 He was active on ecumenical issues, and was chairman of the Committee on Ecumenism of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of ChrisConn, the Christian conference of Connecticut.Whealon left the Democratic Party in 1988 because of his opposition to abortion, declaring in his column in the weekly "Catholic Transcript" that he was "unable in conscience to remain a registered Democrat" because of the party's support of legal and government-financed abortions.In 1974, he said that Catholic healthcare professionals who participated in abortions faced excommunication.