. . . when it might inhibit liberal, confiscatory, big government and open border “doctrine” . . . but turns enforcer and oh so sensitive to other’s feelings . . . especially when it comes to those who try to assert the right to life and conservative opinion on matters of the economy and culture. They rarely get the time of day.
Accordingly, we have a few comments and questions for Bishop Amos.
SORRY SISTER, NOT EVEN CLOSE
‘Nuns on the Bus’ leader receives peace award – from the Quad City Times article after the Pacem in Terris award ceremony ( see our related article here):
Martin Amos, bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, presented the award to Campbell on behalf of the Quad-City Pacem in Terris Coalition.
“You stand up for ‘the 100 percent,’ striving through creative and effective campaigns to bring about economic and social transformation,” Amos said.
Her Nuns on the Bus tours, Amos said, “have raised awareness about people living in poverty and immigrants who come to America seeking to build a better life for their families.”
He said Campbell’s ministry is “rooted in faith that inspires your service to others. You remain a driving force for programs and policies that support faith, family and fairness.”
No she does not stand for ‘the 100 per cent’ Bishop Amos. By such a statement you are not merely presumptive, you are ridiculous, well, outside that room where you were spouting such nonsense anyway. She does not stand for conservatives or believers in the Constitution (having objected to the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision) or for Catholics who believe in established doctrine when it comes to the priesthood, or dare I say, the Bible when it comes to marriage. She most certainly does not stand for the millions of unborn babies who Blessed Mother Teresa referred to as the poorest of the poor. From a June 22, 1985 Chicago Tribune article:
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India`a famed “saint of the gutters,“ delivered a passionate appeal against abortion here Friday, calling the procedure a “terrible evil“ and a “destroyer of peace.“ “Today, the little unborn child has become a target of destruction,“
“That`s why abortion is such a terrible evil, a terrible destroyer of peace, of love, of unity, of joy, of anything that is good,“ Mother Teresa said. “If a mother can kill her own child, murder her own child, what is left for others to do?“
Bishop, to give Sister Simone award level credit for having “raised awareness” about anything, touring in a rock star bus, making a name by being an iconoclast favored by the liberal media more than a servant, certainly as compared to so many other servants of social justice especially among the clergy, is shallow. Seriously Bishop, what courage, or particular self-sacrifice has she shown separating her from so many other clergy members who might agree or disagree with her on so much? And to say that Sister Simone “remains a driving force for programs that support faith family and fairness” well I refer you to her leadership status in a group with serious doctrinal problems as reiterated by Pope Francis. The problems mentioned are matters that relate extensively to “faith family and fairness.”
Bishop are you really that oblivious to the political nature of her tour, tooling around in a nicely equipped coach, with a staff paid for by leftist interests diametrically opposed to key positions of the Catholic Church? Do you care, and if so, why did you participate, lending such credibility? This sheep wants to know.
Sister Simone with VP Joe Biden – In Des Moines just hours away from receiving Pacem in Terris award in Davenport. Nothing political here, move along. QCT photo displayed for purposes of political criticism.
Do you know that you maintain a staff that would not permit Quad City Right to Life, in a paid ad in the diocesan paper, to refer to John Kerry’s votes as a Senator, or other political statements he made as a candidate for president as “pro-abortion? ” Yet you have bestowed high honor on someone who you refer to as a peacemaker, who has a refrain of referring to Republicans votes and budget plans as “immoral?”
You are welcome to believe that charge, indeed as it was a thought shared by your fellow bishops, conveniently representing tax exempt entities countrywide. But just for the record, do you think it not a political statement, and if not, will you see to the allowance of referring to Democrats policies as evil in your publication the Davenport Catholic Messenger?
If your response is along the lines that the good sister’s comment was not political but about policy, even though it was to a national audience speaking at the Democrat Party National Convention, then how is it that during your episcopate policy ads by 501-c4 right to life organizations, a tax status no different than the The Iowa Catholic Conference, were required to contain the disclaimer “political ad?” a false description as a matter of election law, instead of the neutral term “paid advertisement” to which there would be no objection? With standards like that how is the substance of the Pacem in Terris award not political and all the publicity afforded it by the newspaper you publish not political as well?
And by the way which is more evil in your scheme of things . . . subsidizing the killing babies or a federal budget concept that allows for states and localities and charities to work together with the help of the federal government, consistent with the principle of subsidiarity promulgated by the Church, in order to meet dire needs? Why is welfare primarily the federal governments roll as opposed to state and local governments or charities?
