efforts to woo conservative Catholics.

Huckabee delivered a Christmas season sermon at Cornerstone about Christ's birth and embraced Hagee, calling him "one of the great Christian leaders of our nation." Hagee is a fiery preacher best known for his writings on the Middle East, where he reads contemporary events as unfolding Biblical prophecy, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The Catholic League says Hagee is virulently anti-Catholic, which he denies, and it is getting the word out that Huckabee is rubbing shoulders with an anti-Vatican figure. Huckabee's campaign insisted his visit to Hagee's church should in no way be taken as a slight to Catholics.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher, enjoyed a rise in opinion polls in recent weeks, largely because he connected with the Republican Party's influential evangelical wing. This puts him in serious contention with less than two weeks before the Jan. 3 nomination battle in Iowa, which starts the state-by-state process to pick the Republican and Democratic candidates for November's presidential election.

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[01/03/2008]

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