Catholic Professors Criticize Boehner in Letter

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

House Speaker John A. Boehner, a Republican who grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family in Ohio, is scheduled to give the commencement address this Saturday at the Catholic University of America in Washington, a prestigious venue in church circles for its affiliation with the nation’s bishops.

But now Mr. Boehner is coming in for a dose of the same kind of harsh criticism previously leveled at some Democrats — including President Obama — who have been honored by Catholic universities: the accusation that his policies violate basic teachings of the Catholic church.

More than 75 professors at Catholic University and other prominent Catholic colleges have written a pointed letter to Mr. Boehner saying that the Republican-supported budget he shepherded through the House of Representatives will hurt the poor, elderly and vulnerable, and therefore he has failed to uphold basic Catholic moral teaching.

“Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings,” the letter says. “From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.”



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/us/12catholic.html?_r=1&hp

---

While I don't support Catholic priests and bishops denying communion to any politician if they are going to do it over abortion maybe they ought to do it as well for those who don't give a damn about the poor and middle-class.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Nice to see Catholics doing this. nt

[SpiralHawk]

2. Pope Launches Republicon Inquisition

"What's up wit Republicon's sicko Family Cesspool Values, their Torture Freakery, and their Enrich the Rich While Crusading Against the Poor bullshit? Holy Chunk Blow. We demand answers, and we know how to get them."

- Pope Ratzinger
http://svr225.stepx.com:3388/spanish-inquisition/file/53267.jpg

[qazplm]

3. it's their religion

if they want to deny communion to anyone for any reason under their precepts, it's their right just as it is the right of the adherents to reassess their religious home when/if the practice of that religion violates their own internal moral compass.

[drmeow]

20. I agree but what gets me

is the inconsistency and hypocrisy. Abortion is not the only thing the church stands for but it seems to be one of the few that church leaders call people on. IMO IF priests are going to deny communion to politicians for supporting abortion they should ALSO deny communion for politicians who support the death penalty, war, torture, punishing the poor, refusing to provide care for the sick, etc. None of those are in line with the teachings of Jesus.

[markpkessinger]

24. I know a Catholic priest who got into trouble with his bishop . . .

. . . for delivering a homily along exactly the lines you suggest, pointing out that the pro-life ethic the Church claims as the basis of its anti-abortion stance also forbids support for capital punishment. Apparently that was a bit too hot politically for his bishop to handle.

[drmeow]

25. That type of hypocrisy

is the reason I left the church at 18 (once I moved out of my parent's house) and never ever looked back. The local bishop here has come down hard on the local Newman Center right next to the college campus (and almost definitely attended by many Catholic students) and my first reaction was "hey dumbass - what part of young people leaving the church because it is out of touch don't you understand?" Of course organized religion has always been more about power and control than religious teachings so no big surprises there.

[Matilda]

42. That might make a good story, but there is no basis in fact for it.

The Catholic Church is opposed to the death penalty. Whether you agree with their stand on abortion or not, the
Church is at least consistent on this point.

[elleng]

4. 'his policies violate basic teachings of the Catholic church. '

They sure do.

[No Elephants]

5. It seems good, but the Catholics and evangelicals have created so many

Republicons because of choice and homosexuality.

They won't be satisfied until they get a theocracy because neither Party gives them 100% of what they want.

However, the Catholics do seem more alert on the issues of reverence for people who are alive than the evangelicals seem. The latter cannot seem to get past homosexuality and choice.

Our only hope is separation of church and state.

[patrice]

19. Yep!!! That old choice football has been pulled so many times, right before the kick, that they had

to replace it with the LGBT football and now they're all trying to make careers out of playing one another for all that it's worth, instead of solving problems like how to make abortions rare and un-necessary, or how to deal with the evolution of marriage.

[dorksied]

6. Do I smell an EXCOMMUNICATION???

I think I DO!

[jwirr]

7. I love the church when it finally gets back to the basics of faith. To

bad that it happens so seldom.

[groundloop]

8. I hope Boehner doesn't cry 'cause he had his feelings hurt.

[JDPriestly]

9. "Anti-life." That's what they called House Republican's budget

They criticized the cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other programs for the poor.

