Politicizing the Notre Shame debate: a Chicago Catholic pol

A main talking point clutched by Catholics who are trying to defend the invitation by Notre Shame to Pres. Obama is that disapprobation of the invitation is really political.

That is because the defenders of the invitation are long-habituated to reducing what are really questions of faith and reason to politics. 

With that in mind, let’s see what a long-time Chicago Democrat politician, not coincidentally named "Daley", brother of the current Mayor of Chicago, Pres. Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce, chairman of Vice-Pres. Gore’s campaign, supporter of Pres. Obama, the Loyola University educated William M. Daley has to say.

He is the ultimate Catholic Democrat/Obama insider.

My emphases and comments.

An uneasy mix of religion and politics
By William M. Daley
April 3, 2009

I did not attend the University of Notre Dame. But as a Catholic and co-chairman of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, I have a personal stake in the dispute over the propriety of the university’s invitation to the president to be its commencement speaker.

[Remember… Daley is a Chicago Catholic …] Cardinal Francis George recently said this invitation is an embarrassment to Catholics because the president disagrees with church doctrine on abortion and stem-cell research. But I believe Cardinal George’s stand is an embarrassment to Chicago Catholics and furthers the divide among the church, its members and the rest of America.

To follow his rule, students at Catholic universities would hear only from other Catholics—and, even then, only from those who agree with church doctrine on every subject[pish…. Daley gets it entirely wrong.  I don’t think that any serious Catholic figure has said that people who are so set against the Catholic Church and what the Church defend (from appeals to reason) should never speak at Catholic universities.  The problem is when Catholic Universities honor people who so undermine what the Church upholds, on the basis of reason and revelation.  So, Daley has introduced a premise which, if accepted, leads us along the wrong path.  Refuse this false premise.  He is simply wrong.] But the fact is that American Catholics are divided over the difficult moral issues of stem-cell research and abortion. It’s important that students, and Catholics generally, be exposed to people with different ideas and ways of thinking. [This is Catholic writing?  So, American Catholics are divided.  So?  When Daley says that students should be "exposed" to "different" ideas.  What does that mean?  That Catholic institutions should set opposing ideas in an equal force as those which are proposed by the Church?  I think that is what he is proposing.  But see what happens if you accept his first false premise?]  It is particularly important for them to hear from Obama[LOL!  WHY?  As if they don’t hear from him day after day after day on every media outlet.  Does Pres. Obama have something special to say to Catholics?  There are only a couple possibilities here.  First, he is such an perfect example of an anti-Catholic politician that the students might be able to "learn from him", in the sense of pathology.  Second, Pres. Obama is coming around to Catholic ideas and therefore his experience is exemplary: as a convert.] whom a majority of voters, including a majority of Catholic voters, have chosen to lead our country through difficult times.  [Because.. when you see the world only through a political lens… more so than the lens of Catholic identity… the majority counts for more than anything else.]

To imply [I don’t think opponents are "implying" anything.] that the president should not be invited to speak at Notre Dame because he disagrees with the church on two specific issues promotes a very narrow view of what constitutes morality.  [Again this is a problematic premise.  The Church does not need to argue merely from the force of her authority to teach on faith and morals – an authority which the Catholic Daley is in conscience bound to accept – but rather also from reason, from science.  But let is stick with what he says: Pres. Obama disagrees with the Church.  The statutes of the Univ. of ND make explicit statements about the schools Catholic identity.  Notre Dame has chosen not just to have this President speak, but to honor him. That is a problem, no?] As someone who has been fortunate to work closely with Obama, I consider him to be a person of strong moral character.  He is a person of faith, [Who attended a Chicago church – with a strong moral message – for many many years…. ] a strong family man and has devoted his life to public service when he could have put his Harvard law degree to more selfish pursuits.   [Okay… so what?  He is a devoted father.  So?  He isn’t selfish.  So?  He is the most active proponent of abortion we have seen in an elected official in… well.. has there been one more active?]

