Kennedy discusses health care at Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rep. Patrick Kennedy will discuss health care in his first public appearance since saying that Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop instructed him to stop receiving Holy Communion because of his support for abortion rights.

The Democratic lawmaker is scheduled to participate Monday in a panel discussion at Brown University on the politics of health care reform. Kennedy, a Catholic, and Bishop Thomas Tobin have feuded for weeks over publicly financed abortion and health care reform.

Earlier this month, Kennedy said Tobin had banned him from receiving Communion and had told priests not to give him the sacrament. Kennedy did not say when that happened.

Tobin later said he wrote Kennedy in 2007 and asked that he not receive Communion. The bishop said he never instructed priests to withhold the sacrament from Kennedy.