And they are right.

I wish I could recommend this a thousand times.

So, please read the article and recommend it for me again.

[aggiesal]

14. Healthcare not Wealthcare n/t

[Enrique]

10. professors don't count as real Catholics

they're professors so they're leftists and so they can't believe in God. q.e.d. :sarcasm:

[Chan790]

11. Proud to be an alumnus today...

I read the letter earlier and several of my professors were signatories including 2 that I know for a fact are dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. CUA's a messed-up school in other ways but they're Catholic first.

Chan790
B.A. 2002, Politics.
Conc. in Political Theory.

The full letter is available here:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/breaking-news-catholic-academics-challenge-boehner

[SheilaT]

12. I wouldn't be surprised if

these professors wind up being smacked down by the Vatican, which has a history of supporting right-wing dictatorships in South America, and censuring priests who try to help the poor.

As someone who was raised Catholic, but who by the time I was a teen, more than forty years ago, knew there was something quite wrong about the church's teachings. I was especially bothered by celibate men having final say over what went on inside a marriage, and who denied essential human rights to women.

[aggiesal]

13. They (Republicans) also say they're PRO-LIFE yet ...

they are PRO-WAR.

A complete contradiction of each other.

[olegramps]

15. Since Opus Dei took over the Catholic Church they don't give a damn about social justice.

The Catholic Church was staunchly pro-union and pro-working class until Pope John Paul II recognized Opus Dei, a fascist secret society. that was determined to completely reverse the decrees of Vatican II. They launched a campaign to totally wipe out any memory Pope John XXII.

Here was the example of truly holy man who risked his life to save ten of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust sometimes in direct defiance of the Vatican. Pope John not only called for a complete overhaul of the Church but established a Birth Control Commission to reexamine the Church's opposition to contraception. Unfortunately John XXIII died before the commission voted overwhelmingly in favor of revising of the church's opposition to contraception. Guess who sabotaged the report and basically wrote the encyclical reaffirming the church's condemnation. None other the the future Pope John Paul II. They even tried to swear the commission to secrecy but several members who were totally shocked by the events went public.

Even more shocking is the fact that Pope John Paul II was a committed friend and admirer of Marcial Maciel the founder of the Legions of Christ that operates seminaries that enroll high school age students for study for the priesthood. Not incidentally a practice that has been denounced by several bishops. Marcial Maciel was a notorious pedophile who abuse scores of young boys dating from 1956 and is known to have fathered one child and accused of fathering six others. He wasn't removed from power until John had died Ratzinger was elected pope. The rush to canonize John Paul II is a total sham that is being led by the hundreds of brain dead bishops that he appointed after forcing out anyone who didn't have a Dark Ages' mentality.

[patrice]

22. Look at the changes, instituted by Vatican II, in the prayers used during the consecration of the

Eucharist, for JP II's and Benedict's concerns. A Vatican II Mass has a much different definition and locus of "power".

[olegramps]

26. John Paul II only concern was promoting himself.

His thesis was about mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, and he sought to imitate their psychotic notions. It has everything to do with Platonic philosophy and ascetic practices and nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus.

[patrice]

30. That stuff CAN be pure poison. The inclination to deny the utterly

physical grounding of the whole story has always seemed so puzzling and wrong headed to me, so contradictory, so fatal, so thanatotic. Vatican II affirmed life!

[AngryOldDem]

29. Just one more reason why JPII does not deserve sainthood.

And I think by the way they're ramming this canonization through, the hierarchy knows this as well.

[Cal33]

34. I think the present pope is a great admirer of John Paul II, and is

trying to ram through the canonization. Politics is
playing even in sainthood.

[Matilda]

43. I agree with your f eelings about Opus Dei,

and I regret that John XXIII is being airbrushed from Catholic history. That's how I see it anyway - if ever there was a man who lived the ideals of Christianity, it was he. The polar opposite of Escrivar, a nasty man from accounts of many who knew him.

