Posted on 01/23/2009 6:33:47 AM PST by sitetest
Today, readers, we interrupt revisiting the Seven Deadly Sins to raise a question of great significance during this eventful week. Why did Archbishop Donald Wuerl, the highest-ranking Catholic eminence in the Washington, D.C. area, attend Wednesday’s ostentatiously diverse, mega-denominational prayer service at the National Cathedral for President Obama?
Granted, the fanfare was impressive – seats for 3,200 distinguished guests, twenty especially prominent religious leaders, heart-rending bursts of song, and a liturgy ranging from the latest rewritings of the Book of Common Prayer to “Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Cherokee sources, among others,” as The Washington Post put it. It’s also true that the Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington traditionally leads a prayer at these august proceedings – which may for some observers render his presence there beyond question.
But the unique visibility of this event – which was presumably foremost in the minds of the archdiocesan officials who signed on to yesterday’s arrangements – also cuts another, more radical way. It means that a non-attending Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington would be missed, were he somehow to decline to appear. And that is exactly the point. He could have.
Why? As readers of TCT know well, our new president is the most unyielding, ideologically determined, and dogmatically pro-abortion leader yet to have assumed the highest office in our land. Our new vice-president is perhaps the most conspicuous practicing Catholic in the land, certainly such by his own repeated insistence, and is almost as conspicuous as our new president in his fidelity to the metaphysics of Roe vs. Wade.
The revamped White House website already boasts of the new administration’s arguably unrivalled support of Roe’s legacy, noting for example that Obama “has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority...”
(Excerpt) Read more at thecatholicthing.org ...
Ping.
Think of it this way -- every time President Obama sees a pro-life priest, bishop or cardinal, he is gently reminded of his positions contrary to life. That's how the Holy Spirit moves -- with a gentle whisper rather than a shout.
Ping.
As the rest of the column points out, Archbishop Wuerl could have sent a priest in his stead. I'd have sent a transitional deacon (a seminarian in his final year before ordination) or a permanent deacon.
That would have made a much louder statement to the anti-Christ Obama and his apostate side-kick, Moron Joe.
sitetest
Because the Roman Bureaucracy has been slipping and sliding all over the theological landscape whenever it was convenient vis a vis the rulers concerned . . .
for the entire 1600 years of it’s existence.
Political Correctness is the Death of this Republic.
But sin clouds the intellect, leaving little hope that Obama will be reminded of anything at all. It is long past time for gentle reminders. Where are the bishops who are willing to use a bullhorn?
The anti-Christ Obama only received about 54% of the Catholic vote, not 75%. And less of actual church-going Catholics.
sitetest
Your post reminds me of the comments of Flannery O'Connor about the hard of hearing and shouting.
sitetest
Dear Don Corleone,
I’m not sure there’s much of a republic left here.
sitetest
Surely the Holy Spirit was with the 250,000 marchers yesterday. Obama didn't seem to see them; he surely isn't going to "see" the Archbishop. The only way he will "see" him is if he makes a scene.
I think the reaction is exactly the opposite when seeing a Bishop or Cardinal at one of these events. They think this attendance means being pro-life doesn’t matter.
I don’t know how to pronounce the archbishop’s name but I’m going to assume it rhymes with “hurl.”
You got it.
I think that you're exactly right.
That's why I like the idea of sending a deacon, or at most, a priest, in the archbishop's place.
sitetest
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