MIAMI, Fla--A controversy that was already smoldering among Catholic bishops who have heard Democratic presidential nominee and Catholic John Kerry voice views that oppose the church on many issues sparked to life after Kerry's decision to take Holy Communion on Sunday, according the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Kerry's pro-choice stance on abortion and his advocacy for stem-cell research and priestly marriage fly in the face of Catholic doctrine and tradition. The bishops have formed a task force to consider how to deal with politicians in church ranks.

"It would be a dilemma for any politician in any religion," said Mary Carter Waren, professor of religious studies at St. Thomas University in Miami. "It's just that the Catholic Church is an easier target, because we're so organized."

Kerry took Holy Communion on Sunday at the Paulist Center in his hometown of Boston, raising tensions another notch with American bishops. Some have suggested that he refrain from taking Communion while he is openly contradicting church doctrines.

In answer, Kerry invoked separation of church and state.

"I fully intend to continue to practice my religion as separately from what I do with respect to my public life, and that's the way it ought to be in America," The Boston Globe reported him as saying last week.

"What Kerry is doing is called dissent in the church," said theologian Ed Sunshine of Barry University, Miami Shores. "And we need that. Not that every form of dissent is good. But if it's thoughtful and informed, how else do you moderate teaching that is too strict?

"The question is, where do you draw the lines? That's what is being figured out."

South Florida Catholics weighed in about Kerry.

Ramon Valdes-Denis, an architect in Miami, said he sympathizes with Kerry's situation. "At the end, if he is a good man and truthful about what he believes, he should take Communion.

"Kerry's problem is a problem a lot of people have," Valdes said. "I'm pretty sure George Bush went to church yesterday, and sent troops to kill people in Iraq today. To me, he wasted his time in church."

In the Diocese of Palm Beach, fellow Catholic Martin Dytrych's opinion differed. He said he didn't feel qualified to say whether Kerry deserved Holy Communion; but if the bishops determined against it, he would support their decision.

"And if [Kerry] so opposes what the church believes in, maybe the church is not for him," said Dytrych, a CPA in Palm Beach Gardens. "But he should be the one to decide that."

But according to several surveys in the last decade many Catholics oppose certain views espoused by their church. Studies show they have voted with other Americans in favor of capital punishment and assisted suicide.

The group Catholics for a Free Choice reported that two-thirds of Catholic voters think abortion should be legal, and that 52 percent of all Catholic women prefer a hospital that offers abortions.

Abortion, of course, is only one of many social and political stances taken by the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic politicians don't usually draw fire for opposing the church on, say, war or capital punishment or feeding the poor. But when it's abortion or other sexual matters, conservatives in the church complain.

The U.S. bishops have formed a task force to consider how to apply a "doctrinal note" issued by the Vatican in November 2002. The paper said Catholic politicians should abide by church teachings in their voting records.

The six-man task force is expected to deliver a report by the bishops' national meeting in November. Few observers think the group will recommend excommunication for wayward politicians -- a deed that would likely cause a public backlash. More likely would be private talks between bishops and politicians, followed by public scolding for those who proved defiant.

But the controversy offends some Catholics, who said the sacraments are being used politically.

"Every four years, people try to drag the church into politics, using the Eucharist as a cudgel," said a national Catholic observer, who asked not to be identified. "It's a profane use of something sacred."