Beyond the specific case of the Notre Dame commencement, Cardinal George’s position continues a worrisome pattern in which the Catholic hierarchy in America is mixing religion with politics. [There it is again.  Here is a Catholic who dissents from Church doctrine saying that if one of the Church’s pastors issues a clear statement about Catholic teaching he is being political.] It has seemingly lost sight of the difference between a moral nation and a religious one[Rawls would love this.  Daley wants to help push the Church from the public square.  This is consistent with those whose identity as a Catholic is weak.  This is what Pope Benedict is trying to rebuild in his "Marshall Plan" for the Church.  Catholics must reclaim their Catholic identity – a complete and healthy identity – so that Catholics have something good to contribute in the public square.]

Most of our Founding Fathers were Christians, but they had the wisdom to foresee a nation in which people of many religions would live together. So they embedded in our Constitution the separation of church and state. [hmmm… I don’t think that is what the establishment clause does…. but… let that go] For more than 220 years, that bedrock principle of our democracy has endured—even as political and religious leaders have tampered with the boundaries in an endless tug of war over where that line should be drawn.  [blah blah blah… this is more of the same.  This is poor stuff, really.  The Founding Fathers!  Oh my.  The problem here is that the the pastors of the Church are not interfering in politics.  They are attempting to guide a Catholic institution.]

Those of us who were raised in the Catholic tradition [Hmmm… I wonder about this phrase at this point.  It seems to me this is the sort of phrase you see in the fund raising literature of Catholic schools which have lost their clear Catholic identity.] believe our actions—in our personal, professional and public lives—should meet a certain moral standard. [high? low? conformed to societal norms?] We also know that we are human and not always able to achieve that goal. But no matter how strongly we cherish our faith and values, we have to remember that we are not alone in this world. [What is this all about?  Is this a suggestion that because Catholics are sinners we should be happy to have Pres. Obama speak at Notre Dame?  Is that really his argument?  Don’t strive to a higher standard.  We are sinners therefore, well, just cave in to the rest of the world?  Go along and get along?]

That idea is what distinguished the fledgling United States from the many countries with state religions. It still distinguishes us from much of the world. [I think he just compared those who don’t want a Catholic school to honor a pro-abortion President to, probably, fundamentalist Muslim clerics, etc.]  No matter how certain we are that our church is the one true path to salvation, [that is a premise… see where he takes it…] we can never cross the line and believe that it is our God-given right and duty to force our beliefs on others[ROFL!  Is this what he got from his Jesuit education at Loyola?  Let’s get this straight.  If you suggest that a Catholic school should uphold Catholic values and therefore not choose to honor a man whose values and objectives are dead-set against fundamental principles the Catholic Church upholds those people are therefore – wait for it – force their beliefs on others.  Incredible.   This is embarrassingly sloppy thought.  The "we don’t have a right to force our beliefs on others" … sound familiar?  This is a page from Speaker Pelosi and VP Biden… equally staunch Catholics on abortion and equally sloppy thinkers.]  Otherwise, we are no different than the forces of religious fanaticism and terror that we are fighting today.  [Yep… I was right about that inference above.]

As a Catholic, [oh spare us… after what you have already written?] I believe there is a common morality embraced by people of goodwill across all the world’s religions. I believe that this common morality [He repeats the phrase… so… is this common morality rooted in our beings because we are all images of God?] is our only hope for solving the problems our children and grandchildren [, those not aborted, that is,] will confront in the years to come.  [Cliché Alert! Wait for it…. ] This requires that Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists sit down together and explore their common interests, concerns and dreams for the future. [Can’t we all just get along?  Can’t we just sit at Pres. Obama’s feet at Notre Dame and revel in our diversity?  We have so much to learn from him!  His ideas are so different!]  It means we must be willing to listen to others, even if their religious views differ from ours or lead them to different conclusions about what is moral.  [Okay… we’ve already listened… and rejected his conclusions as wrong, even as evil.  Now what?  Oh yah.. right… we can’t force our opinion on others, therefore we have to honor him at a Catholic school.  Right.]

I am confident that the values of compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, [good grief]  which we acquire from our church and great universities like Notre Dame, can help us strengthen our religious faith and love of country. But we must recognize that those who differ with our beliefs can still be good and moral people. [ugh] That’s the essence of our democracy, and there’s no embarrassment in that.  [But it isn’t the essence of our Catholic faith.  This doesn’t have anything to do with the roots of democracy.  It is about our Catholic identity.]

