Posted on 02/25/2016 6:39:06 AM PST by ebb tide
Catholic Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, has disconcerted members of his flock over his stance on a pro-life charity event. Diocesan officials are discouraging parishes from advertising a dinner being hosted by Image Point Mobile Medical Services, a private non-profit that maintains and operates a mobile medical unit that offers services at the site of abortion providers that including counseling and ultrasound. The organizers are hoping to raise money for another mobile testing facility for Image Point.
An email missive from a diocesan official to the priests of the diocese cited what was called Image Point's alleged failure to "collaborate in a meaningful way with the Diocese," after having received a grant from the Knights of Columbus. In his email, Monsignor Robert Siler, Bishop Tyson's Chief of Staff, wrote:
"Second, the speaker they have invited, Laura Ingraham, while having a positive pro-life witness including her personal choice to adopt three children from other countries, is a strident opponent of many of the immigration positions held by the US bishops. As such, her visit to Yakima sends a profoundly mixed message to our community. As a very public figure with a national audience, she is held to a higher degree."
Laura Ingraham is a Catholic, who also is a well-known radio/television commentator and attorney. She is also the editor-in-chief of the LifeZette news service.
The email from Monsignor Siler concluded, "Given these two points, it is not appropriate to advertise Image Point's event in any way. This isn't about advertising future events, as will we make those decisions on a case by case basis and should be brought to me."
In a post on LifeZette, writer Jon Conradi wrote "Tyson's singling out of Ingraham, a lay person, for her pro-immigration enforcement positions, is a stunning development, especially considering the firestorm set off when Pope Francis maligned Donald Trump's Christianity because of the GOP frontrunner's own immigration views."
Ingraham fired back, saying that it is "disconcerting" to see her standing as a "good Catholic" used to suppress turnout for the fundraising event. She said, "By disseminating this warning to parishes, the Diocese is in violation of Canon Law and hurting a pro-life group that it couldn't control."
For his part, Monsignor Siler said that the diocese has not made public any criticism of Ingraham in what he called "an internal communication to our pastors." Moreover, Siler said that it is not the intention of his diocese to embarrass or pick a fight with Ingraham, but that it is the right to promote events that "best uplift our Catholic teachings in their entirety."
Ingraham was incensed at the clarification. "So are we now saying that Catholics should ignore the rule of law and that only those who seek to dismantle our borders can speak credibly on pro-life issues? For some reason the diocese is intentionally undermining a pro-life organization and personally attacking me. I would have expected more in this Year of Mercy."
This is not the first time that Bishop Tyson has crossed swords with pro-life Catholics. He once called off an annual March for Life that had been a decades-long tradition. In another instance, the Hope Medical Group received financial assistance from the Knights of Columbus to acquire ultrasound equipment. Because the grant was to an organization within his diocese, a signature from Bishop Tyson was required on a one-page form and thus grant his consent, sources say. Bishop Tyson refused, and then piled on by barring the pro-life organization from advertising in parish bulletins or seeking Catholic volunteers. He has also barred yet another pro-life group, 40 Days for Life, from functioning in his parishes. Many other dioceses have embraced the group, however.
Reflecting a focus on the needs of the mostly Spanish-speaking immigrant community in the region, the diocesan website features material in English and Spanish, and has "Multicultural Ministries" to "honor the sacredness and interdependence of individuals and cultural groups." Some priests in the diocese contend that the bishop leans towards the left in political matters and do not agree with him on issues relating to immigration.
In November 2015, Bishop Tyson expressed an open-ness to serving Syrian refugees coming to the United States. While he said in an interview that improved screening by the federal government may be necessary, citizens should not lose sight of the fact that refugees are fleeing persecution. In an interview with KAPP-TV, a local Catholic, Gilbert Martinez said "The church is supposed to be serving like a church, not involved in other things from another country or the wars or this or that."
So Mexican criminals are more important to this guy then the lives of the unborn?
Real Man of God.
Since when do Catholics have to follow some bishops’ crazy attitude towards immigration? My parish, St. Agnes, is totally against it.
Ironically, I’m listening to Laura right now.
So many different Bishops with so many different opinions. It is as if each Bishop were a different denomination unto himself.
“is a strident opponent of many of the [ILLEGAL] immigration positions held by the US bishops”
Good!
YOU are WRONG!
There is no basis for denying U.S. Sovereignty rights and promoting ILLEGAL entry.
You can talk all day long about fixing the LEGAL immigration process, but that is NOT what they’re doing.
This guy sounds like a real schmuck
And I’m a bilingual Catholic.
Exactly. From a Google search you can see that this guy looks like a real lefty tool.
That is because these positions are not Dogma, ok? On that, all Bishops are on the same page - unless we have a heretic among us.
How is this different from all the televangelists who seem to be all over the map?
The Bishop has sold his soul to the devil (statist gov’t) for the proverbial thirty pieces of silver. Just another Judas.
Seriously, the whole world would greatly benefit if the Catholics would just be Catholic.
Morning, Miss M.,
The Open Borders and Illegal Legalization and Paul Ryan are fine, with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, hand in hand, always avoiding Pro LIfe events and pushing a North American Union.
Follow Ryan and you always find the Conference, and visa versa.
Let Secure Borders and Deportation Enforcement types speak on behalf of a Pro Life event, like Laura, and this is what you get.
The USCCB needs an overhaul.
Nice try though.
Unfortunately, we picked up a bunch of dimwitted Lefty tools back in the 70s and 80s as Bishops and the effects have been horrific for our Church. Pope Francis isn’t giving me much hope that things are going to get better.
The point which is overlooked by the Bishop and his "Chief of Staff" is the difference in the moral authority which the Church brings to the respective questions of abortion and immigration and the deference demanded of a Catholic to the Church's positions on those issues.
The question of how many and what type of immigrants a country may admit and under what circumstances, is both a moral and political question in which there is considerable room for legitimate debate. There is no such room for manoevre in the question of abortion since without the right to life, there are no other rights.
As usual the priorities are completely backwards but it's not surprising since this is simply one more example of the pernicious influence of the so-called "seamless garment" theology of the late but not lamented Cardinal Bernardin.
Then look to your own instead of butting in on another religion you do not understand or want to understand.
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