Televangelist's endorsement of McCain unlikely to please Catholics

McCain speaks at a news conference with Rev. John Hagee, a televangelist from San Antonio, Texas, on February 27.

The Associated Press has a story in the AJC about McCain's endorsement in by San Antonio televangelist and megachurch leader John Hagee.

This endorsement is unlikely to endear McCain with Catholic voters who chose Bush over their fellow Catholic John Kerry in 2004 and over Al Gore in 2000. So far McCain has enjoyed strong support from Catholics who lean Republican and who make up about a quarter of the electorate.

According to the AP story in the AJC:

[Rev.] Hagee has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and called it a "false cult system" and "the apostate church"; the word "apostate" means someone who has forsaken his religion.

He also has linked Adolf Hitler to the Catholic church, suggesting it helped shape his anti-Semitism.

[F]or the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church," said Catholic League President Bill Donohue.