The Catholic Right

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Seventy-six.


In the part Seventy-five of this series on the Catholic Right I expressed outrage over Pope Benedict XVI impolitic decision to reinstate four schismatic bishops of the order known as the Society of St. Pius X, commonly known by its acronym, SSPX.

The group includes Holocaust denier Richard Williamson, the source of much of Catholic as well as non-Catholic condemnation.

It turns out that SSPX's anti-Semitism and racism runs far deeper than has been reported during the reinstatement flap. Meanwhile, the episode has not only reopened old wounds in Catholic-Jewish relations, which have been on the mend since the heady days of Vatican II but threatens to reignite ancient animosities between Christian and Muslims and even Northern and Southern Italians.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Seventy-five

The online edition of the New York Times for Saturday, January 24, 2009, reports:

"POPE REINSTATES FOUR BISHOPS, INCLUDING HOLOCAUST DENIER"

"Pope Benedict XVI, acceding to the far-right of the Roman Catholic Church, revoked the excommunications of four schismatic bishops on Saturday, including one whose comments denying the Holocaust have provoked outrage."

Needless to say, as I read the whole story, I was outraged.

The four bishops all are members of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, of which I described in Part Thirty-two of this series:

Needless to say, as I read the whole story, I was outraged.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right-Part, Seventy-four

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is a leader of the next generation of the Religious Right. Simultaneously, he is the new face of the Catholic Right including their constant allies, neoconservatives.

Sarah Palin has been getting more public attention since her historic run for Vice President on the GOP ticket. But unlike Palin, Jindal has not earned a reputation as a loose-cannon and he appears to have far more political staying power than Palin. Among other things, he can flash some credentials as a healthcare reformer by his proposed "Louisiana Health First." And as a former Member of Congress, he has Washington experience that Palin does not.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right-Part, Seventy-three

Some Catholics think President-elect Obama owes American Catholics something for providing him with a 54% plurality. As Frederick Clarkson recently observed there are timid Catholic liberals such as E.J. Dionne who urge the president-elect to somewhat modify his position on issues such as abortion - for example, by not signing into law the anticipated Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), or even anti-abortion related executive orders.  Those on the Catholic Right, are already chastising him to reverse course on his pro-choice position - this is the predominate position among several bishops.

However, my take is that Obama should remain true to his previously stated positions - especially on abortion, contraception and stem cell research. Beyond that, I suspect that many Catholics voted for the former Illinois Senator because they too disagree with the hierarchy in these issues -- and hope that he stands his ground.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-seven

Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama choice of Delaware Senator Joe Biden has set off a barrage of invective from the Catholic Right. Why is that?

It effectively exposes the Astorturf nature of their movement.

Joe Biden, the Senior U.S. Senator from Delaware and Democratic Party nominee for Vice President, is a Catholic who attends Mass every Sunday. He is a public servant whose faith informs and influences his politics. He is pro-labor and supportive of the role of government in addressing economic inequities that result from the arbitrary use of power. By and large, he is a liberal whose policy positions generally echo Catholic principles of distributive justice.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-five

What does McCain's use of Catholic Right icon Deal Hudson as a campaign advisor and surrogate tell us about the presumptive GOP nominee's view of American Catholics?  Simple: just like President George W. Bush, his Catholic constituency is not the rank and file faithful, but a small reactionary faction in the hierarchy here and in the Vatican.

This is significant for many reasons, not the least is that it signals a disregard for one of American Catholicism's most recent painful episodes.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-four

On July 16, 2008 Catholics United sent the McCain campaign a a letter calling on the Arizona senator to remove the controversial Catholic Right mover and shaker Deal Hudson from the Catholics for McCain National Steering Committee. Hudson, a Catholic Right activist who was forced to resign from a similar position in President Bush's 2004 presidential campaign when The National Catholic Reporter broke a story about sexual harassment on Hudson's part while teaching at Fordham University.

So, who would be brazen enough to defend such a man from a similar firing?  The Catholic League's Bill Donohue, of course.

Bill Donohue has described Deal Hudson as "the ultimate networker," adding: "If you wanted to get something to the top inner circles of the [Bush] White House from a Catholic perspective, you could contact Deal Hudson and it was delivered."

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-three

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.

The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up? He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.

Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Matthew 13:24-30

On June 27, 2008 the Vatican announced that St. Louis, Missouri's Archbishop Raymond Burke was promoted to Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura -- a position that except for the Pope is considered the highest judicial position within the Catholic Church. It is essentially being the Chief Justice of the Church's Supreme Court.

Originally Posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-two

In last week's post I discussed how the Catholic Right organization Fidelis may be possibly violating IRS proscriptions against electioneering by non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. This week we take a closer look at one of its principle figures -- attorney Patrick T. Gillen. Although not exactly a household name, Gillen has been in the middle of many of the religious right's biggest court battles in recent years.

A Googling of Gillen reveals, among other things, that he is a visiting faculty member at Ave Maria Law School as well as the former chief litigator for the Thomas More Law Center.

As I wrote previously of TMLC:

TMLC makes no bones that its members are engaged in a culture war against the supposedly ungodly: