Unforeseen Consequences of Cardinal Dolan's Invite
Regardless of what one thinks or believes about Cardinal Timothy Dolan's invitation to President Obama for the Al Smith Foundation Dinner, Catholics may feel its ramifications for years to come.
Many fear that the invitation and the photos from the event will be used by the Obama campaign in order to sway the "Catholic vote" to his campaign. That very well might happen. But another less discussed consequence Catholics may be seen in the future selection of commencement speakers.
To identify scandals, most look to the 2004 statement from the bishops’ “Catholics in Political Life” as a guide, which reads: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Inevitably, a small number of Catholic colleges invite public advocates of abortion and same-sex "marriage" to speak at their commencement ceremonies. These invitations clearly confuse students and the faithful about the Church's teaching on these issues. It may very well be that in years to come many Catholic colleges will support their own invitations to problematic speakers by invoking Obama's invitation to the Al Smith dinner.
Cardinal Dolan defended his invitation recently by saying, "For one, an invitation to the Al Smith Dinner is not an award, or the provision of a platform to expound views at odds with the Church. It is an occasion of conversation; it is personal, not partisan."
But didn't Georgetown say similar things about their invitation to Kathleen Sebelius?
The Secretary’s presence on our campus should not be viewed as an endorsement of her views. As a Catholic and Jesuit University, Georgetown disassociates itself from any positions that are in conflict with traditional church teachings.Didn't Notre Dame invoke the goal of "dialogue" about their invitation to Obama in 2009? How does the oft-repeated goal of "dialogue" differ from "occasion of conversation?"
We are a university, committed to the free exchange of ideas.
Cardinal Dolan's invitation is, I'm sure, made with consideration and with the best of intentions. And while most Catholic colleges will avoid "honoring" controversial speakers, some will inevitably use the invitation as another support for their invitation to a scandalous speaker that will end up only confusing students about the nature of Catholic teaching on all important issues.
23 comments:
thank you
Dead on accurate. Sowing the seeds of confusion, disorientation, and scandal.
This is not "My personal belief differs, but let's come together for dinner" this is "Conform to my beliefs or suffer, and let's come together for dinner."
Why Dolan can't see the difference is, frankly, a scary omen.
Calumny is as bad as scandal. Cdl. Dolan's actions are not scandalous. "Be not afraid."
Calumny...
"you keep a'usin' that word...I do not think it means what a you think it means"
Inigo Montoya
Scandal, on the other hand...
Matt 18:7
it most certainly fits.
Dolan has one thing in common with Obama, he's a careerist. It isn't what's in the best interests of the church that matters to him, it's what will advance him among the high and mighty. If he was thinking of the best interests of the church when Obamacare was being debated, he would have fought it tooth and nail instead of being a go-along guy like the rest of the bishops. Instead, he bought into the idea that contraception would not be a part of the package. How willfully stupid can you get? Perhaps an IQ test should be mandatory for all those who are raised to this office, so our chances of being snookered will not be so great in the future.
Steve, you're absolutely correct, with one proviso:
Dolan and the rest of USCCB failed to push back against ObamaCare earlier not only because of their lack of due dilligence. They actually support the idea of European-style national health insurance, details be damned, because it fits their views of "social justice."
Cardinal Dolan, beginning with the horrifying defeat of marriage in New York, after which His Eminence explained his absence from the field of battle at the critical hour resulted from the assurance os his advisors that "it could never pass", and continuing with his incredibly ill-advised invitation to Obama for a yuck-and-chuck fest three weeks before the election...........
Has grievously failed to discern the signs of the times.
May God help us all.
I hate to say this, but I must, "you can't be friends with the world and a friend to Christ".
You seem to expect Dolan to act as a politician, and not as a priest. His job is not to tow an ideological line. His job is to love his enemy. To wish him to do anything else is to wish him to adopt the attitude of us vs. them. That's the work of the devil, not the work of Christ.
You seem to expect Dolan to act as a politician, and not as a priest. His job is not to tow an ideological line. His job is to love his enemy. To wish him to do anything else is to wish him to adopt the attitude of us vs. them. That's the work of the devil, not the work of Christ.
Lizzie,
You have it exactly backwards. His Eminence acted as politician, and not as a priest. Loving one's enemy blesses and does not confuse or cause scandal to the sheep. It IS us against the world. We are to be in the world but not of the world. The invitation to Obama was a very worldly decision, based on pleasing men and not God.
I don't really see how the dinner is equivalent to a commencement speech. Georgetown used "dialogue" as an excuse, but a dinner affords a much greater chance for dialogue than a speech, which is one-way. Maybe Dolan shouldn't have extended the invitation, but I'm being reminded of the occasion under Soviet rule in Poland when Archbishop Karol Wojtyla met with Communist leaders and managed to convince them to return the use of a Seminary to the Archdiocese, among other victories. Different circumstances, yes, but perhaps similar intentions?
The invitation itself, Obama's mere presence, is the honor even if he says nothing. I wish Cardinal Dolan understood this.
I think it's time for Catholics in New York to engage in some civil disobedience. I suggest that they picket the chancery in force and stage a sit-in so nobody goes in or out until Dolan withdraws the invitation. If he doesn't, then do the exact same thing at the site of the dinner and make sure that nobody -- not even Obama and Dolan -- gets in or out.
The American bishops have abandoned God, let alone the faithful. Consequently, they no longer deserve their allegiance. Catholics should stop being infatuated with ecclesiology and fight the borderline apostates who run the Church!
Thanks - I articulated something along these very lines in my article 'Dolan’s New Doctrine on Scandal – Three Reasons to Justify' at (http://www.davidlgray.info/blog/2012/08/doctrine-on-scandal/).
Glad others see this the same way. This is a great cause for concern moving forward. . .
"Cardinal Dolan's invitation is, I'm sure, made with consideration and with the best of intentions."
How can you be so sure without a shred of proof??
If Maobama is reelected within 4 years many Catholics will be imprisoned and possibly die. C. Dolan knows this and does not want to be one of them. I think it is called pandering. Learn and understand the term "normalcy bias."
Well, then I guess that Jesus was guilty of causing "scandal". He ate with public outcasts and sinners regularly. It was never seen as an endorsement of their sin, on the contrary, was considered an invitation to repentence.
Should the president have the big brassies to post campaign pictures with him and the Cardinal, my first move would be to craft a letter, and ask my brother bishops to have their priests read it from the pulpit clarifying the situation and then some. And slip this information to one of Obama's campaign staffers.
I'm with the Cardinal on this one. It's polite. Both candidates are invited. It's for a good cause, and it should be fun watching the president's discomfort of being completely out of his element. :)
“Hey, Your Eminence. You make a pretty good photo op. Just like the military.”
----The Preezy of the United Steeezy
well stated Tony! What a sigh of relief that you bring up this great point! I, for one, am tired of all the us vs them talk and am a big fan of dialogue. Actual listening and engaging dialogue in a non-threatening, respectful, apologetic sort of way.
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