I thought the US bishops conference created a policy a couple of years ago that Catholic institutions should not give honors or platforms to pro-abortion politicians. So why are we continuing to see stories like “Hillary Clinton to headline fundraiser for Catholic institution”?
Pro-abortion senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton reportedly will be the featured guest at a lunch benefit for the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, “a Catholic institution … committed to raising public awareness of the plight of all of society’s hurting youth in order to encourage support of programs that would enable them to begin healing.”
The benefit will take place in Chicago on May 7, 2007.
It would be one thing if the institution could rationalize that the honoree or speaker had some kind of prior connection to them, but she doesn’t. Even then it wouldn’t excuse it. No, this is an apparent case of putting “mammon” ahead of principle.
You might think that Cardinal George would put a stop to this, but it appears you’d be wrong, at least if Mercy Home is to be believed.
According to the Pro-Life Action League, Fr. [Scott] Donahue [president of Mercy Home] was apparently not aware Sen. Clinton had been asked to speak at the event until he was informed of her scheduled appearance by the League.
However, Mercy Home spokesman Mark Schmeltzer told LifeSiteNews.com that Fr. Donohue was approached by Chicago Cardinal Francis George about the upcoming Clinton fundraiser. “The Cardinal had some very understandable misgivings but he just wanted to be assured this was not a political stop,” Schmeltzer told LifeSiteNews.com.
I’m not buying the excuse in the first paragraph. Your major fundraiser is next week and you’re not aware of the identity of the keynote speaker, especially since it’s a former First Lady, current US Senator, and potential future US president? Either Fr. Donahue is being disingenuous or he’s incompetent.
The second paragraph disturbs as well, although it should be pointed out that this is secondhand information. This is how the Mercy Home spokesman characterizes the cardinal’s remark. But it should be pointed out that the USCCB policy Catholics in Political Life does not make a distinction between a politician speaking at a political event or not, but only that no Catholic institution should give a platform to one who espouses pro-abortion policy stances.
The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.
And let’s be honest here: Since when has a public speech by a presidential candidate ever been anything but a political event? Cardinal George should put a stop to this and Catholic bishops across the country should start enforcing their own policies.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | bishop | cardinal | Chicago | Clinton | politics |
I grew up in Cincinnati when Bernardin was the archbishop. In being promoted to Chicago, he left a local Church in complete disarray. His protege and successor, Pilarcyzk, is living with the bitter fruit of that legacy, having to take it on the chin for clerical sexual abuse cases that date back to that era. He also contends with priests who basically do whatever the hell they want. (I know a few of them, unfortunately.) Occasionally this leads to more recent scandals, mostly in the form of financial mismanagement. The poor Archbishop appears to be in over his head. His failing health, and rumors of a wish for early retirement, are the talk of the town.
When I first heard of George being tapped for Chicago, I told a colleague he’d better bring a few of his own people for an inner circle or braintrust, or the local guys would eat him alive. That’s why the present situation is not hard to imagine. His Eminence is only now getting a handle on a chancery that has long taken on a life of its own, another holdover from the Bernardin era. As to this Father Donahue, he probably gets led around by the nose most of the time himself. Which would make him both disingenuous and incompetent.
Like a buddy of mine once said: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
I was stunned when I read this morning about the Clinton appearance at the May 7th Mercy Home fundraiser. Stunned by the incompetence and seeming amorality of the Mercy Home board and Father Donahue, and by the apparent silence of His Eminence, a man who has often spoken against the horrors of abortion. I called both the Cardinal’s staff and Father Donahue’s office to register a respectful but outraged statement.
It is not too late to rescind the invitation to Senator Clinton. Are a few bucks worth the lives of a few thousand unborn babies? Maybe they need to take a cue from Archbishop Burke in St. Louis. Some need a Catholic spine and Christian fortitude here. And get rid of the weasels at Mercy Home who engineered this.
I agree that any people that do not agree with our Roman Catholic beliefs should not speak in a Cahtolic school etc.etc…
With love of our Jesus and His church,
Bette J. Petrik