With New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan heard laughing in the background, President Barack Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney traded barbs at the controversial Al Smith dinner.
Fox News is reporting that the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner was held last night in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. The event is staged every year to benefit needy children, but has become a kind of “quip-a-thon” for presidential candidates in recent years.
The Cardinal, who flew directly from the Synod in Rome to attend the event, has been under fire for months for inviting the president whose healthcare policies, particularly the contentious birth control mandate, have represented the greatest threat to religious liberty in U.S. history. Dolan and fellow bishops launched an unprecedented two week “Fortnight for Freedom” event this summer during which time the bishops staged street protests and sought to educate the public on the seriousness of these violations.
But last night there was barely a mention of the issues that divide the president’s policies from the teachings of the Church.
The only reference to the mandate came from Mitt Romney who joked: “Of course the president has found a way to take the sting out of the Obamacare mandates for the church. From now on, they’re going to be in Latin.”
Earlier this week, the New York Post quoted an anonymous source close to the Cardinal who claimed the prelate was second-guessing his decision to invite Obama to the dinner. According to the source, “the cardinal himself wonders whether he made the right decision.” He added: “He knows the president wants this for one reason, and that’s the photo.”
The same story claimed some of the dinner guests were hoping the Cardinal would take the opportunity to slam the president at the dinner.
“They’re going in hopes that the cardinal’s going to slam him,” said state Sen. Marty Golden, a Brooklyn Republican attending the annual Al Smith Dinner. “It’s insulting that [Obama is] coming. What he’s doing to the Catholic Church — forcing them to do things against their beliefs — it’s reprehensible.”
The Cardinal chose not to do so and the president got the photo op he wanted.
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I am very disappointed in this event as well. I remember well when Cardinal O’Connor refused to invite then President Clinton due to his appalling behavior while President.
I think the good Cardinal is a wonderful leader and great man, but he made a mistake. Besides the photo-op it presented for President Obama, I am convinced based on numerous personal conversations that many pro-abort Catholics see this very different than what the Cardinal envisioned.
They point to this event as evidence that while the rhetoric has been strong, the actions show the Church is “tolerant” of the complete travesty of the Obama administration as it relates to the life issues, religious freedom, etc. This confusing narrative is an enormous disservice to the faithful, the Church and the spiritual authority of someone like Cardinal Dolan.
Such clerics seem to “change” when they get inside the social beltway and underestimate the power of this action. It simply reinforces a “tolerance” mentality that makes it impossible for millions of Catholics to understand let alone embrace the clear teachings of Holy Mother Church.
The event held no opportunity to discuss or encourage the President to change his mind. Some of the most outrageous media figures who hold anti-Catholic bias were guests as well. Mrs. Obama for her part chose not to attend.
It makes me wonder who has the most commitment.
Who knows why Cardinal Dolan invited Barack Obama to this event when so many people have suffered at his hands and will suffer more if he has his way. The most troubling remark I heard came from Cardinal Dolan when he said the two candidates’ love for God and country is only surpassed by their love for family. Does not God want to come before country and family.
The Lord did dine with his enemies..
“You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar”
I pray that the President has a change of heart and sees Roman Catholics as people who are kind to their enemies and do good to them.
What a total disgrace for Holy Mother Church! We as faithful Catholics true to the teachings of the Church and Pope, look up to Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests to be shining examples for all to imitate. This Cardinal surely isn’t one of them! Please pray for Christ’s One Holy and Apostolic Church that those who call themselves Catholic will act in accordance to her teachings.
In Christ,
MH