Archdiocese of Newark Forwarding Partisan Campaign Material
Yesterday I received an email with a "grassroots video" from the Associate Director of Parish Outreach & Training for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at the Archdiocese of Newark. I watched the video which focused solely on abortion and gay marriage. It also glorified war and America's "economic power".
The video and website, Catholicvote.com were produced by Fidelis. They have very strong ties to the Republican Party and to the McCain campaign. In February of this year they issued a press release endorsing John McCain for president and their website includes articles from Deal Hudson who is an advisor to the McCain campaign as a member of the “Catholic Outreach Committee”. They have given campaign contributions only to republicans and even supported republican Senator Rick Santorum over Bob Casey, a pro-life democrat, during the 2006 election cycle.
I objected to the distribution of this video and I received a response that the video identified "the obvious Pro Life candidates". I received a subsequent email from the director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry that said there was nothing wrong with the video or the promotion of it.
Among other things, the video glorifies US economic and military power. This runs contrary to Catholic Social Teaching which emphasizes a preferential option for the poor and solidarity. It also runs contrary to the Cathecism which teaches us that "Respect for and development of human life require peace."
There is more than one intrinsic evil at issue this year. They include genocide, racism, torture, targeting non-combatants and engaging in unjust wars. They are all life issues and they all require our attention as Catholics.
Whether we vote Republican or Democrat this year what defines us is that we are Catholic. Don't let the political parties redefine what that means. <span style="font-weight:bold;">VOTE THE COMMON GOOD
posted by Kathy O'Leary @ 9/16/2008
9 comments
OTHER PAX CHRISTI LOCAL CHAPTERS
9 Comments:
Dear Kathy O'Leary,
You sent me the following comment on my blog: "If you forward this video or link to the website in your official capacity you may be in violation of IRS regulations and Church policy. You will also be distributing materials that contradict Church teaching."
1. How dare you?
2. Who do you think you are?
Threatening me? You are a pacifistic communist and if you think there is any place in the Catholic Church for you you have been sadly misled. I can tell you are a Communist in your denunciation of the American Economic model and your featured quote of Communist, heretic and adulterer Martin Luther King Jr.
The American military is the greatest military in the world, sacrificing every day for pathetic pacifists like yourself who are hiding behind the Church as you have ordained it in your own mind.
I feel very sorry for you. I published your comment because I think it illustrates the vapidity of your notions and I plan to use it as an excellent example of heresy. Pax Cristi- are you kidding me? I think anyone who joins it should be immediately excommunicated.
Most sincerely,
Mary Alexander
www.againstallheresies.blogspot.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ms. O'Leary:
You left a text copy of this post as a comment on the blog run by my buddy Tom and I (tomandjerry95.blogspot.com). Allow me to respond here on your blog:
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Ms. O'Leary:
Pardon me if the words "common good" send a shiver down my spine. It seems to me that those with socialist leanings are forever invoking the "common good" in their attempt to impose their vision of utopia on us.
And excuse me, Ms. O'Leary, but your organization is no less partisan than Fidelis (an organization I had never heard of until your comment), and runs as contrary to Church teaching as you accuse Fidelis of being. In looking at some of the positions outlined at the votethecommongood site, there is much for an orthodox Catholic to take exception to:
Immigration Breakout Session:
Statement: As an immigrant nation, we believe people have a right to migrate. And immigrants have always been essential contributors to the economic, social, political, cultural, and religious fabric of this nation. Efforts to criminalize and marginalize immigrants destroy that fabric, and undermine the common good.
Question: How do you propose to address the current immigration crisis that has resulted from US foreign and economic policies...
As usual among those trying to muddy the waters on this issue, there is the failure to distinguish between legal immigration, which is opposed by no one, and illegal immigration, which is opposed on the grounds that it is, you know, ILLEGAL. How on earth US foreign policy is to be blamed for illegal immigration is beyond me; the only US economic policy that could be blamed for illegal immigration is that illegal immigrants are collecting taxpayer-funded govt. payouts without paying any taxes, which is unjust.
