A Boston archdiocese pastor in the town of Andover has gotten lots of attention because he asked a pro-abortion politician to stop cantoring. Fr. William Cleary at St. Augustine Parish asked state Rep. Barbara L’Italien to step down as cantor and leader of the children’s choir, although according to the Boston Herald, he has changed his mind and will let her remain with the kid’s choir, and he has done this because she is pro-abortion. L’Italien is a little confused about what it means to be Catholic.
“I’m trying to be a good Catholic,” L’Italien said. ‘‘But this should be a separate issue. Church should be a sanctuary for me and my faith and not have anything to do with my work.”
She may as well have said, “Church should be a sanctuary for me and my faith and not have anything to do with my support for murdering babies.” Sorry, Barbara, but if you were trying to be a good Catholic, you wouldn’t say it’s okay for unborn babies to be killed, for gays to attempt marriage, or publicly support birth control, and church is not a sanctuary from the demands of conscience and God’s will. Of course, L’Italien tries to counter-balance her support for murdering the innocent by trumpeting her opposition to killing the guilty: ‘‘I tried to point out that I am against the death penalty, that I’ve worked with the poor.” Well, since it’s a zero-sum game, that makes it all better, right?
Very heartening. I think the time is coming that the Church is actually going to start cleaning house.
L’Italien is a posturing do-nothing in a very liberal district. I’m sure this will enhance her career, especially as the local newspaper (Lawrence Eagle-Tribue) portrayed her as a poor, befuddled victim of a horrid, unreasonable, child-molesting Church
Father Cleary, priest.
(He deserves his title.)
I did refer to him as Father.
I have some but not a lot of sympathy for these pols. They have been playing with rules that Teddy Kennedy and Mario Cuomo setup 30 years ago—and better late than never some in the Church are awakening to the reality that abortion is murder is more than a bumper sticker, it must be lived out in the Church. Ms. L’Italien can choose to be a Catholic leader or pro-abortion but not both.
I have some but not a lot of sympathy for these pols. They have been playing with rules that Teddy Kennedy and Mario Cuomo setup 30 years ago—and better late than never some in the Church are awakening to the reality that abortion is murder is more than a bumper sticker, it must be lived out in the Church. Ms. L’Italien can choose to be a Catholic leader or pro-abortion but not both.
If the report is true, Fr. Cleary certainly took a step in the right direction. However,there seems to be a problem here. If Fr. Cleary took this step, then he should have gone all the way, that is, also tell her that she cannot present herself for Holy Communion until she makes the proper repentant action, let alone be deprived of her choir duties with the youth of that parish. Let’s pray and hope that Fr. Cleary will receive all the support he will need in this matter.
If the report is true, Fr. Cleary certainly took a step in the right direction. However,there seems to be a problem here. If Fr. Cleary took this step, then he should have gone all the way, that is, also tell her that she cannot present herself for Holy Communion until she makes the proper repentant action, let alone be deprived of her choir duties with the youth of that parish. Let’s pray and hope that Fr. Cleary will receive all the support he will need in this matter.
Just saw a segment about this on the 5:30 News on Channel 7; there was no mention of retraction by Fr. Cleary. There was a sign of parishoner support (2 to 1) for Fr. Cleary’s action, and an “admission” (second-hand; it comes from the reporter, not the Congresswoman) that Rep. Lsch@comcast.net
67.163.235.235
2004-11-18 20:26:29
2004-11-19 00:26:29
Dom, I didn’t mean that you didn’t call him “Father.” I wrote that as a tribute to Fr. Cleary, much like the words of Maximilian Kolbe before the Commandant at Auschwitz, “I am a Catholic priest.”
So I wrote: Fr. Cleary, priest.
Just saw a segment about this on the 5:30 News on Channel 7; there was no mention of retraction by Fr. Cleary. There was a sign of parishoner support (2 to 1) for Fr. Cleary’s action, and an “admission” (second-hand; it comes from the reporter, not the Congresswoman) that Rep. Lhor_url>
192.168.1.1
2004-11-17 10:41:25
2004-11-17 14:41:25
I did refer to him as Father.