Category: Faith & the Public Order

Some nuns are against bishops in support of Obama’s healthcare bill

Yesterday, Network: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, released a letter in support of Obama’s bill (HR 3590) to overhaul US healthcare. Obama proposal and the bill put forward is morally flawed.

The signatories claim that they represent 59,000 –an overstated number– religious sisters while they join the Catholic Health Association which has 1200 healthcare related organizations and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) directly oppose the Catholic teaching. The letter advocating the passing of the healthcare bill is being delivered to each member of Congress today. The text of the letter can be read here.

The Council of major Superiors of Women Religious rejects the position of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and all other groups who stand against the Church and her bishops.

This is not about mere differing views on a hot topic. It is about faith AND reason, doing justice in an effort to safeguard the dignity of each person, from conception to natural death. No healthcare bill can be supported with provisions for abortion or any other medical procedure that offends life. We have a right to good healthcare but not at the expense of the unborn and morally unsound principles. This is a matter concerning the well-being of those who are vulnerable, poor and everyone else because they have a right to life and a right healthcare. What the Church wants most of all is a healthcare bill that protects life, dignity and freedom of conscience of each person with an ethically sound judgment on healthcare.
The letter the sisters are giving today to Congress is an act of disobedience toward the leadership of the US Bishops and against solid, verifiable Catholic teaching. The sisters neither represent the Church nor are they charged with the salvation of souls as ordained bishops are and therefore are purposely misleading the faithful and any other person of good will. Do not be fooled into thinking that the congregations of sisters think with the Church for the good of salvation. These religious orders of sisters have set themselves against communion with the Catholic Church and against the US bishops position for a comprehensive, wholistic healthcare package that is affordable.
The US Catholic Conference statement on the healthcare bill under consideration
Family Life & Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York has a good plan of action.

Bishop Declares Humanitarian Emergency in Mosul

As a follow-up to a request for prayers for the Dominican sisters in Mosul the other, I am republishing Edward Pentin’s article for Terrasanta.net here to give further background to the situation in Iraq, especially since the Western press and politics have virtually ignored the plight of Iraqui Christians.

 

The news has escaped much of the mass media, but Christian families are leaving Mosul, Iraq, in their droves to escape a concerted campaign of violence and intimidation.

 

Chaldean Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona has said that Mosul is experiencing a “humanitarian emergency” and that “hundreds of Christian families” left the city Feb. 24 in search of shelter, leaving behind their homes, property, commercial activities, according to Asia News. The situation “is dramatic”, he said.

 

The families have chosen to flee after a spate of violent attacks which left five Christians dead last week, and members of a whole family murdered on Tuesday. “In one house all the family members were killed — five people,” said an Iraqi member of Open Doors, a non-denominational charity helping persecuted Christians, Christian News Wire reported. “First the attackers drove by and shot from their car. Then they forced themselves into the house and gunned down the entire family. They even threw two bodies outside the house as a cruel warning for others.”

 

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk has launched “a demonstration and a fast” to sensitize the international community to the “massacre of Iraqi Christians” and stop the violence in the country. Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his deep concern and sorrow over the continuing wave of violence. Vatican Radio and the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reported Feb. 24 that although the Pope is on retreat and not speaking publicly, he expressed his sorrow that “in the area of Mosul, the killing of Christians continues.”

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, told Iraq‘s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, that the Pope expresses his “sincere solidarity” with him and other leaders after a series of attacks on government buildings and on places of worship, both Muslim and Christian. “He prays with fervor for an end to the violence and asks the government to do everything possible to increase security around all places of worship throughout the country,” Cardinal Bertone wrote. Bishop Emil Nona fears that “Mosul will be emptied completely of Christians” and will visit Baghdad to plead for help from the national government in establishing some minimal security for the city’s religious minority. The attacks have taken place in the run-up to elections in Iraq on March 7th. Basile Georges Casmoussa, Syrian Archbishop of Mosul, said elections always bring troubles, “but not to the point of killing people, particularly Christians. The Christians were killed not because of their politics, but because they are Christians.”

