clipped from: uk.reuters.com SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A Texas evangelical leader who endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain earlier this year has apologized for anti-Catholic remarks that angered Church members and embarrassed McCain's campaign.
John Hagee, pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, wrote a letter of apology to the Catholic League on Monday for comments in which he called the Church "apostate" and likened it to the "great whore" in a passage of the Bible.
Hagee's comments, which circulated on the Internet, drew comparisons with the controversy surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over statements by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
McCain, who accepted Hagee's endorsement before the Texas primary in March, had faced a call by Catholic League President William Donohue to repudiate the pastor, who, he said, had "a history of denigrating the Catholic religion."