William M. Daley is the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

You will be hard put to find a more poorly reasoned string of stale talking points, knotted together with clichés, than this.

This is an object lesson.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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52 Comments

  1. Tomas says:

    “William M. Daley is the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.”

    Isn’t it extraordinary how the mouthpieces of the New World Order have learned to disguise their debased evil in such dulcet tones, in order to make themselves appear compassionate, inclusive, tolerant, and statesmanlike? Especially when they’ve been educated by Jesuits?

    Beautiful job, Father Z.

  2. cthemfly25 says:

    Within a generation the Church will be subjected to a soft persecution here—and in a sense it has begun. Tyranny does not tolerate competition for its “authority” on all things including the moral and theological. God love and watch over our Bishops and may they now speak Truth to power—especially while we can still speak and assemble.

    As to Daly, what has enabled Daly isn’t his own immoral and breathtaking ignorance or willful political animus; the enabler is Father Jenkins. And yet, Father Jenkins doesn’t understand why he has shamed the Church which he loves and for which he has given the sacrifice of his priesthood.

  3. Chicago Priest says:

    Common stream of thought, nothing new there unfortunately. Welcome to the world of the parish.

    With that sort of sound byte thinking, hit-and-run mentality and thuggery, how can the Church possibly engage in respectful dialogue and evangelization?

  4. kate says:

    I’m not sure Daley is such a sloppy thinker as he seems to think we are. When statists talk about separation of church and state they mean the de facto elevation of state worship above the one true God. No religion can come before the state, the state and it’s priests reign supreme. They get away with this because the people do not understand this idolatry. Part and parcel of this is the notion that all “religions” are equal, so “we” need the state religion to be above all to keep each religion from being forced. But the state is the only religion that uses guns and force in the U.S.
    John Dewey wrote years ago of the need to convert the population in government schools from the traditions and religions of their families to a religion of humanism for the good of society; that the individual is worth is nothing separate from service to the collective, the democratic majority always easily manipulated. He also wrote of the need to have a class of uneducated people trained in government schools so they would accept their “place”, but that is another issue. Father Z., all of your observations are spot-on. Daley has accepted the state as his god.

  5. little gal says:

    I live in Chicago and heard about this yesterday. I submitted a response to Daley’s comments in the Chicago Tribune…we’ll see if the editorial board at the Trib who reviews comments (the paper endorsed Obama) will deem it worthy of posting.

    My immediate thought about Bill Daley’s public castigation of Cardinal George is that team Obama is getting worried. After all, Obama is already campaigning for a second term and suddenly there is a growing challenge that appears to be spearheaded by the Church, vs a vs issues of abortion, stem cells and the conscious clause. (May the Holy Spirit continue to guide Cardinal George and the bishops). I am also beginning to think that the fault line of this battle will be in the Midwest and particularly Chicago because Obama & so many of his team are from here. BTW, Bill Daley’s brother, Mayor Richard (II) Daley, supports gay marriage and is pro choice. They are cultural Catholics; their true religion is politics.

  6. GordonBOPS says:

    Reading what Daly has to say just makes me very angry! The sad truth is that he has said something that most (according to recent polls) American Catholics would agree with…and thus probably gained him political points.

  7. joebe says:

    Right, little gal. Let’s not stop pushing this. Let’s make a real fuss.

    I’m from Chicago, too. What an embarrassment to live here.

  8. Dee says:

    little gal, thanks for writing to the editor. i was just going to suggest that Father and other intelligent readers of this fine blog (and maybe even Cardinal George!) write letters to the editor correcting that nonsense.

    as always, thank you for your excellent analysis Father!!

  9. Seattle Slew says:

    Donation coming your way, Father. Thanks for the excellent commentary.

  10. irishgirl says:

    Great review, Fr. Z!

    What idiots these ‘cultural catholics’ are-they drive me nuts!

    Hope your blood pressure didn’t go up as you were writing this! I know mine would have….

