OK, I will post after all, but not in such detail as the post I deleted. Apparently my original post is out there in the ether thanks to Google Reader etc.
To know what I think, just go to Dr Edward Peters' blog In the Light of the Law. He makes all the pertinent canonical comments with which I agree wholeheartedly.
Another lay person has commented on this matter too. See Diane at Te Deum Laudamus: Fr. Frank Pavone has ministry restricted to Diocese of Amarillo and Disappointment with Fr. Pavone.
Part 2: Obama and abortion: according to Fr. Pavone, these are two tragedies, and they are linked. And so, Fr. Pavone is being targetted by very powerful people, including multinationals. UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) is an abortion provider in China which was found complicit in the coercive implementation of China’s One Child Policy, following an investigation headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2001. Coercive implementation includes fines, detentions, forced abortions, forced sterilizations, beatings,and home destructions.
ReplyDeleteObama stated that he “strongly opposes” forced abortion in China. Really? Then why did he restore funding of the UNFPA?
Now, sweetening up Obama’s class warfare strategy, Warren Buffett may claim to pay less taxes than his secretary (in fact, with the current level of sleght-of-hand accounting practices, perhaps he pays zero), but he is the director of Berkshire Hathaway, and that organization is one of the largest donors to abortion clinics in America.
There are people who are now advocating a One Child Policy worldwide. A One-World Government, put into place after the panic of a carefully planned worldwide financial meltdown, would institute many draconian regulations. Fr. Frank Pavone would be an encumbrance in this Brave New World, wouldn’t he?
Part 1: The heart of the Fr. Pavone story is so obvious that we are all missing it. Politics. No, not Church Politics, National Politics. In 2008, Fr. Pavone was outspokenly anti-Obama. In 2010, Fr. Pavone paticipated in the protest against Obama speaking at Notre Dame University. The Presidential election is next year. Right now, Obama's poll numbers keep sinking. Obama needs every vote he can get to get re-elected. So how does this look to Obama and his people? Fr. Pavone needs to be taken out. This is National Politics, Chicago-Style.
ReplyDeleteWhere does Bishop Zurek come in? According to Huffington Post columnist Father Alberto Cutie (Episcopalian), Sept. 19: "His bishop in Amarillo is certainly much more progressive than he is, so there could be some ideological clashes there..." Okay, do these "ideological clashes" translate into the Bishop's Democratic associations? Those associations include a relationship with former Mayor of San Antonio, Ed Garza. Garza appointed Bishop Zurek to serve on his Committee on Integrity and Trust in Local Government for the city of San Antonio. Ed Garza, sharing the Democratic leanings of other Hispanics in Texas, endorsed Obama in 2008, saying: "Senator Obama's unique ability to bring people together and bridge partisan divides make him the best candidate to bring change we can believe in."
I don't want to suggest that Bishop Zurek himself is being a party to a 'dirty tricks campaign' against Fr. Frank Pavone, but the possibility exists that circumstances around the Bishop have been manipulated, with an agenda in mind.
We never learn! Despite previous situations like the present, we continue to fall into the same trap of judging without complete knowledge, vilifying without regard to charity and demonizing one side over the other. As Americans we don’t like to lose - or even come second. Witness the disappointment – nay, despair - of the athlete who ‘only’ gets a silver in the Olympic Games. He didn’t get the gold, so he ‘lost’. I remember years ago in Ireland when there would be national celebrations if an Irish athlete even managed to get a bronze in the Olympics. However, that was then…
ReplyDeleteBut what we Americans really hate is a draw. There has to be a winner and a loser (it’s probably in the Constitution somewhere…or should be!). We may piously intone that: “Win or lose - what matters is that you play the game” – but we don’t really believe that. We have to win! It’s probably one reason why Soccer never really caught on here… No overtime, double-overtime or sudden death to ensure a ‘winner’ in most cases.
While we look for scapegoats and conspiracies and take our concerns to the public square to further our arguments, we lose sight of a number of things. One, God is still in charge. Two, the Devil will always oppose God. Three, in the total scheme of things “this too will pass”. Yes, we should fight for justice and oppose injustice, but in the final analysis God’s will is what will be done.
‘Resignation to the Will of God’ used to be a virtue for Catholics. I don’t think it ever caught on here in America. We believe we can do anything, change anything, make anything happen (with enough funding…) and even change God! But God is Unchangeable. We are the ones who need to change.
How did Jesus deal with the national politics of His day? Resignation, obedience, unfair treatment by their superiors - great virtues exercised by great saints.
ReplyDelete