Posted on 03/26/2013 2:13:13 PM PDT by NYer
Vice President Joe Biden attended mass and received communion on Sunday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York where the mass was celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
At a time when the administration is being sued by Dolan and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference over the Obama health care provision on birth control, the meeting was seen as an attempt to create a new dialogue.
An Irish American Catholic, Biden receiving communion was also seen as significant. Dolan’s predecessor Cardinal Edward Egan refused to give communion to those who differed with the church on the abortion issue.
Biden says he is pro-life but will not seek to impose his views on others.
Biden met with Cardinal Dolan after the mass for coffee but what they discussed was not made public.
Biden’s latest move comes at a time when the Obama administration appears to be using the VP in a new outreach to American Catholics.
Biden represented the administration at the swearing in of Pope Francis in Rome where he again received communion. He was also inaugurated into the Irish America Hall of Fame last week, also in New York, attended by many leading Irish American Catholics.
Meanwhile, Dolan revealed that he had many stories to tell about the papal conclave.
"You know I just got back from three historic weeks in Rome, and you better get used to hearing a lot of stories about those three weeks," Dolan said.
"It was quite an experience, to hear the first-hand stories of how they chose the pope and special inside information we got, it was truly a delight," said a woman who attended the Mass.
Palm Sunday is among the most significant of the Catholic holy days and begins Holy Week which ends with Easter Sunday.
Please pray for Cardinal Dolan and the church in America.
Outreach? You mean “overreach”?
Biden says he is pro-life but will not seek to impose his views on others.
He seems to be willing to let others impose their views on us. - Tom
Is there any possibility that this interaction between Cardinal Dolan and Biden could end up being a moment of clarity for Biden?
I've been following Dolan ever since he was sent to rescue the Milwaukee Diocese. He uses his friendly Irish, back slapping personality to project a happy face to the apostate world and garner the support of pew catholics. (How can anyone get upset with such a jovial, larger-than-life man of God?) He exudes joy and happiness from every pore. While that may work well in dealing with mediocre catholics, IMHO, he is treading on very thin ice when it comes to politicians. This is especially true in his capacity as head of the USCCB. And it is even more so now with the Obama government's HHS mandate.
If you watched the cardinals process into the Sistine Chapel, you could see Dolan's discomfort in such a serious situation. While waiting to sign the pledge, he took in the frescoes around the chapel. His face was unnaturally serious. He was out of his environment.
To have Biden in attendance at a Palm Sunday mass, at a time when the Catholic Church as a whole (not just Dolan) is at war with the Obama Administration on religious liberty and then give Biden communion, is scandalous. Not only is Biden pro-choice and pro-gay marriage, he is arrogant. When presented to the new pope, he simply shook his hand (because his mother told him never to acknowledge anyone as being higher than himself). Moment of clarity? Dolan needs to read the tea leaves.
I had not planned on posting this article but when I learned that EWTN's lawsuit had been tossed out, I became furious over how Biden's been treated with white gloves by the USCCB and Dolan, in particular.
Back in 2000, following the death of Cardinal O'Connor, his funeral was held in St. Patrick's cathedral. It was broadcast nationwide. President and Mrs. Clinton were in attendance, as were VP Al Gore and his wife, along with NYC Mayor Giuliani. Cardinal Bernard Law delivered the homily.
At one point in the sermon, O'Connor's hand picked homilist said, "What a great legacy he has left us in his constant reminder that the Church must always be unambiguously pro- life."
There was a beat and then applause broke out. It grew louder, increasing as the cameras fixed on the Clinton-Gore party showing them on screens throughout the cathedral. Cardinal Law attempted to quiet the crowd with his hand, when suddenly the congregation began to stand up, applauding in a wave that moved from the back of the church to the front. If it hadn't been a funeral they would have cheered. It was a defiant, pivotal moment.
Then the bishops and cardinals in the sanctuary stood up. The elder George Bush stood up applauding, as did his son somewhere off camera. The camera panned back to the Clinton- Gore party who looked bemused and bewildered.
Having no water glasses to reach for as they did in 1994 when Mother Teresa received a thunderous ovation for telling the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington that there could be no peace as long as a mother could kill the child in her womb, Clinton leaned back and started whispering in Hillary's ear. Gore's face was as blank, flat and white as a sheet of paper. Behind them another abortion "rights" supporter, Rudy Giuliani, began to applaud, albeit weakly, and stood. And lest they be the only ones left seated, the Clintons and Gores lamely stood up but refrained from applauding.
It was not Cardinal Law's intent to embarrass anyone. He was merely doing his job and honoring his friend. The vehement applause came from the people.
When the applause subsided, Law quipped, "I see he hasn't left the pulpit." Even a news commentator said it was as if O'Connor himself had spoken "from beyond the grave." Even through the TV screen you could feel the presence of that humble but larger than life churchman fill St. Patrick's Cathedral one last time, driving home the message he lived.
The leaders of the free world are currently the hierarchy of the culture of death and it is difficult to know what those poll-conscious politicians took away from that anointed moment, but I have some suggestions.
Cardinal Dolan needs to take a strong stand. Enough with the happy, clappy. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in not a backyard bbq. It's time to man up!
Thank you, NYer. I was hoping, albeit naively, for a different response, but it appears to me that you are correct. Pope Francis has his work cut out for him.
This story here is PRECISELY why I shuddered at the prospect of this man being elected to the See of Peter.
Well said.
You and me too. Same goes for O’Malley.
The bishops --- they carry those croziers for a purpose: to protect the lambs and dismay the wolves. And not the other way around.
From having lived in the mountains of Turkey for a few years, I will tell you, from first hand observation, sheep are just about the stupidest creatures on God's green earth.
They will literally put their heads down and graze themselves off a cliff if not stopped. I have seen this first hand.
The purpose of the long end of a shepherd's crook is to knock the sheep between the legs to get it moving. No, I am not exaggerating. The purpose of the hooked end is to grab the sheep by the neck and yank, hard, to get it to stop.
There are definite episcopal applications to this.
Michael Voris’ latest on Cardinal Dolan, for those interested:
http://www.churchmilitant.tv/free/?vidID=vort-2013-03-26-a&ssnID=&proID=
We will - and I know I will - miss the Catholic Church once the core has be eaten out of it.
Jury-rig the mainmast and bail, bucko.
I’m not Catholic. Other than note my concern, there doesn’t seem a whole lot I can do.
But you have a stake in Catholicism, because you have a stake in Christ. Isn't that right? Look around you. When the Enemy targets Christianity, the bullseye is the Catholic Church.
"Other than note my concern, there doesn’t seem a whole lot I can do."
It seems to me there's always something you can do. (I am preaching to myself here as well. Good Lord, do I need a spur in the sides! -- Or a kick in the south end of a horse going north.)
You do believe in the Communion of Saints, e.g. intercessory prayer, don't you? Pray out loud for the ones under fire. Pray for the Pope --- he's gonna need it. It's a start. You call on God. Then God calls on you.
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