WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - A group of Catholic Republicans demanded an apology from Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Clinton, demanding they repudiate the support of groups opposed to the Vatican's seat within the United Nations.

    Gore is the Democratic presidential candidate and Clinton is running for US Senate in New York. "I urge Al Gore and Hillary Clinton to finally speak out on this issue and help put this ugly scenario to rest. Their silence thus far has spoken volumes, and it's all we have to go on," said a letter from the Republican Catholic Task Force.

    A coalition of mainly liberal groups are petitioning the UN to strip the Vatican of its status as Permanent Observer to the body. "There is a very unholy war going on in our own country -- a battle being waged to evict the Vatican and the Holy Father from the United Nations," the group said.

    Among the groups backing the effort are several pro-abortion organizations that have also endorsed the candidacies of Clinton and Gore, including the National Abortion Rights Action League and Women Leaders Online.

    The Task Force includes Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, former ambassador to the Vatican Thomas Melady, former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and more than a dozen members of Congress.