The University of Notre Dame invited President Barack Obama and Catholics were stunned. Georgetown honored HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Catholics everywhere were horrified.
Meghan Myers, the Executive Director of the annual fundraiser for Catholic Charities, told LifeSiteNews that U.S. President Barack Obama was invited to keynote the Al Smith dinner by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
And for the life of me I can’t see why Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s invitation to President Obama to the Al Smith dinner is any different. I know the Church isn’t honoring Obama but come on. [Creative Minority Report]
There is one difference in that Notre Dame officially honored President Obama with an honorary law degree. Other than that I am also scratching my head rather roughly in discerning why Cardinal Dolan thought this was a good idea. I am a fan of the Cardinal in many ways, but this decision I am certainly not a fan of.
We will of course hear “Jesus ate with sinners”, yes but he did not invite Pontius Pilate for a fundraising event. If this was some public event with both the President and the Cardinal attending this would not be a problem.
The ironies of this invite are rather extreme. According to the Obama Administration Catholic Charities is not a Catholic institution as defined by the mandate. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a Catholic institution to be exempted from the mandate. That a man who voted for infanticide and has been a consistent anti-Catholic bigot is invited to a fundraising event for an institution he would tax/fine out of existence is hard to fathom.
I can understand efforts in the past to make this event a non-partisan affair and to reach out to both aisles as a worthy intention. Considering that Al Smith was a Democratic presidential nominee it is quite understandable that these fund raising dinners have invited Presidents and nominees. But the history of this event does not trump scandal and the non-invite of President Clinton certainly set a precedent. The militantly pro-abortion Obama recently promised not to “give any ground” on the mandate.
Now I am all for praying for our enemies and heaping coals of fire on their head.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Inviting them as a prominent guest at a fundraising event – not so much. Though I pretty much would like to see Catholic institutions stop inviting politicians of any party. Surely we can do better in regards to inviting people actually living their faith. Heck I am not that happy with Gov. Romney’s invite, a man who thinks an attack on religious freedom “are not things that are part of my campaign.”
Al Smith’s presidential bid failed largely to anti-Catholic bigotry and this fact is only highlighted with the invite of an anti-Catholic bigot who is directly attacking the 1st Amendment.
Please you eminence make this problem go away like the shower scene in Dallas.
9 comments
If Clinton did not get the invite and Kerry did not get the invite, then President Obama should not either. He is more of an antagonist to the Catholic Church in general and human life in particular to be up there.
Cardinal Dolan wants us to vote with our Catholic conscience, but I pray that he sees that lifting up someone with views as radical as Obama’s causes more confusion in the Catholic electorate.
Let us pray…
The Notre Dame debacle had Obama amidst a crowd of sycophants.
Bishop D’Arcy and Mrs. Glendon both boycotted the event, and a good
number of ND students also refused to attend their own graduation
in protest.
The format of this dinner is a different thing entirely. The president
won’t be the only speaker, but one of three. If Cardinal Dolan opts
to pull punches (not likely), candidate Romney will surely take up
the slack. The audience will not consist exclusively of suck-ups
like it did at Notre Dame– this crowd will be, I believe, dubious of
the president’s pretense at goodwill toward Catholics. Let’s wait to
see what happens before jumping down Cardinal Dolan’s throat.
[…] Cardinal Dolan’s Head Scratching Invite to Obama – Jeffrey Miller, The Curt Jester […]
This one’s pretty obvious to me, but only because I know +Dolan, and know those who know +Dolan.
Honestly, this was an excellent move. Think about it this way: it’s not so much about giving President Obama a platform or whatever, so much as it is about getting Obama to…. actually ENGAGE us. +Dolan has repeatedly stated that he’s going to be working with the president, in terms of resolving the HHS Mandate debacle. But — and I dunno if you can tell, or not, from where you’re sitting — President Obama hasn’t exactly been quick to engage us. He doesn’t really want to have much to do with any contention regarding his fascist mandate. So Cardinal Dolan keeps opening doors, trying to keep things going, knowing full well that none of this will ever come to fruition. No way Barrack Obama goes into the Lion’s Den, to deal with the crapstorm he ignited. Absolutely no way.
But politically, smart, smart move. And a genuinely honest one: Obama can’t get rid of us.
And this is where these bishops get in trouble when they start playing politics. They should stay with theology.
Obama consistently sends one clear message: kiss your religious freedom goodbye. Cardinal Dolan is sending a mixed message about Obama, which only causes further confusion among Christians, he has strengthened the enemy’s favorite weapon of confusion.
Here’s my take: As a Catholic father, it is my duty to raise my four boys to assent and adhere to the faith and morals proposed by Holy Mother Church. And as I understand it I have a legitimate claim to assistance from the Church and from its pastors in fulfilling this duty, and certainly in no way hindering it. My question is how I can credibly explain to my boys how antithetical abortion is to Catholic morals when the most pro-abortion president in our nation’s history is being publicly honored by a Prince of the Catholic Church?
This action by Cdl. Dolan really takes the wind out of the sails of those of us who have been backing him up on his bold stands against attacks on our religious liberty. The message it sends to me is this: “It’s OK, what Obama is doing isn’t really a big deal. Regardless of how things turn out, everything will be honkey-dorey.” It makes me wonder why I have put my rear end on the line defending the Church’s position with my friends and acquaintances. I’m afraid that’s exactly what will happen, too. The HHS mandate will go forward, and life will go on pretty much as normal. Then the next incremental encroachment on our religious liberty will come… then the next… and we will all be like frogs being cooked in a pot where the water temperature is being slowly turned up. (That said, I’m hoping for an Eric Mataxas moment if the thing does go forward…)
Barth and Matt,
Explain to your children, friends and acquaintances that the Catholic Church in America has been heavily infiltrated by Marxists – just as the Orthodox Church was in the Soviet Union – and that you have to ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in discerning which bishops and priests should be followed and which ones shouldn’t. Have them read Louis Wohl’s “Lay Siege to Heaven,” a biographical novel about St. Catherine of Siena, who challenged the Pope himself.