 

Speaking to Terrasanta.net Feb. 22nd, Archbishop Sako said the elections are prompting struggle between political groups made up of Arabs and Kurds. “They are fighting to have authority, power and also the economy and there’s a big tension,” he said, adding that in Mosul they are “pushing the Christians to get out of the city – that is their main purpose.” He warned that lack of security is due to a political vacuum in Mosul, with Arabs running the city without sharing power with the Kurds, although he said he remains hopeful that peace could return after the elections.

 

In a speech given Monday to the Sant’Egidio community in Rome, Archbishop Sako warned that in the coming years more Iraqi Christians are likely to flee the country due to violence by Islamic extremists and fears over the introduction of Sharia law. “They think of the Jews who were once in Iraq but are not there anymore and they are thinking it’s their turn to leave,” he said. “This is what people are thinking about.”

 

He also said Iraqi Christians feel neglected by the West. “[They] have the impression of being forgotten by the West that is secular,” he said. “In the past, some might have wanted to protect Christians but now we have the impression of being isolated and forgotten by all.” The Vatican nuncio to Iraq, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, warned in an interview with Vatican Radio Feb. 25 that Christians have been in Iraq for 2,000 years, so “any attempt to decrease the Christian presence or, worse, to destroy the Christian presence in Iraq would mean destroying the history of the Iraqi nation.”

Kim Geiger of the LA Times manipulates readership

Getting the story correct, checking facts and clear writing is not one of Kim Geiger of the LA Times better skills. Geiger’s recent article claiming that the US Bishops supported and/or told the Catholic faithful to support the Democratic bill on healthcare reform is wrong. Does the LA Times still hire fact checkers? Do reporters still speak to real people, perhaps 2-3 sources prior to publication?

What Ms Geiger confuses for legitimate Catholic authority in teaching and governing the Church is really a left-leaning group claiming to work in the ambit of the Church’s Social Teaching. It seems as though Ms Geiger does know the basics of Catholic teaching very well. Did you get that sense from her article? Catholics United support the Pelosi-Obama agenda. Catholics United does not speak for the US Conference of Bishops; neither do they speak for local pastors nor for the faithful Catholic. As Dan Gilgoff said in his US News.com article on October 28th, Catholics United “provides cover for the White House and the Democrats.”
If you want to know what the bishops are saying, read the press lease of November 9, 2009. US Conference President, Francis Cardinal George is clear on what the bishops think about healthcare reform. And form what I can gather, I don’t think the bishops completely agree with the Democratic party’s version of the healthcare reform bill.
So, Archbishop Dolan’s recent nonpublished NY Times piece is actually correct (which we knew all the time): there is verifiable proof of bias in the media against the Catholic Church in the USA. 

Subsidiarity lacks with the President

Msgr Lorenzo Albacete points to a lack of understanding of the principle of subsidiarity that’s going to challenge President Obama’s healthcare reform work. AND what is the principle of subsidiarity? It’s principle that nothing should be done at macro level that ought to be done at the micro level. So, the state should not impose its method on a municipality because the municipality ought to find a solution. If it can’t then you move up to the next reasonable level. See a sketch of the principle.

Read Albacete’s article.

God unites & sustains society

Two weeks ago in the School of Community we were discussing the answer Msgr. Giussani gave to a questioner who asks if it is reasonable for a non-believer to ask Christ for anything: Giussani says that it is completely reasonable to ask Christ to answer our needs because He is the answer to absolutely everything. Wow! Christ is the answer to everything for all time. Period. Christ is the answer is THE to every question, to every concern we have. Now, let’s be serious: we’re not saying Christ is the answer to whether we’ll eat pasta or cereal today. He’s the answer to questions of meaning, faith, vision, fulfillment, etc. What follows here is the Pope is addressing the matter of how and why the Church is engaged in culture. This is the same work that the World Youth Alliance is doing and what Communion & Liberation is about; the pope’s explanation of ecclessial engagement in culture is reasonable. No?


