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Posted on 12/17/2011 4:58:13 AM PST by Cronos
...Mr. Gingrich represents a new kind of Catholic, one very different from the Kennedys, who were Democrats, political liberals and cradle Catholics shaped by the Irish immigrant church.
..Mr. Gingrich is a culture wars Catholic for whom the church seems a logical home for conservative Republicans Generations removed from the Kennedy years when Catholics predictably voted Democratic, this is a new era in which conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants have joined forces in what they see as a defining struggle against abortion, same-sex marriage and secularism.
Like many recent converts to the church, Mr. Gingrich is what Catholics call a “John Paul II Catholic,” those inspired by that pope to embrace traditional church teaching, eschewing calls to liberalize or modernize the faith..
Mr. Gingrich has increasingly warned that the United States is threatened by the encroachment of both secularism and Islam, and those who know him say he sees the Catholic Church as a powerful and convincing bulwark against it. The theme of secularism as a threat to Europe is a frequent one for Pope Benedict, who spoke about it in his speech to the American bishops the day Mr. Gingrich was in the crowd at the basilica.
In the speech to the prayer breakfast, Mr. Gingrich cited Mr. Weigel’s book, “The Cube and the Cathedral.” He said that it captured “the crisis of European civilization as militant, government-imposed secularism undermines and weakens Christianity.
Mr. Gingrich said he saw the same process happening in the United States, where “American elites are guided by their desire to emulate the European elites, and as a result, anti-religious values and principles are coming to dominate the academic, news media and judicial class in America.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“In the speech to the prayer breakfast, Mr. Gingrich cited Mr. Weigel’s book, “The Cube and the Cathedral.” He said that it captured “the crisis of European civilization as militant, government-imposed secularism undermines and weakens Christianity.”
THIS is a very good sign for me....because it shows that Speaker Gingrich has the right ideas about the real causes of most of these problems.
The “powers that be” will NOT like this.
Another thought: In view of the quote you referenced: “conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants have joined forces in what they see as a defining struggle against abortion, same-sex marriage and secularism”
...I don’t know much about the author....but coming from the New York Times, I imagine that this was meant to be a negative.
Lol....I think it will have just the opposite effect.
“I think it was a genuine conversion,” said Robert L. Livingston, a lobbyist and former Republican legislator who tangled with Mr. Gingrich in Congress but is now supporting him for president. “I’ve heard him talk about how it’s given him a lot of peace. He’s getting hammered these days, and I think he’s been able to absorb the onslaught a lot better than he might have 10 years ago.”
I agree — libs have NO idea — they think it’s a negative that CAtholics and Evangelicals are getting together.
Both Kennedy and Gingrich use the Catholic church as a shield. Neither cares/cared about truth. Furthermore, approaching our world problems by enlistment of the church in political problems is like eating with your butt - wrong approach, indeed. We need revival - all else is a holding action in what is essentially a spiritual war.
Newt’s position is signifying the final break of Catholics from the Dims towards teh GOP — just as in Canada
Correct. In some cases, it is people breaking with the Democrats because they realize what is actually going on. But in most cases, it is that the aging oldsters are dying off and being replaced by conservative, orthodox adults who both embrace Orthodoxy in the Church and conservatism in politics, finance, and social matters. Which amounts to the same thing.
These words struck me:
Mr. Gingrich said he saw the same process happening in the United States, where “American elites are guided by their desire to emulate the European elites, and as a result, anti-religious values and principles are coming to dominate the academic, news media and judicial class in America.”
I´m in Spain right now and this morning I went to the Cathedral in Madrid and attended the beatification of 23 Spanish martyrs, members of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (as well as one married layman who worked at their school), who were dragged out of their school and seminary in Madrid and shot to death in a field and a park by the ¨Republicans¨ (aka, Communists) in 1936. And this had the full support of the labor unions and other working class groups because the attitude of the leftist intellectual aristocracy for decades had not only been non-religious but anti-religious.
The thing that I find a little frightening is that we have many of the same conditions in the US today: a leftist government and radical leftist Dem leader (Obama), a seething anarchist movement with lots of well-off ¨students¨ who have nothing better to do than sit around and proclaim their manifestoes, in between trashing the ¨kulaks¨ (small businesses), and a large conservative population that is completely intimidated and marginalized even though it probably represents the majority of Americans.
I think Gingrich is saying ¨Wake up!¨ He obviously had a wake-up call himself.
We need to reclaim our religious foundations and the foundation of Western culture and proclaim and enact them before the left gets so powerful that someday we´ll be the next set of martyrs.
