Religion
Related: About this forumN.Y. Archbishop to Pray at Dem Convention; Nuns on the Bus Leader to Appear Too
Archbishop Timothy Dolan will deliver the closing prayer at both major-party conventions, and the Democrats will also hear from popular Nuns on the Bus leader Sister Simone Campbell.
BY TRUDY RING AUGUST 28 2012 8:08 PM ET
It turns out that New York Catholic archbishop Timothy Dolan will deliver the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican one, a move that is drawing mixed reviews from LGBT and other progressive activists.
Dolan worked hard against his states marriage equality bill and has aligned himself with conservatives on other political issues, leading some commentators, such as Andrew Sullivan, to decry his appearance this week at the Republican convention as a partisan act. Usually a clergy member from the region where the convention is held leads the closing prayer, but Republican Party, meeting in Tampa, Fla., apparently wanted a higher-profile cleric. Dolan, who is head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as the huge New York archdiocese, is sometimes called Americas pope.
Last week it was reported that Dolan had offered to appear at the Democratic convention as well but had not received an answer. Today, however, it was announced that Dolan would deliver the benediction to close the event, to be held September 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C. Another Catholic voice at the convention will be Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the national Catholic social justice lobby Network and the leader of the recent the Nuns on the Bus tour. Her group has been criticized by the church hierarchy for focusing too much on economic issues and too little on opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. She will speak September 5.
Some commentators characterized the presence of both conservative and liberal Catholic spokespeople at the Democratic convention as a coup for President Obamas campaign. That is kind of a Catholic two-fer that threatens to upstage GOP nominee Mitt Romneys Catholic outreach and highlights the importance of this swing vote in a deadlocked race, wrote David Gibson of Religion News Service. Los Angeles Times contributor Michael McGough said the Democrats called Dolans bluff by inviting him to invoke Gods blessing on what many Republicans consider a godless party. The pro-LGBT group Catholics for Equality posted on Facebook that there will now be a balanced Catholic presence at both national conventions and praised the Democrats inclusion of Campbell.
more at link
rurallib
(62,413 posts)Dolan is a businessman whose product is hate. They will never, ever support you or anything you believe in. They are tied to the radical right wing of the teabagger party.
that scratch on your back is from the knife he tried to shove in.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)Sister Simone represents Democrat ideology. He does not.
MineralMan
(146,290 posts)there would be no prayers at conventions. There are. There always are. The concept is not actually supported by our politicians, so it is as good as non-existent. Religion is intimately tied to our politics, so it is intimately tied to our form of government. That is not what the founders had in mind, I'm sure.
Let's make the separation a real thing.