Catholic Culture and the Election of Barack Obama (Fr. Thomas Euteneuer)

CatholicExchange.com ^ | December 2, 2008 | Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture and the Election of Barack Obama

December 2nd, 2008 by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

It is impossible to speak of a “Catholic culture” in America any longer. A whole segment of the populace who call themselves “Catholics” do not feel bound by any standard of Catholic orthodoxy or sanity. In fact, it is impossible even to speak of a Catholic culture in most parishes! At a recent “ministry faire” of a large Catholic parish in south Florida, the Respect Life ministry of the parish displayed its pro-life materials next to the table of the “social justice” committee of the same parish. Any commonality between the two ministries was simply in the space they shared. Their worldviews could not have been further apart, but they both call themselves Catholic.

In fact, the “social justice” people were positively aglow about the election of their new messiah, Barack Obama. Several of them were speaking of their plans to attend the Inauguration and were utterly unaware that there would be 100,000 people marching on the nation’s Capitol two days later for the right to life of unborn Americans which they had just voted into irrelevancy by electing Obama to the highest office of the land. One of them even expressed shock at the provisions of the upcoming Freedom of Choice Act until he was confronted with the nasty little fact that his messiah had been a sponsor of that pernicious bill in the last Congress. True to form, he steadfastly refused to allow that truth to have any effect on his euphoria. His mind was made up, and he would not let himself be confused by facts. Needless to say, the orthodox, practicing, believing Catholic pro-lifers will not be attending the Inauguration.

How can these two groups sit side-by-side in the same pews and display their ministries in the same space at the same Catholic parish? Simply because this contradiction has been tolerated for years by those in charge of our Church. In this election season neither of these two groups received any guidance about voting according to Catholic principles because, as per usual, there was silence from the pulpit on the issue. The absolute failure of our church leaders to define for us what membership in the Church means — and then to enforce it — has led to the degradation of Catholic culture and the loss of meaning for things that are sacred. When Christ and Belial are considered equal partners in the sanctuary, then nothing in the sanctuary means anything any more and no meaningful standard exists to distinguish a true Catholic from a false Catholic.

The degradation of Catholic culture is largely, but not exclusively, the fault of the clergy. For four decades in the Catholic Church in America we have seen:

1. Liturgical abuses run rampant, aided and abetted by those in charge;
2. Two or three generations of Catholics left un-catechized or taught with flimsy, Protestantized fluff passed off as Catholic education;
3. Sexual abuse by clergy excused and unaddressed by the hierarchy;
4. A blind eye turned to high profile dissent and political class heretics;
5. Wholesale attacks on sacred teachings that receive virtually no response from our pastors (and if it weren’t for Catholic Answers, EWTN and the Catholic League we would have no defense whatsoever);
6. The succumbing of our Catholic institutions of higher education to the ravages of political correctness, and the list goes on.

In the face of all this, should we be surprised that 54% of “Catholics” voted for Barack? Hardly.

The battle for Catholic culture begins with us, and there is no time like the present to don the armor of spiritual warfare. We either believe and practice what the Church teaches or we live as part of the shadow church, falsely trading on the name “Catholic” for its benefits without at the same time shouldering the crosses that this entails.

There is, however, great hope for the future because the battle has already been engaged: new Catholic colleges are springing up to replace the old decrepit houses of heresy, new religious orders with abundant vocations and orthodoxy have arisen, home schooling families and strong lay movements are abundant now. Only when we take back our beloved Church from the false Catholics and clerics will our Church be able to stand up and rebuke the storm winds of paganism that are building faster than we care to admit. This project is not without its price, however. The cost of being a true believer will undoubtedly be much higher than ever before in our lifetime. Starting now and into the next generation we as Catholics will have to show the world not only what we believe but that we are willing to lay down our lives for it as a witness to the truth.

 

Fr. Tom Euteneuer is president of Human Life International.

[Salvation]

Because this encompasses the entire election -- I'm not going to mark it Catholic Caucus. Father Euteneuer is putting forth an honest look at those who call themselves Catholic here.

[Salvation]

**In fact, the “social justice” people were positively aglow about the election of their new messiah, Barack Obama. **

Sickening to me. (Sorry if any of you are Peace and Justice people)

[buccaneer81]

(Sorry if any of you are Peace and Justice people)

Those "people" don't qualify as FReepers.

