Sydney  - Attorney-General Rob Hulls, the highest law officer in the Australian state of Victoria, was refused communion at a Christmas Eve Catholic mass at his church because his government legalized abortion, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

A minister assisting a priest in a children's mass at St Monica's Church in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, placed his hand over the communion cup when Hulls approached the altar with his children in his arms, the Herald Sun newspaper reported.

The minister refused to serve communion to Hulls over the passage of the Abortion Law Reform Act, which legalized abortion in Victoria, the paper said.

After a standoff lasting more than a minute, Hulls moved to another queue and was given the sacrament by parish priest Father Peter Kenny, the newspaper said. The priest said the incident was a misunderstanding. (dpa)