It looks like the Pope is intent on embarrassing our president when he makes his trip here next week.
During a Thursday conference call sponsored by the nonprofit organization Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a number of theologians, academics and other experts discussed the importance of the pope’s visit, and the various issues he might address.
The alliance, based in Washington, addresses social justice issues from a Catholic perspective. Those participating in the conference call included the Rev. Richard Ryscavage, director of Fairfield University’s Center for Faith in Public Life; Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Woodstock Theological Center; the Rev. David Hollenbach, director of Boston College’s Center for Human Rights; and others.o<
The experts predict that Benedict will weigh in on a number of key issues facing the country. Topping that list is the ongoing war in Iraq — a war the pope has strongly opposed. During his visit, the pope will meet with President Bush and appear before the United Nations. Reese said, during both these meetings, he expects the pope to be critical of our involvement in Iraq. "When he's meeting with the president, [the pope] could very easily turn to the president and say 'I told you so,' " Reese said.
Hollenbach also expects the war to be addressed. He said he anticipates that Benedict will talk about the “culture of fear,” in the United States, which Hollenbach believes is integral to our involvement in the war.
“Fear can lead to angry responses,” Hollenbach said. “I think the pope’s message is going to be ‘Don’t be afraid.’ I think the overcoming of fear can take away the impulse for war.”
Not only that, but he is blowing off a White House dinner party that is being thrown in his honor.
The White House has scheduled a dinner next week in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States, but one guest will be conspicuously absent from the proceedings: the pope himself.
There are no competing events listed on the pope’s schedule, and the White House was unable to explain Benedict’s absence from the dinner.
The pontiff will be greeted by the president and first lady upon his arrival to the US Tuesday and participate in a Rose Garden appearance and Oval Office meeting with President Bush the next day. A dinner scheduled for later Wednesday night didn’t make it onto the Benedict’s schedule, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Friday.
After lobbying for John Kerry’s excommunication in 2004 and now this, it is pretty clear that this Pope is not a huge fan of American politicians. I can’t say that I really blame him, but it’s worth noting.
good old Pope– blows off the Pres. And – please correct me but as I understand it- he is blowing off Boston Ma.!! I wonder why? Ya think all the pedophiles in Boston are gonna miss him?
What a bloody joke.
is he under some obligation to visit Boston?
It’s funny for the Pope derides the ‘Culture of Fear’ when his god IS Fear. How’s the whole selling forgiveness by promoting the fear of hell scheme working for him? None too shabby, I am sure.
So Bush sells Security by spreading Fear of the Other. These guys are opposites so alike that if they are in the same room, they may annihilate and the Universe could implode.
Are we all feeling less Fearful now, thanks to Bush’s efforts?
Are we all feeling less sinful now, thanks to the Pope’s efforts?
These guys are both master abusive paternalists. Promoting a learned helplessness on a cultural scale.
so the Pope is really complaining about idolatry?
Hmmm…I’m not going to try to answer that! On different days, I’d give different answers.
But I will say this. I hope Pennsylvanians, Hoosiers–all of us, really–take full measure when he says that we shouldn’t let fear rule us.
I’m just sayin’.
No, just pissed that Bush went Bill Bellichek on him and stole the playbook.
meh, I found the idolatry angle more interesting.
As a card-carrying member of the Golden Calf Society, I find no humor in that. It’s time that the ancient superstition against idol worship be forever abandoned. Wake up and smell the freedom, booman.
No Idols? No Peace! No Idols? No PEACE?
Evidently he doesn’t have too many fans here. The part played by the Catholic Church in the 2004 presidential election to the detriment of John Kerry was and remains despicable. The pope is the dictator of a small, quasi-independent, mini-state embedded in the European Union which fulminates against the laws of the European Union concerning abortion, sexual practices, same-sex marriage, etc. His state sucks out the Italian treasury and tax payer. His state has only recently, publicly accepted that the earth revolves around the sun. Big deal, he’s against the war, as if you need to be god’s representative on earth to know how horrendous the past eight years of manufactured fear have been.
P.S. pope. Thanks to your organization, if not you personally, for helping Bush get reelected!
Benedict did not “lobby” for Kerry’s excommunication. There were many who did, including the Bishop of St. Louis, MO. There was significant discussion at the Vatican, but in the end the statement that came out was that Catholics had to “weigh various priorities.” That’s because the strong anti-war position of the Europeans counterbalanced “right to life” and there was also strong opposition to Bush’s capital punishment stance.
Since then Benedict refused to give Condoleeza Rice an audience. His stance on war, torture and capitol punishment is clear.
I was just getting ready to post this same comment.
I live in St. Louis and Archbishop Burke is a very conservative voice in the Catholic church but his ideas are not always followed. Last November the United States Council of Catholic Bishops released their statement on voting and did NOT follow his recommendations.
Splitting hairs?
What a lot of non-Catholics find hard to understand is that the Catholic church operates less in hard and fast rules and more in shades of gray.
And they issue statements that can be read many ways. Did that statement affirm that if Archbishop Burke wanted to deny Kerry communion that was fine with the pope? Yes.
