Rick Santorum is again criticizing John F. Kennedy, but with a twist.

The GOP presidential hopeful took flak when he said last month that the "absolute" separation of church and state as Kennedy referred to in a 1960 speech made him "throw up."

Speaking to an Alabama audience last night, the Los Angeles Times reports Santorum said:

That's not America. That's France. ... That's a naked public square where people of faith are out of bounds.

Santorum, like Kennedy, is Catholic. The former Pennsylvania senator has at times stressed religion and social issues such as birth control in this campaign.

The Alabama primary is Tuesday.

Last night, Santorum once again expressed regret for saying the Kennedy line about the separation of church and state made him want to throw up. But he vowed to continue to speak out about the role of religion in politics.

"Please pray for me that I do so more articulately in the future," he is quoted as saying by the Los Angeles newspaper.