  11. veritas says:

    How many Catholic politicians in Britain voted for the many anti-Christian measures of the present Government? Since 1997 there has been a steady repudiation of Britain’s Christian heritage yet the majority which did the deed has in its midst sufficient Catholic MPs to deprive it of power. So- called Catholics are as common in the British legislature as in that of the USA and they are just as secular and secularising. In both countries the Bishops have a great responsibility for allowing such people to be in good standing in their churches and communities. Some of us who remain outside for reasons of conscience cannot understand why such people are tolerated.

  12. Great job Father and Kate! Do you remember hearing of the “Dual Magisterium”? You would learn Catholicism from your parents and your pastor, and then you would go to a “Catholic” University where theologians taught you what Catholicism REALLY taught. The only weapons the Church has are: public censure, removal or excommunication. What happened? Nothing, because the schools did not want to lose (not true!) Federal “Bundy money” as this allowed them to become the businesses they are today. These are simply the “Fruits of the Second Vatican Council”. Not to worry.
    Now if we could only re-read the documents of the Council ONE MORE TIME, we would know the answers.

  13. The “in the Catholic tradition” concept has been in use for some time at so-called “Catholic” universities. I first encountered the expression about fivc years ago when challenging Marquette University’s failure to implement the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. One of the current crop of Jesuits responded to me that Marquette was a university “in the Catholic tradition.” I told him that was nonsence and simply meant that Marquette was a fraud. In my humbule opinion, parents and alumni ought to consider a civil lawsuit against these schools for fraud.

    Carl H. Horst, A.B., J.D.
    Marquette ’62
    Marquette Law ’70

  14. Fr J says:

    If Obama is the “highly intelligent and politically sensitive” politician the pundits claim he is… surely he’ll refuse the invitation?! [Good point!]

  15. Matt says:

    Spank him again Fr. he needs it!

  16. cthemfly25 says:

    Kate

    You put it so well and in a proper political and ideological context. I retract the “ignorance” I alternatively ascribed to Mr. Daly. Perhaps Mr. Daly thinks of the Church as he and his boss look upon GM. Cardinal George can just be replaced with his own like thinking katholic and Father Jenkins can stay at ND—all for the greater glory of the secular deists.

  17. AJP says:

    A Daley lecturing us about ethics is like Jeffery Dahmer giving a cooking
    class.

  18. Joe says:

    “You will be hard put to find a more poorly reason string of stale talking points, knotted together with clichés, than this.

    This is an object lesson.”

    So is every speech I’ve ever heard Obama give. Why do the graduates of Notre Dame need to hear it? His speeches are insulting to education.

  19. TJM says:

    Chicago Priest, unfortunately my left-wing loon pastor in a western suburban “catholic” parish could have written this for Daley. I’m sure you’d agree there is a lot of intellectual rot within the clergy itself supportive of Daley. I wish you were my pastor. Daley is just another product of the “Glories of Vatican II.” He came of age when the Church began its slide. Tom

  20. TJM says:

    little gal, you can add Pelosi, Biden, Kennedy, etal to the list of “cultural Catholics.” I think the Church would be better off with mass excommunications and cast loons like this out and then start the re-building process. I am heartened with young Catholics who are far more orthodox than their elders. That’s where the future of the Church lies. Tom

  21. Cavaliere says:

    In the comments following this article on the Chic. Trib page there was what I consider a prime example of the thinking of Catholics like Mr. Daley. The writer wrote, ” Human social institutions change and come and go. . .Religions are also human social institutions. That the Catholic Christian institution still exists after 2000 years is remarkable. Its persistence probably is a result of the Church’s successful adapting itself to other changing institutions in the world.

    They have forgotten (or never learned) that the Catholic Church is no mere human institution but a Divine institution which exists after 2000 years not because it adapts itself to the common cultural beliefs of the day but for the opposite reason. The Church is and has always been counter-cultural. It stood in contrast to pagan Rome then, just as it stands in opposition to the present pagan world. Mr. Daley likes to suggest that Pres. Obama is a man of strong moral character. But those characteristics by which he defines Obama could be said of those ancient Romans too. They had strong religious beliefs in their gods. They loved their families and believed the state supreme. That didn’t prevent them from holding many immoral and degenerate ideas either.

