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PDF versionDolan denies rumor of snub to Obama envoy
by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 18, 2012
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Given the present political climate in the States, it was probably inevitable that when a reception hosted by the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See for the new American cardinals in today's consistory was cancelled, some people would suspect a deliberate snub by the American prelates to the Obama administration.
As news of the cancellation spread last evening, rumors both in Washington and Rome began to swirl of another chapter in the current tensions between the American bishops and the Obama administration over the insurance mandates issue.
New Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, President of the U.S. bishops’ conference, told NCR this morning that was simply not true.
Describing the cancellation as the product of scheduling conflicts after Pope Benedict XVI called for a full-day session with the cardinals on Friday, Dolan said he “gladly would have gone” to the embassy event had it been possible.
Dolan said he invited Obama’s ambassador to the Vatican, Miguel Diaz, and his wife Marian to join a private dinner Friday night, among other things to express his regrets for not being able to make the reception. New Cardinal Edwin O’Brien was also at the dinner.
On background, embassy officials stressed this morning that welcoming visiting American Catholic leaders is part of the embassy’s normal business, and there’s been no hiatus because of domestic political debates. In recent months, as various groups of American bishops have come through Rome for their ad limina visits, Diaz has been hosting receptions for them an almost weekly basis.
The bishops typically arrive at the ambassador’s residence in a bus and spend roughly an hour and half, with a few brief welcoming remarks followed by informal conversation.
Earlier in the week, Obama named Diaz and the longtime head of Catholic Relief Services, Ken Hackett, as presidential delegates to the consistory ceremony.
In an interview with NCR earlier this week, Dolan rejected impressions of a breakdown in relations between the bishops and the Obama administration.
“It’s not like there’s total conflict, and I want to get that out,” Dolan said.
“When I went into the Oval Office in November, the first thing the president did is to say, ‘Archbishop Dolan, let’s rehearse the areas in which my administration and the Catholic community in the United States is cooperating.’ He went into a litany of about ten minutes, and all I could do was nod my head in agreement,” he said. “I also added a few more he had forgotten.”
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“I will not place myself or my brother bishops in the camp of Obama-haters, because we’re not,” he said.
In today's consistory ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI is creating 22 new cardinals, including Dolan and O'Brien.
Telling words: "It's not like
Telling words: "It's not like there's total conflict, and I want that to get out." Outside of diplomatic niceties though and on this side of the Atlantic the conflict seems to have morphed into a conflict of a more total sort (witness the public quotes of Cardinals, Archbishops, bishops from across the nation on this score). They're in conflict up to their (our) eyeballs.
Diplomacy is an art. Cardinal
Diplomacy is an art. Cardinal Dolan is good at it.
The local situation in the States is open conflict, and "violent fight" as one Bishop declared.
Yep. Plain as can be. Can't
Yep. Plain as can be. Can't fool the press, who make the most out of the conflict. As Dolan knows so well. He is very skilled at public image.
POPE SNUBS ALL AMERICANS! ...
POPE SNUBS ALL AMERICANS! ... John, the import of the various diplomatic code language you report here is clear. The pope has snubbed Obama and the American people as well. This offers us the opportunity to follow Ireland's wise decision and close our Vatican embassy.
Presidents from Democrat FDR and Republican Dwight Eishenhower through the Catholic John F. Kennedy toe the Evangelical Jimmy Carter wisely avoided the absurdity of treating Vatican City, a small campus in Rome, as a sovereign nation. Reagan changed that to get Catholic votes.
Obama should reverse this now, especially as the pope tries to control the current US elections and deter bishop abuse prosecutions with his "anti-contraception" ploy. The pope will always take a call from a US president. As Republicans look to cut costs, our unnnecessary Vatican embassy should be on the top of the cut list.
For more details on Dolan's and the pope's current problems, including with their ploy to replace Obama, please see the comment and crosslinks in the comment, "Pope Dolan, God Help Us!", readily accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-new-cardinals-%E2%80%98forget-...
SUPREME COURT APPOINTEES
SUPREME COURT APPOINTEES ..... During the next presidential term three US Supreme Court Justices, including Scalia and Kennedy, Catholic conservatives, will turn 80 years old. Given likely retirements, etc. , a critical presidential opportunity to mold the Court's future philosophy by his appointment decisions will likely arise.
Of course, the pope and Dolan, etc., know this, and their "anti-contraception crusade" to replace Obama with a conservative Republican is not just coincidental.
