Statements of Two Archbishops, Cordileone and Carlson

Two Archbishops, of cities with unmistakably Catholic names, have been under the gun and have used social media to make statements.

First, Archbp. Salvatore Cordileone has responded to call from extremists that he not attend an entirely correct and normal demonstration in favor – it is hard to believe that we have to demonstrate in favor of this – normalcy, that is, marriage, that is, a nuptial bond between a man and a woman. (NB: man and woman – different sexes)

His statement, released by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is HERE

Among other things, Archbp. says:

The March for Marriage is not “anti-LGBT” (as some have described it); it is not anti-anyone or anti-anything. Rather, it is a pro-marriage March. The latter does not imply the former. Rather, it affirms the great good of bringing the two halves of humanity together so that a man and a woman may bond with each other and with any children who come from their union. This is precisely the vision promoted by Pope Francis, who recently said, “We must reaffirm the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and mother.” Rest assured that if the point of this event were to single out a group of individuals and target them for hatred, I most certainly would not be there.

Next, the Archbishop of St. Louis, has responded to distorted reporting about a deposition he gave.  Reports, especially from the Left, tried to make everyone leap to the conclusion, and only to the conclusion that somehow – and it is hard for me to imagine that he would have to demonstrate this – Archbp. Carlson didn’t know, way back when, that it is wrong for adults to have sex with children.  Does that even sound right?

There is a video, HERE

From Archbp. Carlson’s letter to the flock in St. Louis:

Sexual abuse of children is deplorable and is never to be tolerated. Actions speak louder than words and my record on this issue speaks for itself. I am committed to the safety of children and have shown compassion for victims. I have promoted and enacted codes of ethical conduct, extensive safe environment programs and ongoing training for clergy to heighten their awareness of this issue.
In the deposition last month, I misunderstood a series of questions that were presented to me. I wish to clarify that situation now. I fully understand, and have understood for my entire adult life, as I stated in other sections of this same deposition, sexual abuse is a grave evil and a criminal offense.
I reiterate my commitment to protect children from sexual abuse. I support mandatory child abuse reporting laws, to which the Archdiocese strictly adheres.

It is a pity that we have to waste our time on these things.  And yet, here we are.  We have to waste time on these things because the attacks are not just on the two men, the two Archbishops, the attacks on on the Church and on the truth.

The Devil is on the March.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world  seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy…

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in Biased Media Coverage, Liberals, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity, Sin That Cries To Heaven, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

16 Comments

  1. Siculum says:

    … Pray for us.

  2. Kathleen10 says:

    Amen!

  3. Fr_Sotelo says:

    We can only pray that some of Archbishop Cordileone’s response will receive attention in those same media outlets that enthusiastically reported on his adversaries words against him going to the March for Marriage.

  4. Peggy R says:

    Re: Archbishop Carlson,

    Early on in the transcripts it is clear that the abp. has been deposed on this case re a particular priest several times almost 30 years ago and that the events at issue were 30+ years ago. Also, it was discernable that the plaintiff attorney–who had done the prior deposing–had documents available as well as past deposition transcripts. If a witness cannot say something definitively accurate, a witness should defer to documents and require a cross-examining attorney to present a document which the witness can verify or not. If the abp had mis-stated something, he’d be doomed. That attorney would have him and the diocese for lunch and dinner…and drive new cars too. It sounds like the criminal case occurred by 1990. This case is about $$$$$. No need to help rob the faithful of their treasure.

  5. mrshopey says:

    Just as an observer of what the Archbishop said in the deposition, what is still troubling, even after his clarification, is that his lawyer objected to a series of questions and pointed it out – hinted – at what Anderson was trying to get at. I have bad days. I have never been grilled like that. That is what is still troubling. His track record should speak for itself as he had done a good job.

    I am glad Archbp. Salvatore Cordileone responded. Now, did Nancy Pelosi understand him?

  6. benedetta says:

    Why does Rep. Pelosi hate sacramental marriages? Is it because these are the marriages that generally support the right of the preborn to live, whom she with her Margaret Sanger award wishes to eliminate in order to shore up the pork doling public fisc?

  7. Magash says:

    We have already lost the war. Of course being pro-marriage is being anti-LGBT. Why shouldn’t we be against immoral behaviors that are disordered? But we have now become afraid to state that. By doing so we have already conceded the ground need to win the war. Many bishops and priests have already conceded that homosexual behavior is genetically driven, a premise for which not a single bit of scientific evidence has ever been brought forward. By doing so they implicitly acknowledge that homosexuals are a class and so eligible under U.S. law for the status of a protected class.
    By being afraid to call out LGBT actions as disordered behaviors rooted in choice or psychological trauma they have ceded the rational moral high ground and are left trying to defend marriage using a Natural Law defense ill understood by moderns. All when they should be using a morality based defense based on solid Catholic teaching and social good.
    The war is lost. Now it becomes a matter of will bishops stand their ground and probably eventually be prosecuted and jailed, or will they chose appeasement to retain property and prestige?