The Church’s engagement with civil society is anchored in
her conviction that authentic human progress — whether as individuals or
communities — is dependent upon the recognition of the spiritual dimension
proper to every person. It is from God that men and women receive their
essential dignity (cf. Gen 1:27) and the capacity to transcend particular
interests in order to seek truth and goodness and so find purpose and meaning
in their lives. This broad perspective provides a framework within which it is
possible to counter any tendency to adopt superficial approaches to social
policy which address only the symptoms of negative trends in family life and
communities, rather than their roots. Indeed, when humanity’s spiritual heart
is brought to light, individuals are drawn beyond themselves to ponder God and
the marvels of human life: being, truth, beauty, moral values, and
relationships that respect the dignity of others. In this way a sure foundation
to unite society and sustain a common vision of hope can be found.

(Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the new Ambassador of New Zealand to the Holy See Robert Carey Moore-Jones, May 29, 2009)

Connecticut State Ethics Office charges Diocese of Bridgeport violated law

Connecticut State Officials try to muzzle the Church! In a letter to the people of the Diocese of Bridgeport today, Bishop William Lori states that the gathering of people to protest Bill 1098 that would violate the First Amendment, was a violation of law. The State of Connecticut Ethics committee said this mobilizing of the people amounted to “lobbying” because the Diocese failed to register as a lobbyist (which would invite State regulation). Now the claim is that the Diocese is subject to penalties.
Exhorting the people, i.e., giving information to the people, encouraging the people to take part in democracy, forming the consciences of the people from the pulpit, web-based materials and rallying does not constitute lobbying.
Nutmegers need to contact the State legislator before the end of the legislative session this coming Wednesday.
The Diocese of Bridgeport is filing a civil rights lawsuit in Federal Court against the State of Connecticut seeking relief from government action on this ruling.
For more information see the Diocese of Bridgeport website.

How Obama became Christian

Lorenzo Albacete writes today about President Obama’s becoming Christian. Apparently the President said:

“Perhaps because the church folk I worked with were so welcoming and understanding, perhaps because they invited me to their services and sang with me from their hymnals, perhaps because I was really broke and they fed me. Perhaps because I witnessed all of the good work their faith inspired them to perform, I found myself drawn not just to work with the Church. I was drawn to be in the Church. It was through this service that I was brought to Christ.”

Read Msgr. Albacete’s analysis the story.

The President & Prayer

This evening the Pastor and I attended the local observance
of the 58th Annual observance of the National Day of Prayer. This year’s theme was “Prayer…America’s Hope.” The occasion was OK. It was Scripture-based with
free prayer offered for certain areas of concern (business, family, education,
military, government, church). I was only impressed that 50 gathered for prayer
for the nation, state and city; I wasn’t particularly impressed by the concern
for all faiths to be represented. One significant disappointment was that it
was too Christian, (too evangelical) and not interfaith. This is not the
typical complaint you would ordinarily hear from me but the fact is event was the
National Day of Prayer it was designed to be inclusive of the city’s various
faith traditions. I freely admit that many occasions of prayer done in the
interfaith mode are vapid and simply not done well. The representatives of the
Jewish and Muslim faiths were not present and neither were the Buddhist monks
nor the Episcopalians nor Lutherans. It would’ve been good to have the
clergypeople from the various ecclesial communities and interfaith communities
present, but let’s be careful not to fall into the trap of essentialism.

The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 by President
Truman and President Reagan determined by resolution in 1988 to observe the day
on the first Thursday of May. 

The problem I have with President Obama on this matter is
that he decided to sideline public observance of prayer under the guise that he
didn’t want to wear his faith on his cufflinks. Fine, don’t make a show it. But
let’s be honest, does the President think he can run the country without God?
Does he think that his example is good leadership? So, ultimately I can accept
that the White House would not have its own prayer time but that they would not
attend any of the other prayer observances in the District, including the
National Day of Prayer Task Force, I find arrogant.

The President’s press secretary Robert Gibbs says that
“Prayer is something the President does everyday.” Really? I am unconvinced.

Of course, the President can neither tell us to pray nor how
to pray but he does open the possibility for the nation to pray for the good of
the nation by his own witness. If an atheist were chagrined by a prayer day
then that person could simply observe a moment of silence or offer a poem that
lends itself to the ideal of patriotism or the common good. Whatever the case
may be in today’s context, the point is that is important to gather people of
good will with the hope of being united in something spiritual, something that
takes the other person’s destiny seriously.

For those interested in some further thinking on ecumenism and interfaith matters, I recommend Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions (Ignatius Press, 2004).