Health Care Breakout Session:
Statement: We believe, on the basis of Catholic social teaching, that healthcare is a basic human right....
It is a basic human right that one may not be gratuitously denied health care. However, it is not a basic human right that anyone (doctor, hospital) must provide a service to anyone else free of charge. When you can wrap your head around that, maybe you can then start to work on a truly just health care system.
As Catholics, we recommend that the U.S. — as a good global citizen working for the global common good — develop an ethical U.S. foreign policy that emphasizes conflict resolution through multilateral diplomacy instead of unilateral U.S. military action...
Ah, yes, multilateral diplomacy: where we need the permission of people that do not like us in order to defend ourselves.
More silliness in your post:
[Fidelis] even supported republican Senator Rick Santorum over Bob Casey, a pro-life Catholic democrat...
So now it contradicts Church teaching to favor one pro-life candidate over another?
There is more than one intrinsic evil at issue this year. They include genocide, racism, torture, targeting non-combatants and engaging in unjust wars.
Yes, and while you blithely convince yourself that it is OK to vote for a candidate that advocates withholding medical care from babies that survive abortions, I will ask you the following:
By what standard of evidence can you dare to assert that the US military targets non-combatants? Our jihadist enemies target non-combatants, but that hasn't really shown up on your radar, has it?
Racism? How is this election about racism, other than the not-very-thinly-veiled charge that anyone who does not vote for Obama must be racist?
Genocide? Again, by what stretch of fantasy to you charge that the US is engaged in genocide?
Torture? Yes, those harsh conditions at Guantanamo - where prisoners endure the air conditioning turned up too high, loud Christina Aguilera music, and under-inflated balls in their recreation area - are surely harsh. Tell you what, I'll get upset about the US 'torturing' prisoners when you get upset about what happens to US soldiers and civilians (you know, those non-combatants you claim to care so much about) when they are captured abroad.
Unjust wars? While it is true that the late Pope John Paul II opposed the US entering Iraq, it is also true that the present Pope Benedict XVI (you remember him, right?) supports the US staying in Iraq until the mission is completed.
If you forward this video or link to the website in your official capacity you may be in violation of IRS regulations and Church policy...
As to our 'official capacity', I have no idea what you are talking about, and apparently neither do you. The only "official capacity" Tom and I have is:
-- we are officially married to smokin' hot, intellectually gifted, devoutly Catholic women
-- we run the "Tom and Jerry" blog
As such, we will link and/or forward anything we damn well want to. However, neither Tom nor I forwarded the CatholicVote video, or even a link to it, to you. You, on the other hand, came to our site and posted (in your comment) a link to votethecommongood. You then proceeded to caution us about violating IRS and/or Church policy. I see you think no more clearly about what constitutes a policy violation than you do about political or moral issues.
Cordially,
Jerry
Ms. O'Leary,
Thank you for visiting my blog and posting a comment. However, I noticed that you simply copied and pasted a statement that you also posted on a number of other blogs that you apparently located by conducting a Google search for blogs that have linked to the video you are protesting.
A couple of points:
1) There is absolutely no way that an individual would jeopardize their organization's tax exempt status simply by posting the video in question. Why even raise the issue? Is that a threat? What place does that have in intelligent discourse? That being noted, however, the video does not endorse a candidate nor a particular political position. While you may disagree with the agenda of those who funded the production of the video, that in and of itself does not mean that the video is partisan.
2.) I would encourage you to read the article found here:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-catholic-vote-and-the-counterbalance-to-abortion/
In it, Ms. Scalia provides an intelligent analysis of a myriad of issues related to Catholic Social Teaching.
3.) I would be careful about making the charge that something "contradict[s] Church Teaching." I cannot tell from your profile or Blogs, so I do not know what qualifications you possess that allow you to make such a judgment. If the video is promoted by the Archdiocese of Newark, as you indicate on your blog, I know there are folks there that are qualified to make that judgment.
