Cardinal Dolan's challenge

MARIA TERESA PONTARA PEDERIVA

Vatican Insider

August 19, 2012

The pulpit works well, as do meetings with journalists, but if Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, wants to reach the greatest number of people, he usually communicates through the web. This time, however, he was forced to do so by the avalanche of criticism following his invitation to both candidates for the White House to a charity dinner on 18 October - an invitation that conservative Catholics were not pleased with.

Building on the recent meeting with the Knights of Columbus (headed by Carl Anderson, the American who helped oust Gotti Tedeschi), and their indomitable will "not be timid in bringing the values ​​of faith to the public square,” Dolan spoke of the duty of Catholics and the loyalty of citizens. He explained the history of the famous dinner in honour of Al Smith, and expressed gratitude to President Obama and his opponent Mitt Romney for accepting his invitation. He received an unprecedented amount of mail against his choice ("some" also protested against Romney), but "an invitation to the Al Smith Dinner is not an award, or the provision of a platform to expound views at odds with the Church.” On the contrary, it represents a bit of a calling card for our country and our Church: to bring people of faith together at the same table, in a spirit of friendship and patriotism, the spirit of those who established the dinner 67 years ago, that is, the spirit of Vatican II: an opening of the Church toward the culture, society, and politics, with a desire for dialogue. “It is more productive,” Dolan writes, “to open a door rather than shut one."

“Our recent popes have been examples of this principle, receiving dozens of leaders with whom on some points they have serious disagreements. Thus did our present Holy Father graciously receive our current President of the United States. And, in the current climate, we bishops have maintained that we are open to dialogue with the administration to try and resolve our differences. […] An invitation to the Al Smith Dinner in no way indicates a slackening in our vigorous promotion of values we Catholic bishops believe to be at the heart of both gospel and American values, particularly the defence of human dignity, fragile life, and religious freedom.”

To all who have accused him of creating a scandal, his response is: "I apologize.” But, he adds: "Would I give more scandal by inviting the two candidates, or by not inviting them?" He concludes: "In the end, I’m encouraged by the example of Jesus, who was blistered by his critics for dining with those some considered sinners." Not missing a chance to make a joke, he also said: "If I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone."

Many people wonder why, given the reference to current Obama administration policy, the Cardinal did not mention the recent intervention of the bishops against poverty, which could become dramatic in the event of a Republican victory (final dismantling of the already precarious and insufficient American welfare state and the abolition of the entire U.S. healthcare reform law that extends health coverage). This theme was also raised by the religious sisters of the LCWR, who organized a bus tour across America to raise awareness, and the Franciscans with a very critical document.

But there are also those like law professor Nicholas Cafardi, who asked in the National Catholic Reporter: which of the two candidates is really pro-life? "Certainly none of them is pro-abortion, because the law that legalizes it does not impose it on anyone. Of course Obama is pro-choice, for the free choice of each person according to their conscience. But in fact, the Romney-Ryan pairing that would cut the welfare state will increase the number of abortions in America, especially among poor families. And Romney also profited from abortion, having invested in Stericycle, the industry that sells aborted foetuses mostly for cosmetic purposes. He also received funding of dubious origin from El Salvador, and it is assumed they are from the right-wing groups associated with the death squads that murdered Archbishop Romero. And that would be pro-life?” concludes Cafardi.