That article is spot on! It shows how Gingrich is dead center between the far left and the far right. My observation would be that he is the only person running who will appeal to both those Democrats who have seen their party drift too far left and the Republicans who think their party may be drifting too far right.
Reagan, Thatcher, and the Pope all helped bring down Communism especially in Poland and the other countries that were behind the iron curtain. Yet communism was not and is not dead. There are still Nazis in the world, and Marxism is alive and well in Liberation Theology - not to mention at the highest levels of our Government.
The attacks on Religion have increased, because the Churches are a Bulwark against those who would like to destroy us from within. That is why they have been infiltrating the Churches with Liberation Theology and doctrines about social justice etc.
“the crisis of European civilization as militant, government-imposed secularism undermines and weakens Christianity.”
Not to mention the flood of Muslims coming in.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
I’ve been of the opinion since his intent to convert was first publicized, and the notion of his mounting a presidential campaign at that time was derided as ridiculous, with replies to that effect posted right here on FR, that the ambitious schemer was scheming ambitiously once again. He’d worn out his welcome on the southern evangelical coattails that he rode upon to prominence two decades ago, and he’s prematurely cogitated plopped himself astride another set in order to ride once again, to the pinnacle of political prominence in this nation.
Too bad he’s counted his amnesty chickens before they hatched, though. That’s the flaw in his calculation. Timing. All those newly-minted voters, not there, not yet. Alas.
He will embarrass Catholics before the primary is done, imho. Every motivation he’s ever exhibited is driven by self. He’s already gone against his newfound church on conception at birth. Fancy rationalizations have always been his justification, and that has not changed, at all.
Look at the string of betrayals public and private with this man, and see that it continues after converting to your church. Supporting him on that basis has no basis in reality. It’s stagecraft.
So, yes, it’s a new political era for Catholics to an extent, but perhaps not to the extent intended by the author. Overt pandering during a Presidential election is a new experience.
Be wary.
You can’t really expect Life, Libery and the Pursuit of Happiness to survive if Truth, Goodness and Beauty fall entirely by the wayside. Same goes for Liberté, fraternité et egalité. Things rapidly become their opposite.
The real danger is becoming co-opted because Christianity prizes peace, brotherhood, forgiveness... and that is fertile ground for deceit and half truths.
Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has a message for Catholics in America, particularly those involved in social justice ministry, that could put a damper on the political machinations of the Shadow Party.
The message? “Social justice” is about “relationships,” not “socialism.” This clarification may very well be the catalyst to set the Catholic Church in America back on course with authentic Catholic teaching on hot-button issues involving massive government entitlement programs and other forms of overreach. If nothing else, it will almost certainly jump-start the “social justice” debate among Catholics. Cardinal Turkson, you see, is scheduled to deliver the plenary address at the 2011 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in February.It would be useful if we just observed our sense of justice as our ability to fulfill the demands of the relationships in which we stand.Whether he intended to or not, Cardinal Turkson has now echoed what many conservative Catholics in America have been calling for repeatedly — subsidiarity in economic policy. More importantly, the Cardinal observes the heart of the matter in noting that a ‘handout’ and a ‘gift’ are not at all the same, with the latter being more in keeping with the Gospel message.
This is in contrast to socialism, he explained, which is an ideology in which private property and private interests are totally placed in the service of government policies. What the Pope proposes in ‘Caritas in Veritate,’ said Cardinal Turkson, is ‘achieving the common good without sacrificing personal, private interests, aspirations and desires.’
Cardinal Turkson said the Council was also surprised that the Pope’s concept of the ‘gift,’ was perceived in some circles as encouraging government welfare handouts. In ‘Caritas in Veritate,’ Pope Benedict described the concept of “gift” as a way to understand God’s love for men and women in his gift of life and his gift of Jesus.
One of the key principles of Catholic social thought is known as the principle of subsidiarity. This tenet holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom. It conflicts with the passion for centralization and bureaucracy characteristic of the Welfare State.You may remember that Pope John Paul II worked closely with President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to bring down communism in the Soviet Union and Marxist governments in Latin America. With the worldwide Left now in such kinship with Islam, and with no modern-day Reagan or Thatcher in sight, Pope Benedict XVI certainly has his work cut out for him. If they recognize that America has become polarized, perhaps America’s Catholic bishops will bite the bullet and commit themselves to following in the footsteps of the just-beatified Pope John Paul II…to morally undermine the Left as he morally undermined the Soviet Union.
Have you read Gingtich’s book about John Paul II? I think he knows what the truth is?
Great perspective! Thanks for sharing about the beaitification of these people.
“Catholic social ministry begins and ends with Jesus Christ,” he said. “If it doesn’t, it isn’t Catholic.”
Archbishop Chaput
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