Again, thanks for the 3 seconds you spent on my blog! I hope you will join with me in praying that God will give us the graces required to properly form our consciences in accordance with God's Will this November.
In Christ,
Joe Marotta
You posted this post as a comment to, my blog. I responded in the comment section of my blog, and I am posting a copy of that comment here.
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Kathy O'Leary,
Your comment mentions genocide as a life issue for this election. As far as I can tell, neither presidential platform supports genocide explicitly. Although, those who support abortion are supporting the killing of millions of innocent children. That sounds like genocide to me.
I also noticed that the front page of your website does not once mention abortion. You mention "protecting life at all stages" and then give specific examples of promoting life after birth. Why are you so silent on protecting life before birth?
Can you imagine the good you could accomplish by holding politicians' feet to the fire on abortion. If Catholics as a voting block resolutely rejected pro-choice candidates, then latter would have to change their position on abortion. They simply could not get elected without the Catholic vote.
Catholics, who gloss over and ignore a politician's pro-choice platform in favor of other life issues, simply enable those politicians to ignore the most basic right to life.
Finally, political parties have, for some, defined what it means to be Catholic. But it was the Democrats who did so. During the middle of the twentieth century, Catholics held a strong allegiance to the Democratic party. In 1972, when the Democratic party radically embraced a pro-abortion platform, weak Bishops and other weak Catholics found ways to excuse the Democratic party rather than withdrawl their support. Finally, some Catholics are standing up to pro-abortion politicians in both parties.
Catholics should vote pro-life. It doesn't matter if the cadidate is Republican or Democrat.
You claim that supporting Rick Santorum over Bob Casey is evidence of partisanship. I strongly disagree. Bob Casey is mostly pro-life, and he would earn my vote if the other candidate were pro-abortion. However, Bob Casey is weak on some life issues. Rick Santorum has a much stronger pro-life record than Bob Casey. Given a choice between the two, it is no suprise the pro-life voter recommended Santorum.
Let me also add. I find it a real shame that American politics has split the Catholic vote.
Imagine what would happen if Catholics who work for social justice also worked with the same zeal to end abortion. It would take no more than one or two election cycles before we saw a radical political shift to the pro-life cause.
Catholics account for 60+ million people in this country. If we all voted pro-life then candidates would have to listen.
For that matter, if pro-life voters emphasized social justice issues with the same zeal as they promote an end to abortion, then no candidate would get elected without being right on social justice.
But protecting unborn life is fundamental to protecting all other rights.
No major party candidate is perfect on all issues important to Catholics. Therefore, we are required to prioritize the issues.
If Pax Cristi and other like minded groups would champion the pro-life cause, then abortion would be on the ropes in this country.
The two-party system has split the Catholic vote. I wish I could vote for a candidate who opposes abortion, capital punishment, torture and seeks a preferential option for the poor. But, none exists in this presidential election.
As a look at both presidential candidates, both support capital punishment and both oppose torture. We could argue about which candidate would best help the poor. However, the pro-life candidate is clear. I won't mention him by name because I would not want you to lose your tax exempt status :)
Wow, you've been really busy.....you posted the same thing on my blog.
Too bad you don't have a clue as to what you're talking about.
Take care.
Kathy O'Leary's reference to "a preferential option for the poor and
solidarity" is very good. However, to establish some credibility as an
organization with members who come primarily from the middle-class and rich,
I recommend that VOTF support the following proposal:
Applying Jesus' Approach to Catholic Schools:
A "preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a
church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the
poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the
middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources
used for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" and other programs which can
be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic
Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential
factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely,
THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the
poor come first. (William Horan 2008)
Kathy O'Leary's reference to "a preferential option for the poor and
solidarity" is very good. However, to establish some credibility as an
organization with members who come primarily from the middle-class and rich,
I recommend that VOTF support the following proposal:
Applying Jesus' Approach to Catholic Schools:
A "preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a
church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the
poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the
middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources
used for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" and other programs which can
be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic
Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential
factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely,
THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the
poor come first. (William Horan 2008)
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