[arbee4bush]

Fr. Euteneuer put into words perfectly what I have been trying to say to every Catholic I know before and after the election.

Well done!

[narses]

+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.

Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

[conservative cat]

Perfectly written.

[Salvation]

LOL!

[pray4liberty]

I’m a Peace and Justice person but even I won’t vote for the Devil to get it.

[Salvation]

**as per usual, there was silence from the pulpit on the issue. The absolute failure of our church leaders to define for us what membership in the Church means — and then to enforce it — has led to the degradation of Catholic culture and the loss of meaning for things that are sacred.**

Actually over 100 Bishops spoke out in support of life and its being the primary issue in this election. For your information:

Over 100 Bishops Have Spoken Out on Priority of Life Issues
Posted on October 28, 2008, 11:59 AM | Deal W. Hudson

The list of U. S. bishops who have spoken out on the priority of the life issues in this election is now over 100. The list now contains 70 individual bishops and three joint statements.

I would like to continue updating this list until the day of the election. I have tried to incorporate all the comments thus far. If I dd not get them all, I apologize. (For a few of the suggestions, I could not find a suitable link.)

Please continue using the comments section to let us know what bishop is not on this list who should be. This would include any bishop who has individually, or jointly, published a statement about this election pointing out the primacy of the life issues.

Thank you for your help.

1. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver

2. Bishop James Conley, auxiliary of Denver

3. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.

4. Justin Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities

5. Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine

6. Edward Cardinal Egan of New York

7. Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo

8. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh

9. Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs

10. Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio

11. Bishop Oscar Cantu, auxiliary of San Antonio

12. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre

13. Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa

14. Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas

15. Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin

16. Sean Cardinal O'Malley of Boston

17. Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando

18. Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul/Minneapolis

19. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, President of the USCCB

20. Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker

21. Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse

22. Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland

23. Bishop Ralph Nickless of Sioux City

24. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco

25. Bishop Glen Provost of Lake Charles, LA

26. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn

27. Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton

28. Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura

30. Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte

31. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh

32. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, KS

33. Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO

34. Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, WS
35. Bishop Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, KS
36. Bishop Paul Coakley of Salina, KS
37. Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita
38. Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of Palm Beach
39. Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth

40. Bishop Rene H. Gracida, retired, of Corpus Christi

41. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Houston

42. Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington

43. Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond

44. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center

45. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester

46. Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Patterson

47. Bishop Robert Herrmann of St. Louis

48. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore

49. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix

50. Bishop Thomas D. Doran of Rockford

51. Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Camden

52. Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham

53. Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett of Seattle

54. Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet

55. Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton

56. Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing

57. Bishop Leonard R. Blair of Toledo

58. Bishop Frances J. Dewane of Venice

59. Bishop W. Frances Malooly of Wilmington

60. Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison

61. Bishop John Yanta , retired, of Amarillo

62. Bishop James V. Johnston of Springfield-Cape Girardeau

63. Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland

64. Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City

65. Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg

66. Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinatti

67. Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu

68. Bishop Paul Swain of Sioux Falls

69. Bishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe

70. Bishop Eusebius Beltran of Oklahoma City

71. Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg

72-94. Joint Statement by the bishops of New York State (22 bishops)

95-111. Joint Statement by the bishops of Pennsylvania (16 bishops)

112-116. Joint Statement by the bishops of Kansas (4 bishops)

117-126. Joint Statement by the bishops of Florida (9 bishops)

Added by me

 

127. Bishop Tobin -- http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=30333 ^

 

128. Archbishop Wilton Gregory  georgiabulletin.org ...

 

129. Archbishop Dolan http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/32482989.html.

 

130. Archbishop Elden Curtiss Omaha http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2123119/posts?page=1

 

131. Bishop Carlson's of Michigan pastoral letter in full, go to:
http://www.saginaw.org/images/election-statement_carlson_102...

 

It's still not enough bishops, however, the message needs to get out from ALL the bishops, and then we as active Catholics need to talk to ALL we meet about what voting Catholic really means -- including the Peace and Justice people.

[Salvation]

Praying for peace and acting as you do, is not the norm for these people. They seem to vote democrat; at least that has been my experience. Our Respect Life Committee Chair left the Peace and Justice Committee telling them that they were only talking about democratic party principles and not about the primary principle of life.