But it said more.
Catholics I know in St. Louis read above statement to mean that John Kerry is violating catholic church teaching by advocating for choice (which he is) but that it is up to him to decide if he is fit to take communion after examining his own conscience and he might very well choose NOT to take communion in places where bishops take that seriously. But if he chooses to take communion it is within the perogative of the bishop to choose whether or not to give him communion and those who choose NOT to deny him communion aren’t doing anything wrong.
And if they choose to vote for him it’s between them and their conscience UNLESS the sole reason they are voting for him is the abortion issue. And of course it never is.
Clicked before I commented.
Benedict isn’t backing down on “pro life” one bit, but he made it clear he is also totally anti-preemptive war, anti-torture, and anti-Bush.
Yes, but, this is the key.
Kerry is clearly guilty of “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion…laws.” He is ineligible for the Eucharist and at risk of excommunication.
The beauty and ugliness of the church rules is that it really could go either way. They are meant to be discretionary. So you are at the mercy of your bishop.
Some would argue he’s clearly guilty – he campaigns on a pro-choice platform. Others would argue that he didn’t meet the standard for excommunitcation. Has he been consistently campaigning for laws? When was the last time he campaigned for a law that related to abortion? And voting? The Senate really doesn’t pass laws relating to abortion — at least not on a regular basis. And even if it happened once or twice – is that obstinate persistence?
But what is clear is that the discretion to excommunicate him lies with his pastor and his pastor’s superior – NOT with the archbishop of another diocese. So the pope left it to be determined by the bishop of Boston who apparently hasn’t thought it necessary to excommunicate him – unless I missed that announcement?
Interestingly, I don’t think even Archbishop Burke has excommunicated a Catholic politician. Yet.
So far he’s only excommunicated some Polish Catholics over an issue having to do with money.
Although we did think that he might threaten to excommunicate the St. Louis University basketball coach a couple of months ago for showing up at Hillary Clinton rally and telling a teevee reporter that he was, among other things, pro-choice.
Someone must have explained to the Archbishop that being taken to task by the editorial board of a newspaper is NOTHING compared to being taken to task by the sports writers. Because the whole thing died down. 🙂
Yes, formally he did nothing. But he did not make clear to the U.S. public who, like me, has absolutely no tolerance or intelligence for such angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin nuance that one or more of his representatives in the U.S. had WRONGFULLY attacked Kerry. The attack was all that made an impression. Perhaps this is the fault of the media. Or the fault of Kerry who reacted to everything like a wilted wallflower. Sorry, Mr. Ratzinger knew that this war, which he is now so very much opposed to, was going on in 2004. He could have instructed his representatives in the U.S. to make his views clear. Did he? Not as far as I know. Evidently this poster has issues with the Catholic Church.
Why should he make it clear that it was wrongful when it wasn’t wrongful from the point of view of the church (or even wrongful under U.S. Law)?
Look at it this way.
The published policy of the Catholic Church is to work to make abortion illegal.
The published policy of the Catholic Church is to work for a responsible transition to end the war in Iraq.
The Church, in the person of the Pope, takes a stand on the second issue by insulting the President of the United States and refusing to attend a state banquet in his honor.
The Church takes a stand on the first issue, through Archbishop Burke, by insulting a candidate for President and stating that he could be denied communion.
Personally I would question the “prudential judgment” of both actions. But they are well within their rights to do both and there is nothing wrongful about either action. That doesn’t mean both actions aren’t stupid.
And let me say that I really can’t believe I’ve come close to defending Archbishop Burke. I need to call all of my family and tell them to read this just for a good laugh.
The Church is also totally against capital punishment.
It is also totally against torture, and for support of the poor.
The Church! Ouch, there is only One Church.
The Church in the United States also has a stated policy to achieve comprehensive immigration reform and to oppose policies that reflect prejudice, hostility toward immigrants, religious bigotry, and other forms of discrimination.
So there are many issues that a Catholic can examine when making a decision about who to vote for.
But the fact remains that Archbishop Burke has stated that these other issues aren’t equal to the abortion issue. He is very conservative on that point and those that live in his diocese act accordingly. (They just don’t talk about how they vote.)
In Florida, we are “blessed” with many retired priests. We had one from Burke’s archdiocese. He was so right wing, spent at least one homily trashing Kerry, quotes Dr. Laura and other right wing radio hosts…And adds to the Mass a prayer “for the defeat of the enemies of the United States.”
I finally wrote to the pastor. Burke and other ancient members of the hierarchy have no idea how repulsed most Catholics are by that politics. The Monoghan sect is a pretty small sliver of the Catholic population, and can’t support the Church.
You’re right. It wasn’t wrongful. Just plain stupid. The catholic church is eternal and I am mortal. So I’ll give up here. They occupy the moral high ground for eternity. I react to the catholic church the way some people react to Mrs. Clinton. There’s nothing rational about it. Nor moral. That is my personal experience.
and it is not
to refuse to be used as a political prop for one party in an election year. In fact, I’m very pleased the Pope has the backbone to do it.