  8. majuscule says:

    I highlighted the following to my Facebook friends (some who are not Catholic and think Pope Francis is the most bestest nonjudgmental pope evah) saying “doesn’t this sound like Pope Francis!”

    It is the personal encounter that changes the vision of the other and softens the heart. In the end, love is the answer, and this can happen even between people with such deep disagreements. That may sound fanciful and far-fetched, but it is true, it is possible. I know it is possible, I know this from personal experience. When we come together seeking to understand the other with good will, miracles can happen.

    And then adding that it was actually Archbishop Cordileone… (Last paragraph of his letter.)

    I hope it sinks in.

  9. jflare says:

    I’ve read about 96 pages of so of the deposition. Honestly, I wish I had the money to contact a civil rights attorney to pursue whatever course of legal or civil action could be made against this sort of thing.
    As Peggy R suggests, it’s very clear from the line of questioning that the plaintiff’s attorney has no interest at all in pursuing justice; all he really wishes to do is bully a bishop to see if he can trip him up in some way. He’s after dollars, pure and simple.
    How sad–and disgusting–that the legal professional allows for this garbage.

  10. Supertradmum says:

    God bless the good bishops. This type of suffering is being endured by lowly, Latin Mass priests and good orthodox priests on a regular basis, which is a hidden persecution in the Church. I personally know three excellent priests who have been sent to the “boonies” for standing up to truth. A young priest told me months ago that he would love to give anti-abortion and anti-contraception sermons, but he cannot. Why? Too many bishops want numbers in the pews and do not care about preaching the truth. Those who do speak the truth, like the good ones here, are so few.

  11. acardnal says:

    Supertradmum, it’s the “church of nice.”

  12. Kathleen10 says:

    I just received our parish newspaper put out by our diocese, and it’s filled with information on calling our legislators in order to tell them that we need “immigration reform” now, so that families will not be divided, etc. This is labeled “social justice” and we got a letter from our bishop and articles too.
    This paper also mentions how important Hispanics are to the church and how we offer Mass in Spanish, etc. It also mentions how there are more Protestant Hispanics than there used to be. That may be because our missionaries, if we still have them, are doing more social work than spreading the Gospel. I have absolutely nothing to prove that, just a suspicion. I do know Protestants spread the Gospel.
    This feels lousy to say, but for the bishops to promote immigration reform this way this looks like pandering. If only they had such passion for the unborn and for the traditional family.
    If feeling invisible is possible, I feel invisible.

  13. Priam1184 says:

    Archbishop Carlson: Tell your brother bishops to stop ordaining actively gay men to the priesthood, and to clean out all of those who are already priests and send them on their way; that problem will then be solved instantly. And if that means that I have to drive 1oo miles to Mass on Sunday morning then I will do that.

  14. Imrahil says:

    From what I’ve heard the pro-marriage march is certainly anti-gay. (I try to not use that ever-expanding abbreviation.) At least anti-ssm, and, let’s face it, the whole gay movement promotes ssm.

    Yes. We’re anti-gay, and that’s good, too.

  15. CrimsonCatholic says:

    Reports, especially from the Left, tried to make everyone leap to the conclusion

    That’s not entirely true. Glenn Beck’s media outlet TheBlaze, which is far right, also ran the story for days before the rest of the MSM picked up story.

    As the lawyer mentioned in the comments of that post, Archbp. Carlson should have been honest in the disposition. Had he been honest about what had happened back then and his strong recorded of not condoning sexual abuse, then there might not be this attack on the church and scandal that there is now.

  16. jflare says:

    I’ve read the entire depostion, CrimsonCatholic, and I must disagree with your appraisal. Archbishop Carlson makes clear what he remembers and what he doesn’t throughout. Reading the web site for the Archdiocese, we learn that he–the archbishop–was being deposed with regard to events that occurred some 27 years ago in Minnesota, because the plaintiff in the case is seeking financial damages.
    Basically, the lawyer is engaging in a fishing expedition to find any excuse at all for why he–his client rather–can demand money from the diocese in Minnesota. … For events that occurred almost three decades ago.
    Like I said earlier, this sort of thing demonstrates why we hold lawyers in disgust as often as we respect. This deposition wasn’t about justice; it was about someone exercising an opportunity to be greedy.

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