Blame the Catholic Church's Abortion Fuzziness for Notre Dame Mess, Not Obama
Does abortion trump all? President caught in the middle as the church sorts out its stance
Austin Hill is a radio talk show host at Newstalk 92-3 KTAR in Phoenix, Ariz., and a frequent guest host for Washington, D.C.'s 630 WMAL and the Fox Newstalk Radio Network. He is the coauthor of White House: Confidential -- The Little Book of Weird Presidential History.
And while we wait for clarity from the American Catholic Bishops, it does no good to criticize President Obama for having appeared at Notre Dame. His record of ardent support for abortion—and, therefore, his radical departure from the professed teachings of the Catholic Church—is widely known. And despite how ugly his position on abortion may be to many Americans, President Obama is nonetheless honest about where he stands on the issue.
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Reader Comments
Poor Judgment
I believe there was poor judgment on both sides. Fr. Jenkens used poor judgment when deciding to invite/allow someone whose stance on abortion (by far the biggest political issue for the church) contradicts the church's beliefs and teachings. True, die-hard Catholics are going to have an issue listening to someone who, in their opinion, allows for the murder of innocent life at the country's most well-known Catholic university.
Obama used poor judgment when he brought the issue up during his speech; the gist being "let's respect each others' opinions and have a dialogue." To a (true) Catholic, that's like saying, "listen, I think killing babies is okay and I hope you can respect my belief." It would have been best for Obama to focus more on the issues both he and the church have in common: social welfare programs, healthcare, etc. For him to bring up abortion at a Catholic institution was distasteful.
MURKY....maybe so....
The teaching of the Church is clear on the issue of abortion - Respect all life from conception until natural death. Abortion is always wrong.
However, because of politics between diocesan bishops and the pope a line in the sand is never drawn. The teaching is clear - the enforcement soft and ambiguous.
An example of this ambiguity came during the pope's visit last year. A teaching moment presented itself during that ridiculous stadium hootenanny the pope presided over. The Mass was irreverent and the pope should have made a public announcement preceding the Mass that all those who publicly support abortion are not to receive Holy Communion.
Instead, the pope chose to tacitly endorse an unorthodox Mass, and missed an important opportunity to clarify and reinforce Church teaching regarding abortion.
However, a battle is brewing among the 1.2 billion Catholics of the world - orthodoxy on one hand and progressive - protestant-catholics on the other. But it will probably not fully erupt until the election of a new pope. At which time I suspect that orthodoxy will replace the ambiguity of "progressive accommodation" and the Church will draw a line in the sand...Hopefully, at that time, the 55-60% of faux-catholics will leave and form their own "relativist church" - leaving the orthodox Church smaller but stronger.... Remove the dead wood from the tree.
I don't Blame obama.......
I never did. This was about Fr. Jenkins and the man crush he has on Obama. Nothing more and nothing less. If you want proof that the homosexuals have taken over the Catholic Church, Look no further than Fr. Jenkin's, who scarificied the reputation of a University for his homo craving of Obama.
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