But while then Cardinal Wojtyla had input into "Humanae Vitae", the papal encyclical on birth control, it was principally the work of Pope Paul VI. To the surprise of the majority of bishops, who were in favour of relaxing controls on contraception, Paul could not reconcile changing the rules with his conscience, and "Humanae Vitae" is principally his own work.

I have wondered whether the difference between the two men was that John came from a poor family, and knew firsthand about the difficulties of raising many children in poverty, while Paul was the son of rich parents and educated at home by tutors before entering the seminary. He had no idea of the real world and how hard it can be for many.

[AlinPA]

16. Tough words. He is blinded by the republican agenda and the letter will be ignored. nt

[RamboLiberal]

17. If they address watch some of the cable yakkers trot out Bill Donahue!

[patrice]

18. Now, if we could just get them to speak out about how bad jobs + War = abortion. nt

[Blue Owl]

21. Have another drink, Boehner

The Boner drinks to deal with the pure evil of Republicanism that lurks inside him.

[SemperEadem]

23. well, then they should love the upcoming Rolling Stone article

by Matt Taibbi: Boehner: The Poor and Lazy Caused Current Crisis

http://www.redesign.rumormiller.com/story.php?title=boehner-the-poor-and-lazy-caused-current-crisis-1

Seems he just vomited the truth up all over the place and didn't know he was being recorded.

[truthisfreedom]

36. Unbelieveable gall. "Don't get me started on health care- doctors study their entire lives

...and they barely make enough to live and yet Obama, who had his entire life handed to him on a silver plate wants to cut their pay."

Obama got his entire life handed to him on a silver plate? WTF kind of bullshit statement is that?

[Chan790]

37. The sort made by Johnny the angry drunken oopma-loompa?

No lie. My new roommate is from Cote D'Ivoire, had no idea who John Boehner was and thought the other day that he'd somehow broken the TV because there was this "normalish" looking guy the color of "yam puke" on the screen.

[SemperEadem]

40. ya know! I was stunned when I read this

I'm like first that Colonel who upchucked his good sense to that Rolling Stone writer, now this. I swear, the truth will out when it's most inconvenient for it to be known. That's why honesty is always the best policy.

I mean, you can always see bonehead flip into script-it's robotic almost. He never riff off the cuff--always talking points and he's such a bad actor. He doesn't understand the art of conversation with those below his class.

[SemperEadem]

41. ack! it was a hoax.

however, it's interesting that the boehner camp hasn't addressed his name being aligned with the
rhetoric that was 'falsely' assigned to him. Almost like "yeah, well... get me a drink."

I mean, it certainly would seem that he would refute and repudiate the mindset, for propriety's sake
at least. Alas, nothing but crickets and lawn sprinklers could be heard.

[AngryOldDem]

27. Some Catholics still do get it.

This is a perfect example of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's "seamless garment" theory -- all life is sacred, from birth to death.

If the bishops can call out Catholic politicians for their beliefs on abortion, then they need to start doing it on social justice issues as well.

[Scottybeamer70]

28. Old men in flowing robes and

funny hats do not impress me as those having "moral authority" over anyone.
I guess molesting children does not fit into their "moral authority".........obviously!

[patrice]

31. So, does your stereotype make their letter to Boehner meaningless? i.e. without authority? nt

[IcyPeas]

32. catholics, christians, jews, muslims, mormons, etc.

aren't they all pretty much for helping those in need? more of these so-called religious leaders should come out and stand for this too. (I realize this particular story is in regards to Boner speaking at a catholic event)

[patrice]

33. Yeah, if not, what, exactly, are we paying their tax-exempt way for?????

[iemitsu]

35. i applaud the catholic professor's condemnation

of boehner's voting record but suspect that the real concern of the church is a reduced tithe.

[dflprincess]

38. It should be clear to any Catholic that Republicans like Boehner

were not paying attention when the nuns tried to teach them the Corporal Works of Mercy

To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To clothe the naked
To shelter the homeless
To care for the sick
To visit the imprisoned
To bury the dead


I've always thought it was the nuns at Catechism that made me a libera.

[freshwest]

39. Thanks for posting this. I'll share it.