John Kerry has finally spoken about his faith and the 2004 campaign, and if he is not exactly eloquent, he is a good deal better than he was three years ago. (Sure, that's a low threshold.) Kerry spoke to journalists at what was billed as an "informal session" at the Pew Forum, and Catholic News Service has an account of the event.

There is much of interest, and wisdom gained not only by his distance from the heat of a campaign, but also--it seems--from his subsequent conversations with several American cardinals. It was interesting that his Protestant mother (rather than his Catholic father) was most responsible for his being raised in the Church (a phenomenon I have noticed in other interfaith marriages).

His best line to one of his cardinal-mentors: "You have a position on abortion, but you don't have a policy. I have to have a policy."

I'd also like to see the bishops advocate some policies as strongly as they advocate their positions. But the Dems (and the GOP) need to meet them halfway. According to CNS, Kerry said "the Democratic Party is guilty of being overly strident on the subject...but support is growing within the party to try to find common ground with abortion opponents over reducing the number of abortions."

That, as they say in TV news, remains to be seen.