Are we really surprised that there would be a double standard on liberal vs. conservative politics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? Amy Welborn prints an email from a reader who says that Cardinal Roger Mahony asked all priests in the diocese to hand postcards to parishioners, asking them to fill them out and return them. The cards are addressed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and they ask him basically to take the liberal line on immigration being pushed by Mahony.
What makes this a double standard was Mahony’s insistence a few months ago that political advocacy didn’t belong in Catholic churches. Of course, it was a different issue:
What really angered me about this, is that a couple of months ago, a group of us asked Fr. C. if we could collect signatures after Mass on the patio to get the parental notification act back on the ballot. We were told that Cardinal Mahony said we could not collect signatures on church property for a political issue, so we stood on the sidewalk to collect signatures.
So, open immigration, open borders, Si! Saving the lives of unborn children, No!
Frankly, it’s not the postcards themselves that are the problem. In fact, I could agree to everything on it except for one item: It demands immigration reform that “does not criminalize immigrants or their allies.” This isn’t about criminalizing immigration; it’s about immigration that’s already illegal.
What really rankles is the blatant use of the Mass itself—interrupting the Mass for a political activity. (A homily on the principle would be one thing; gathering signatures is another.) That it’s allowed for one political activity on a prudential matter, while it’s not for another that is fundamental and foundational makes it worse.
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