[Mr. Know It All]

In fact, the “social justice” people were positively aglow about the election of their new messiah, Barack Obama. Several of them were speaking of their plans to attend the Inauguration and were utterly unaware that there would be 100,000 people marching on the nation’s Capitol two days later for the right to life of unborn Americans which they had just voted into irrelevancy by electing Obama to the highest office of the land.

Could someone clear some things up for me?

1. When did we decide to start pretending that John McCain was pro-life? He's on record supporting Roe v. Wade and during the election said that he would not have a "litmus test" for Supreme Court nominations. The selection of Sarah Palin as VP meant nothing practical to the anti-abortion cause, as the Vice President has pretty much no power to do anything except become President. If that was McCain throwing a bone to the pro-lifers, it was a pretty meaningless gesture.
   
   
2. The Scriptures speak frequently and passionately about the duty of the righteous to fight for social justice. Isn't our desire to protect the unborn part of an overarching desire to protect the innocent and helpless — or is it just a wedge issue to get supposed "values voters" to the polls?

I can see criticizing people who take only the "social justice" message of Scripture to heart and ignore other parts they don't like. I can also understand — but admonish — people who conveniently ignore Christ's teaching on social justice because the are very demanding edicts and sometimes we are weak. But mocking a clear teaching in the Gospel for partisan political points? No, I can't take that anymore.

Seriously, I can picture some people walking up Jesus preaching the Sermon the Mount and saying, "What are you talking about? We have an election to win!"

On top of that, I read people attacking anyone who includes Obama in the prayers of the people. I'm sorry, but our Lord did not put His Church on this Earth as a tool to complain about Barack Obama. Somebody needs to call the waaaaaaambulance for Fr. Thomas Euteneuer; maybe with proper care, he'll stop whining and start spreading the Light of Christ like he's called to do.

[ethics]

What is the definition of SOCIAL JUSTICE?

If my memory servies me correctly, I don’t recall that mankind was any better during the Clinton or Carter Administration!! Was there fewer people that wer homeless, hungry, less ill, etc?

During the Bush Administration, there was significant aid given to disease in Africa (I don’t recall the specific diseases that wer helped), Medicare Part D (Providing RX for Senior Citizens) outreach to Religious Communites to function as providers of services to people in need, the Partial Birth Abortion Legislation, Born alive protection for babies of Botched Abortion, etc.

Can these items listed in the previous paragraph be considered under category of SOCIAL JUSTICE?

[Salvation]

Not all of them. Good question! LOL!

[pa mom]

Wow. I am appalled by most of what our peace and justice committee does in my parish, but I would never refer to them as people with “quotes”. We are all temples of the Holy Spirit, and though they have a misguided view of how to help their fellow man, at least they recognize that.

We know that helping someone take responsibility and direct their own life is the way to follow Jesus, but we should also acknowledge that those who seek p&j (not to be confused with pb&j) are not evil or subhuman, just wrong.

[wintertime]

Please do NOT send your precious child to my alma mater, Villanova University. In my opinion far too many of the professors and the administration break the First Commandment by worshiping Karl Marx instead of God. They are not preaching Catholicism in my opinion, they are preaching the gospel of Marxist Liberation Theology.

Also....From talking to my friends, neighbors, and relatives, too many CINO elementary and high schools do the same.

So?...If Marxist Liberation Theology is preached to the youth of the Church is it any surprise that these members mistake a Marxist for God when he runs for president?

[wintertime]

are not evil or subhuman, just wrong
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

But...They are dangerous. Lenin called them Useful Idiots. Their good intention will lead many innocents down the path to a gulag hell.

[353FMG]

Bu, bu, but, there were other issues besides abortion.

[Salvation]

OK, I give, what’s the connection with Villanova University?

On the other hand, might I ask how many in your own congregation acted as some of these CINOs did and voted for Obama — thus becoming Christians in Name Only?

[buccaneer81]

I am appalled by most of what our peace and justice committee does in my parish, but I would never refer to them as people with “quotes”.

You're appalled, but defend them.

Time for you to take a stand?

[Salvation]

So, it looks like you went to a Catholic University. Glad to know that.