Maria Shriver: Why I'm a 'Cafeteria Catholic'

California First Lady Maria Shriver likes the "compassion and justice of Jesus Christ" advanced by her Catholic religion, but can't abide the church's positions on gays, divorce and a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, she reveals in a Washington Post interview. "I'm a cafeteria Catholic," she declares, referring to her habit of following only Catholic teachings she believes in.

"I consider myself a Catholic in good standing," she added, even though "I don't spend a lot of time squaring my own daily life with the institutional church." A South Carolina priest last week triggered a political controversy when he threatened to deny communion to those who voted for Barack Obama because of the president-elect's stand on abortion. The priest was overruled by his superiors.
(More Maria Shriver stories.)