DEACON FOR LIFE

Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Matt C. Abbott: "Catholic Charities and Obama"

Matt C. Abbott column

Catholic Charities and Obama

Matt C. Abbott

Matt C. Abbott
August 3, 2012

First, I ask you, dear readers, to please keep me in your prayers. Many thanks!

Perhaps I'm missing the boat, so to speak, but I must say that I'm perplexed and disappointed by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York's invitation to President Obama to speak at the annual Al Smith Dinner.

From LifeSiteNews.com (click here for the full article):
Interestingly, on July 9:
Good for Catholic Charities of Chicago! But why in the heck is Catholic Charities of New York — apparently Cardinal Dolan himself — inviting our Church-persecuting president to speak at a Catholic fundraiser?

I asked Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life for his comments on the matter.

Father Pavone responded:

"I'm all in favor of protocol and understand the difference between respecting the president's policies vs. respecting his office. But there comes a time when the polite putting aside of differences for a while amounts to scandal. There comes a time when enough is enough and we can no longer afford to give people a reason to doubt our position as a Church. Today, the unjust HHS mandate went into effect for Priests for Life and millions of other Americans, and I announced to our staff that we are disobeying the mandate [click here to see the video]. So, no, I don't think the invitation is appropriate at this time."

I also asked Michael Hichborn of American Life League for his comments on the matter.

Hichborn responded:

"We are living in possibly the greatest time of confusion that the Catholic Church has ever known. Catholics are profoundly confused about fundamental principles like birth control, homosexuality, abortion, Mass attendance, and even the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Given the latest revelations about Catholic Relief Services' errant funding practices [click here for the story], the ongoing scandal at the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and the serious problems at the Catholic Health Association, hosting Barack Obama at a Catholic Charities event, and giving him a platform to speak, only compounds the extreme confusion among American Catholics.

"In St. Paul's letter to the Romans, he said, 'The wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.' It's time to stop over-emphasizing the symptoms of sin, which are poverty, plagues, illness, and injustice, and go back to the very purpose for being a Catholic, unity with Our Blessed Lord. Until the Church returns to preaching the Good News about Jesus' Mercy and the joy of the Eucharist, while encouraging repentance and the rejection of sin, the Catholic Church will continue to resemble the political philanthropy that modern society claims that it is."

Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from Triton College in River Grove, Ill. He has worked in the right-to-life movement and is a published writer focused on Catholic and social issues. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.

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