What was Rudy Giuliani thinking?

Surely the Christian Brothers taught former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani better manners than he displayed at the recent papal Mass at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Maybe he thought no one would notice him, seated with his third wife among 150 or so assorted bigwigs in the Lady Chapel behind the cathedral's cavernous main sanctuary. But video clips of pro-abortion Giuliani returning from Communion have raised eyebrows among the Catholic and the not.

Giuliani defends his boorishness. He asserts his religion is a private matter. And so it is. In fact, the first judge of worthiness for receiving Communion is the individual seeking the sacrament.

Unfortunately, ego-driven folks sometimes confuse their own erroneous judgment with worthiness. That is, they think they can self-dismiss a non-negotiable condition for being in full communion with the Catholic Church. We do not know precise and private details of Giuliani's marital situation, but what we do know --- he is divorced and remarried (without an annulment) --- seems to disqualify him from receiving the Eucharist.

We also know for sure that all politicians who support abortion rights are well beyond the pale. They are not "in communion" with the Catholic Church. That translates: Don't make a fool of yourself and take Communion at a public Mass.

Giuliani might think of himself as a righteous charger against hierarchical heavy-handedness, but if he had any manners he would recall that public figures have a public responsibility. Giuliani violated the most basic of the basic rules of protocol: Don't be an ungracious guest.

And make no mistake, Giuliani was a guest of the archbishop of New York, grinning broadly when Cardinal Edward Egan brought Pope Benedict XVI to personally greet other guests in the Lady Chapel before the Mass.

Giuliani had already promised Cardinal Egan that he would behave himself. As Cardinal Egan said himself: "I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani ... that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion."

Does Giuliani think his promise expired with his term of office?

The Giuliani Partners' corporate Web site boasts of "integrity" and "accountability" among other points of character. Why does the former mayor not apply these to himself? A person of integrity does not face off his host; anyone who understands "accountability" does not renege on promises.

Giuliani was not the only ethnically Catholic pro-abortion politician without manners this time around, but he's the only one who has been called to task. Senators Christopher Dodd, John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all reportedly received Communion with thousands of others at pope's stadium Mass in Washington.

That sent the message that --- wink, wink --- those anti-abortion rules just don't apply to them. Will their bishops follow Egan's lead and call each of them to task?

U.S. bishops should take advantage of this teaching moment, as young people line up in white dresses and dark blue suits for their First Communion, to remind their flocks what it means to take Communion. On a very simple level, it means you subscribe to the teachings of the church. The question of abortion is non-negotiable. Do the bishops have the nerve to proclaim Catholic teachings?

With or without the bishops, the First Communion youngsters will have learned the rules. With luck they'll understand that Giuliani's up-close-and-personal declaration --- to the pope, no less --- that the rules do not apply to him was loutish behavior at its worst, and decidedly un-Christian.

Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University and author of several books in Catholic Studies.