    I’m glad that Mr. Obama sacrificed his life and his Harvard law degree for a job in the inner-City. Of course he doesn’t work there anymore but now sits in a position the polar opposite of south-side Chicago. But how many of the Church’s saints similarly gave up promising careers, family prestige, etc. for a life in service to the Church and their neighbor?

  22. Kevin says:

    “But the fact is that American Catholics are divided over the difficult moral issues of stem-cell research and abortion.”

    And some Vegetarians eat chicken and fish. They are
    failing to promote vegetarianism.

  23. RBrown says:

    Bill Daley is yet another example that meritocracy must never be renounced in democracy. Obtaining position by family political connections is inimical to democratic principles. Other sterling examples are Bush43, Al Gore, and Christopher Dodd.

  24. Kevin in Texas says:

    As Father Z. rightly points out, this is the sort of inane drivel that spills from the pens of “religious” politicians whose consciences are subject to the dictates of their political ambitions and the shifting sands of their constituencies. It’s always depressing to read such opinion pieces from people who won’t allow their consciences to be formed by the teachings of Holy Mother Church and of Christ Himself.

    That said, Father, I don’t see any hope for a disinvitation from ND to the President at this point. Better, as I have commented elsewhere, for us to pray that the ND administration hold the President’s feet to the fire by making good on their hollow promise to engage him in constructive debate and dialogue on issues of central importance to the Catholic and other Christian faithful. It would behoove him to invite the President to campus on the day before Commencement to participate in a townhall-style forum/debate with some of the solid, orthodox moral theologians on staff at UND, and perhaps with the Bishop, as well. That would effectively put the ball in Obama’s court and avoid the predictable secular ravings and PR disaster of a disinvite of the President at this point.

    And it should go without saying that the honorary law degree should not be given, and that students, faculty, staff, parents, and local Catholic faithful should bear prayerful and peaceful witness to our faith in Christ by participating in prayer vigils at and around the campus on Commencement Day.

  25. Charivari Rob says:

    Geez, Father, you’re going through red font faster than birdseed! Need us to e-mail you some before you run out? [The birds are faster by far, I assure you. But feel free to send more red… or even green…]

  26. A Voice in the Wilderness says:

    a recent gallup poll showed that 39% of america’s young catholics consider themselves to be either conservative or very conservative.

    we will not see real reform within the church, or even society itself, until these young people come into their own in parish and civic life.

    pray that God gives us time to hold on until that day.

  27. Jason Keener says:

    Poor Daley has fallen into the trap of becoming so open-minded that his brain has fallen out. Another fine example of a Jesuit education.

    St. Ignatius, ora pro nobis.

  28. Mr. Daley’s essay is not unlike the speech Mr. Obama gave when explaining why he wanted to expand the use of federal money to fund research on Human Embryonic stem cells via the destruction of human embryos.

    In his speech Mr. Obama claims that anyone who disagrees with his position is being an evil “ideologue” as if the virtuous position is to just make decisions free from any ideology at all. And, as if Mr. Obama’s decisions in this area are not coming from his belief that women have the right to kill their babies no matter what. (Hmmmmm….does that not sound like an ideology to you?)

    In this case, the fact that faithful Catholics, and their Bishops in particular, actually expect Universities who claim to be Catholic to actually behave in a Catholic manner and criticize them when they do not makes us evil “politicos” as if anyone named Daley would never act in a political manner.

  29. Rob Federle says:

    OK, everyone, all together now…
    Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya

  30. Elaine says:

    Would this be an acceptable solution or compromise: Obama gives his “commencement” speech the day BEFORE graduation, at an off-campus or “neutral” site, with ND graduates and their families offered priority seating IF they wish to attend. Obama also does not receive, or declines to accept, the honorary degree.

    If I were a ND graduate, no matter what side of the issue I was on, I would prefer that he not speak at the actual graduation purely because it would turn what should be a happy family occasion honoring the graduates into a high-stress media circus and a security nightmare.

