Archbishop Nienstedt puts foot in his mouth again

[CatholicEdHead]

He seems to be setting himself up for a fast track to Rome as soon as possible as long as he comes out with these irrelevant proclamations. he is so narrow focused but that is his history. He is joining in the faux outrage tempest in a teapot over President Obama speaking at Notre Dame's graduation ceremony which is a tradition for all the recent Presidents. :crazy:

In doing so this leaked letter goes beyond just gay marriage arguments to a whole-scale attack on gay rights.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15549

Minneapolis, Minn., Apr 1, 2009 / 05:37 am (CNA).- Citing President Barack Obama’s “deliberate disregard of the unborn,” Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis has written to the president of the University of Notre Dame, protesting the “egregious decision” to invite the president as commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient. The archbishop joins several other U.S. bishops who have opposed the invitation.

Writing a March 31 letter to University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Archbishop Nienstedt characterized President Obama as a former “pro-abortion legislator” who has indicated his “deliberate disregard for the unborn” by promoting “the FOCA agenda” and “lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research.”
...

Archbishop Nienstedt in his letter also objected to President Obama’s “open support for gay rights.”

“It is a travesty that the University of Notre Dame, considered by many to be a Catholic University, should give its public support to such an anti-Catholic politician,” the archbishop wrote, asking President Jenkins to reconsider the decision.

A little more history, before his time in New Ulm, he was Chaplin for Tom Monaghan's little Catholic millionaire clique. Tom Monaghan is the main figurehead of the Ave Maria ultra-conservative empire. The sqeakest wheel in this entire tempest in a teapot is the Catholic Newman Society, which wants 100% university orthodoxy to Rome and little to no academic freedom, they have a ultra-sensitive trigger. It is no suprise this came out based on his past.

At the end the Archbishop says if Obama speaks then he will not support Notre Dame in the future. :crazy: Of course there are only 7 or 8 approved schools on the Catholic Newman Society list which they constantly plug and forget the rest of them.

As I type this the Arcbhishop of Denver is also making his similar views public. He is another bishop who wants a very quick promotion to Rome, as to get ahead in today's Vatican you have to say and do things like this :crazy: .

[dflprincess]

1. Remember when John Kennedy said he did not take his orders from Rome?

I was only in 2nd grade when he ran, but enough filtered down to me that I really wondered why people didn't like Catholics - I thought we were nice people and the nuns said we were okay.

I've never heard that the Church took exception to what JFK said then, I wonder what they'd do to him now? (Rhetorical question)

The way the orthodox are trying to interfere with American politics makes me think that maybe we will have to start grilling Catholic politicians about who they'll be representing if elected. Except, of course, those who are already on the list of "Catholic Politicians Who Should Be Excommunicated" (Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy among others). Strangely enough, you don't make this list if you're pro-war or pro-death penalty, only if you think the GLBT community are people too and/or that the "post born" are at least as important than the unborn.

Come to think of it, I'm surprised they don't try to excommunicate JFK posthumously, seeing as he had the nerve to deny Rome's authority over him.

[CatholicEdHead]

2. This neo-retro group sees it as their way to turn back the clock

in the wake of the sex scandals. Conversing with conservative seminarians on other boards besides DU and Catholic Answers, they often repeated the mantra of the Church being a "perfect society" so if taking literally, it can do no wrong, has never done any wrong and never will do any wrong. :crazy:

The Minnesota Independent has a good story on today's letter. From my searches the original leak may have been to the Cardinal Newman Society to help push their restricting agenda.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/30918/archbishop-nienstedt-calls-obama-anti-catholic-vows-to-pull-support-from-notre-dame

[CatholicEdHead]

3. The MinnPost has a good followup article

http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/04/03/7847/is_obama_anti-catholic_and_could_he_speak_at_st_thomas

Leave it to a law student to pose an uncomfortable question to Archbishop John C. Nienstedt: Would the University of St. Thomas be allowed to invite President Obama to speak on campus?

The Most Rev. Nienstedt — as well as a dozen other conservative archbishops — has been in the news lately for chastising Notre Dame over inviting a pro-choice president to serve as this year's commencement speaker and to receive an honorary law degree from the university. And the archbishops are backed by at least 225,000 Catholics who signed a Cardinal Newman Society petition railing at the audacity of Notre Dame's president.

But on Thursday, Nienstedt indicated to St. Thomas law students at a luncheon in Minneapolis that Obama would be welcome at the Catholic university – just not at a high-profile event like commencement.

Is this an about-face? Not necessarily....

[annm4peace]

4. thanks for the updates. I dropped my membership to the Church on Friday

* this is what pushed it over.

I've had it. I'll still give money directly to the physicaly church I would go to, but no longer on their register, nor on the Diocese's register.

Once they stop putting the names of soldiers on the schools, and allow them to speak at their events, and call out any military members who have killed.. and fire Professors who write legal memo's that it is ok to torture (aka Prof Robert Delahunty).. then I might, just might think of returning.

But I doubt it, it is hard enough putting up with the Patriarchy B.S. and homophobes, when you have pedophiles running all over the place.. it is more than the priests.