For more details, please read the comment, "Supreme Court Appointees", readily accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/rating-presidents
"New Cardinal Timothy Dolan
"New Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, President of the U.S. bishops’ conference, told NCR this morning that was simply not true."
Only LOOKS like it's true?
Dolan has lost all credibility and yet is getting measured for infallibility?
NOT "total" conflict
NOT an "Obama-hater . . ."
We are fortunate to have such
We are fortunate to have such a cultured and learned ambassador as Doctor Diaz representing us in the Vatican, whom these brave new Cardinals arrogantly snub in deference to their Republican masters.
Will our fine, dignified,
Will our fine, dignified, learned US Ambassador to the Vatican, the Cuban American theologian Dr. Miguel Diaz, accompany the Pope on this journey home, of which he has written so eloquently, or get snubbed, again? He is the only administration figure capable of such a journey, as this article shows.
http://globegazette.com/news/world/as-pope-visit-nears-spotlight-on-cuba...
I heard the Ambassador's wife
I heard the Ambassador's wife Marian speak in Rome. She is as impressive as is he!
Rather like Michelle.
Rather like Michelle.
I'm reassured by : “I will
I'm reassured by : “I will not place myself or my brother bishops in the camp of Obama-haters,' see, he is following the Gospel of not hating .. I see spiritual progress.. although I see no denial about Obama being an enemy.
love thy enemy . . .
love thy enemy . . .
My question has always been
My question has always been "Where in the Gospels do the Catholic bishops find a prohibition against contraception?" Perhaps there is the rub between Dolan and the Obama administration. Just because Dolan and the bishops say it is true does not make it true.
so how come these bishops do
so how come these bishops do not see the whole anti-labor "Right-to-Work" legislation across our nation as a direct affront to our religious freedom to form and maintain labor unions, a right held sacred repeatedly by popes since Leo the Great, and ratified by nearly every pope since, including these last two, and yet Dolan and his anglophone bishop boys sit by while the owners enslave and impoverish us, the working Catholic families, denying our religious freedom to life and to love, to homes and to a living wage, and to health care?
Why is that Dolan, and Lori and the rest of you Republicans, that you get to pick and choose what you judge to be our religious freedoms, and it only runs to condoms?
Because you are on the side of the slave-holders who profit by our religious oppression.
you all need to get this Easter season (a feast of fertility) a box set of CD's of love songs by Sade . . .
come to know and to love humanity, and to ease not increase our oppression
From the address to the
From the address to the DEMOCRATIC National Convention July 2004
===================================================================
My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or ”blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.
They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.
They are both passed away now. And yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride.
I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.
Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation — not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy.
Greatness of America
Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
We hold these truths to be
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain "unalienable" rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Politics will not adhere to
Politics will not adhere to religion..we need them to open their heart and mind.
Catholic is always stand a Church, as Jesus said ,I will be with you until the end of the world.
It would, then, be most
It would, then, be most interesting if the occasions, should there be any, when any of the US bishops have publicly praised President Obama for any action he has taken that pleases them. If there are any, those very much need to be publicized, as it would greatly support Cardinal Dolan's position of he (as USCCB President) and the President of the United States having much more that they agree on than their current stand-off on the reproductive health issues suggests. Perhaps John Allen could follow-through on this to provide a fuller picture, rather than the all too brief snapshots his recent reporting has been. Do any other readers here know of any such statements by the bishops?
Anyone?
Anyone?
I thought not, sad to say. I
I thought not, sad to say. I have not been able to find any as well. So then it can be concluded that there is a definite hidden agenda here on the part of the US Bishops that smacks of racism, alignment with Republican Party officials, an adherence to the misguided theory of "re-evangilization" of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and so on. I hope, still, that this will change.....
Only compulsive tea leaf
Only compulsive tea leaf readers would ever consider this an issue.
It breaks my heart to watch
It breaks my heart to watch these radically conservative Bishops steer the Church away from the course set by The Second Vatican Council. This determined reversal of the pastoral mission has long been the objective of many corrupt, power hungry members of the Curia. The eight new Italian Cardinals should insure that the outcome of the next Conclave fits their greedy, self-serving agenda. I fear their success will mean the end of the Church's influence in most democratic countries. Theocratic absolutism is inconsistent with the principles of individual liberty and self-determination. I acknowledge the Bishops' moral authority to offer guidance but deny them the right to make decisions for me.
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