    I attended Eureka College while Reagan was president. He didn’t come to my graduation, but he did come to a commencement a couple of years ahead of mine. The entire town was crawling with Secret Service agents a week ahead of time, and the gauntlet of security precautions and limitations on seating, etc. were a real headache. I am betting that security around Obama will be even tighter, particularly due to the controversy surrounding his visit. Why not just separate his speech from the graduation ceremony and let it go at that.

  31. Jackson says:

    I have met many “Catholics” like Mr. Daley over the years. Their speeches and actions have contributed to my forming this conclusion, and it is a serious one. Rather than worship the Holy Trinity, these people worship liberal fascism. The Holy Trinity is a distant second. And the Church which our Lord Jesus Himself founded? They harbor disdain for that. Years ago I was not so concerned about this, but now these “Catholics” have an amazing grip of power on Western Civilization. I speak not only of the Speaker of the House and the VP, but also of many governers, mayors, senators and representatives. These “Catholics” have real power, and yet they worship a political idealogy over the One True God. Frightening, indeed.

  32. Janelle Wingert says:

    Daley, let’s say it like it is, he is not Catholic anymore. By expressing complete disent from the true teachings of the Catholic Church, he puts his soul in mortal danger everytime he receives Eucharist. I think it is time for our Church leadership to actively excommunicate our wayward fallen “cultural” Catholics so that they stop throwing their fallen identity around like a badge and condemn themselves. By their public statements and political action they have already “excommunicated” themselves. It is time for their Bishops to remove all doubt of the choice Daley and others have made freely. St. Augustine, St. Thomas, St. Ignatius, all the Doctors of the Church, and great defenders of the Church pray for us and give our U.S. leadership the strength and courage to take strong action with offical sanctions and excommunications. These actions are deeply needed. It is their job to be strong like the bishops before them. For the sake of the 61% of young Catholics who still need their consciences properly formed need to see strong leadership.

  33. John Enright says:

    Father, more red ink than the text! Great! Lol!

  34. Juli says:

    “You will be hard put to find a more poorly reason string of stale talking points, knotted together with clichés, than this”

    Unfortunately Father Z., I’m sure that this reflects what he really thinks! He would most likely be baffled by your counterpoints. Perhaps I should say ‘by your statements of fact and truth’. Yet another person to add to my prayer list. At this rate, I will be forced to become a contemplative nun.

  35. Magdalene says:

    A faithful Catholic gives ASSENT to all the teachings of the Magisterium and does not pick and choose what appeals to him, that is what the so-called ‘cafeteria Catholic’ or CINO does. Nor does a true Catholic support those who attack the Church and the tenets of our faith.

    Those who support the culture of death are in the grasp of the evil one who is our enemy!

  36. lavatea says:

    These cultural catholics are giving the Catholic church a bad name – especially in the eyes of Protestants. I am currently converting to Catholicism, and this sort of writing from this sort of person is exactly the sort of stuff that was held up as a shining example of how Catholics aren’t Christians. These people need to be censured (or excommunicated) so the real Church can shine through. I think we’d see a lot more people coming home to Rome if that were to happen.

  37. Chris C says:

    “But the fact is that American Catholics are divided over the difficult moral issues of stem-cell research and abortion.”

    American Catholics are divided……Catholic Americans are not.

  38. Bill in Texas says:

    The more I see political leaders (and, sorry to say, clergy) slipping into relativism, the more attention I pay to leading my family – wife (who is a convert), adult children, grandchildren, children-in-law – by example and by reason in (or, unfortunately, back in) to the basics of our Catholic faith.

    I can (and do) pray for the politicians and write them letters (and do), but it’s much more important that I do something for the people I love who are much closer to me. I can also influence others in my parish and participate in INTERNAL re-evangelization. The politicians won’t change, we have to build up Catholics who will turn them out and replace them with actual Catholics.

    It took us 40 years to get to this sorry state, it might take 40 more to get out of it. It’s going to have to come from the grass roots up. The leadership is already in the camp of the secularists and the Masons, and we can’t count on them breaking out of there to come home any time soon.

  39. Brendan says:

    “William M. Daley is the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.”

