WASHINGTON  Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island said on Sunday that the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence had instructed him to refrain from receiving communion because of his stance on abortion.

Mr. Kennedy said Bishop Thomas J. Tobin “instructed me not to take communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me communion,” according to The Providence Journal, which first reported the incident.

But Michael K. Guilfoyle, a spokesman for the diocese, said Sunday that the bishop had “never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving holy communion with pastors of the Diocese of Providence.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Bishop Tobin added that his instructions to Mr. Kennedy had come more than two years ago, in a private letter on Feb. 21, 2007.