Showing posts with label Church State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church State. Show all posts

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cuomo warns Bishops not to hurt Democrat's political Standing

NewsOK

NY's Cuomo no stranger to church-state friction


ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said Sunday that church leaders should be cautious about pressuring Catholic politicians over issues such as abortion because people might not vote for someone they think is guided by religion
Cuomo's comments came as Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy sparred with a bishop over his public stance on moral issues including abortion. Kennedy said Bishop Thomas Tobin has asked him not to receive communion.

In a 1984 speech, Cuomo, a Catholic and Democrat who supported abortion rights and was at the time a leading potential presidential candidate, delivered a speech at the University of Notre Dame explaining that Catholic lawmakers shouldn't be pressured by church leaders to work for anti-abortion legislation.

Link to article...
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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Should the Archdiocese of DC bend to Liberal Pressure?

The following article and poll in Washington Post asks the question: should Washington D.C. be able to force the Catholic Archdiocese there to follow a law it considers immoral?

Read more at The American Catholic.

And here...

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Vatican denounces European ruling against crucifixes in schools

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said it experienced “surprise and sorrow” when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were “a violation of the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students.”

Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, reacted to the decision saying, “The crucifix has always been a sign of God's offer of love and a sign of union and welcome for all humanity. It is sad that it is being considered a sign of division, exclusion or limitation of freedom. That is not what it is and that is not the common feeling of our people.”

In his statement Nov. 3, Father Lombardi said, “It also is surprising that a European court is intervening so heavily in a matter that is deeply tied to the historic, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people.”

Read more...

The case in question bears all the hallmarks of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) style legal activism which is pointed to by the plaintif's suspicious Finnish heritage and the tactics employed. Finnland has a long tradition of Communism and thanks to just government persecution of Communists there, many Finns have spread to other parts of the world bringing their poisonous political beliefs with them.

More here...

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Priestly Subordinate Insults his Boss: Mad about Same-Sex Marriage




Father Farrow is getting tough (doesn't he look tough?) and demanding that the laity hold back their contributions. We have a better idea. Why don't they become Episcopalians? He is simply beside himself that Maine's Bishop Malone is "campaigning" against same-sex marriage. He correctly indicates that clerics may not hold public office, but he is quite wrong about any prescription against campaigning against Abortion, Homosexuality or any other attempts to legitimize or approve corporately any immoral behavior. Seems to us that this issue of Church-State relations becomes a whole lot more crucial when one's personal sexual proclivities are at stake. It's not really our interest to go into the question of the seperation of the Church and State, although it is clear from Magisterial teaching that the Seperation of Church and State are condemned. (Testem Benevolentiae)

This blogging priest/social worker is interesting for other reasons, namely, that Bishop Malone is actually taking action against supporters of perversion in his ranks and removing them from their jobs. Father Farrow complains in an especially bitter and simpering tone here,

The scandal in that article is that a Catholic wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper. Because, her political opinion was contrary to that of her bishop she was summarily removed from parish assignments regardless of how you feel about the particular issue, consider the implications of this for Catholics. It means that the clergy will now monitor and become the final arbiters of political opinions of the faithful.


Actually, it's not that you have a mere political opinion different from the Bishop, like questions about school zoning or fire hydrant placement, or the hours the dog catcher should keep, it's actually about a central tenet of the Church's teachings which are being threatened once again by further legitimization of immorality. We know it's hard to understand, but perhaps it's not the best thing to disagree with your boss about core philosophies of how the organization is run. It's a bit like stealing.

This story is also interesting for another reason. It means that Bishops are cracking down on dissenters. We've been tired of hypocritical priests and employees of Dioceses for years who don't agree with the Church's teachings yet draw a paycheck. It's about time.

And one more thing to Father Farrow. Perhaps instead of trying to defend Homosexuality, he should actually read about the Inquisition and the question of Church and State. But once again, he should do himself, his integrity and everyone else a favor and find employment in a different communion.

P.S. Father Farrow actually has been forced out of the Church and has no faculties to say Mass or present himself in this fashion. In Italy he'd be arrested for impersonating a priest. It's not surprising that he was at a Newman Center. Back in the 70s-90s, Newman Centers were great places where people who dissented from Church teachings (particularly on sexuality) could go to express themselves. According to Per Christum Catholic Blog, Father Jeff was suspended a divinis for supporting Prop-8.