    Okay, I’ve decided that I will short sell some shares of JPMorgan (JPM) on Monday when the market opens. With the recent run up in the stock’s price, I think God will have the final say in the price of JPM.

  40. BobP says:

    Anywhere Obama goes and anything Obama speaks will be heavily criticized by the Catholic Church. Just think, none of this might not have happened had not joblessness and economic hardship had been the bigger issues in the campaign. If only the Republicans had promised some kind of tax cuts for those willing to adopt or done something more pro-life but then they’re the party which brought us Roe vs Wade so what do you expect?

  41. Mark says:

    Reading between the lines, this article may be seen as a serious warning to the Catholic Church to recognize the current political reality, and submit Herself to those in power. In this instance, the author practically explains that the State has decreed abortion to be a political issue, thus, due to the official dogma of “separation of Church and State”, this matter is now off limits to the Church.

    Proceeding in this fashion, the State can politicize the entire culture step by step (marriage is also in the works now), and effectively eliminate the Church from it. An empty shell may be allowed to exist, so it can echo a gospel as dictated to it by those in power. It seems to me that we may not be spared a trial by socialism, after-all.

  42. little gal says:

    There is some news re: a ND student group. A prayer rally will be held tomorrow on campus. There is a request to join them by praying the Rosary tomorrow. Here is the link with details:

    http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CardinalNewmanSociety/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/435/ItemID/476/Default.aspx

  43. Kate M. says:

    Father Z,

    I have never donated before, but your critique of this piece of writing has inspired me to express my thanks to you financially. Keep up the great work of defending the Church, Father. We need you and love you!

  44. Pwatch says:

    Line by line. Precept by precept. Inch by inch. Evil is insidious. Frontal assaults are easily repulsed. Come in through the water gate and once in, the city is yours.

    Daley reflects the worst of Christianity in a world doubting more each day the reality of Christ. As long as the Church takes her mission sloppily, she will be won over brick by brick, line by line.

    Arise, O Body of Christ. Seize your heritage. Having done all we are to STAND. STAND in the gap knowing our God will triumph – using us. The battle is won, unless we cede the high ground. Hear the truth: “The gates of hell shall not prevail….”

  45. Mila says:

    Daley’s article makes me puke, if you’ll pardon the expression. And yet, I’m not surprised. I lived in the Chicago area for 35 years, and in my experience this is par for the course. I have still a lot of friends there, good people, practicing Catholics who, when it comes to politics forget the “Catholic” part and put “Democrat” above everything else. Someone above made the distinction between American Catholics and Catholic Americans, and I think that is correct. We need to remember that we are Catholics first and foremost.

  46. So, one of the big international bankers – “Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.” So if the world says the common morality (via the UN probably) is to kill unborn babies and pay for sticking tubes in their head to suck out their brains, than that is OK with Daley. This banker will learn very particularly what it means to pay every last farthing.

  47. norris says:

    My wife, a middle-of-the-road Episcopalian asked me what the fuss was with Obama. I told her the contorversy was that a very pro-abortion politician was due to speak at a R.C Univeristy. Her response? “Of course he shouldn’t speak … that’s hypocritical for the University to invite him!” If my wife gets it, why can’t the ND President?

  48. Supertradmom says:

    Clearly, Daly is not thinking like a spiritual man, but a purely political one. If the 70 million Catholics in the United States would stand up to this drivel, it would stop. Indeed, I fear there is only a “remnant” left who can clearly critique the faulty thinking here seen, as you did so well, Father Z.

  49. little gal says:

    Here is George Weigel’s response to Bill Daley’s admonishment of the Cardinal (from the Nat’l. Review online):

    http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=YTY3NDA3MzU4ODQ0YjZmYmU2ZjZlYzU1NjMzNmJkZTI=

  50. little gal says:

    I neglected to note the link to the Tribune editorial that Weigel(also) mentions. Here is the link:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0403edit2apr03,0,585182.story

  51. RBrown says:

    They are cultural Catholics; their true religion is politics.
    Comment by little gal

    Disagree. I think that they are juridic Catholics but cultural Protestants, and liberal ones at that.

  52. Ruth says:

    I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Ruth

    http://muffinsnow.com

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