As regards the boards you are part of and head, with their no doubt exquisite sensitivity to all members of the community, “the 100%,” that you refer to, I am wondering if, for the sake of consistency, you will call for the removal of the same Pacem in Terris award given to Bishop Maurice Dingman, bestowed in 1986,* now that it has come out that he was complicit as Chancellor of the Diocese in covering up sexual abuse by a priest of the diocese? Were his actions consistent with “peace and social justice” for the many victims of that priest, or did they contribute to the culture in the diocese to look the other way?
The St Ambrose University Board, which you now chair, removed the name of Bishop O’Keefe from its library for appearances as regards allegations of his roll in covering up sexual abuse. Why has Bishop Dingman not been scratched from the roster of the Pacem in Terris notables? Did his actions reflect courage and speaking truth to power? May I suggest that you would have some influence moving such a matter, in the spirit of social justice, given the roster of members of the Pacem in Terris award committee. Eight of the eleven sponsors are officially if not essentially Roman Catholic.*
And then there is the matter of Saul David Alinsky, probably the patron saint of religious and religiously hostile leftists intent on rooting out conservatives and in the latter case, ultimately religion from the political sphere. Mr Alinsky received the Pacem in Terris award in 1969, just a year or two before he reduced his guidance to the little book, Rules for Radicals, dedicated to Lucifer it should be noted.
Old Saul probably didn’t receive the vetting he should have, but leftist celebrity required none then and only certain categorical things now, liberal political correctness on gay marriage being the sine qua non at this time. Do you think the pure cynicism of his philosophy of “community organizing” worthy of the likes of other recipients, Blessed Mother Teresa for example? If not, do you think that in 1969 he was the best that discerning champions of “social justice” could come up with?
Feel free to respond at length in these pages Bishop. The forum will be yours. But I realize that responding to criticism is beneath personages of your stature so assume a credible stand-in will be afforded the same space.
Roger Mall
* a complete list of recipients is available here. Sponsors of the award are listed at the bottom of this article.
Ignorant, weak, or willful, Bishop Amos serves as the face of the Catholic left’s hypocrisy. How far the Church has descended since only a few decades ago, when the Papacy condemned the communist inspired “liberation theology” which some Cardinals in South America were practicing. Today it is exalted as “social justice” and political shills and religious cons like Sister Simone are palmed off on the unsuspecting devout and well-meaning majority of Catholics.
It would be just as political if he were promoting a Republican agenda, but you wouldn’t be complaining then. You just don’t like liberals and are taking it out on Bishop Amos, who is, in fact, pro-life. In our political system, one cannot vote for both social justice and pro-life candidates, so the hope is that with social justice, and thus better wages, fewer people will comitt murder through abortion, since a majority of abortions are done because of socioeconomic hardship.
You seem to be admitting it (the award ) is political. We agree on that. I do object to the pretense by the diocese that it (Pacem in Terris) is not political and then somehow makes a distinction that right to life groups are. You also seem to be acknowledging that Bishop Amos is a liberal. In my observation he is pretty much an empty cassock on everything. As far as whether Bishop Amos is pro-life, well I do not know of any Bishop who claims otherwise. As regards your statement: “one cannot vote for both social justice and pro-life candidates” you might discern reading the post again where I try to suggest that the Church has never as a matter of doctrine said that U.S. federal tax outlays must be the vehicle for the delivery of social services. There have been encyclicals that speak of the concept of subsidiarity which a reasonable person can view as favoring state and local governments and charities. Subsidiarity (and pertinent responsibility for raising resources and applying them) is something that is way out of whack in our system. Related information is available in our Papal Page linked at the top of the Veritaspac home page.
So with no requirement that one take a big federal government approach to social justice, but with there being clear calls for the right to life of the unborn, I believe that a person cannot be a Catholic and be a Democrat. More can be read about that view in the book by the same name by David Carlin.
Regarding your other statements, for the record I limit the use of the word murder visa vi abortion but I agree that direct killing of the unborn is evil and unjustified homicide. The Bishops do not accept socio-economic reasons as justifying abortion anymore than those same reasons would justify killing a child after being born. There is a rather large adoption placement infrastructure in this country so socio-economic reasons cannot justify killing an innocent member of the human family.
I make no claim of speaking for all conservatives and certainly not Catholics but as a conservative and one who admires the Catholic Church I am tired of being insulted and my values undermined by the religious left. The Pacem in Terris award I see for the most part as partisan and often a not so disguised assault on conservative values.