Posted on 05/25/2004 9:34:52 PM PDT by Coleus
EWARK, May 21 - Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said on Friday that he was "deeply disappointed" that his recent criticism of Roman Catholic elected officials who supported abortion rights had been interpreted by some New Jerseyans as a political slap at Gov. James E. McGreevey.
In an interview, Archbishop Myers said Mr. McGreevey was not the target of statements he had made in a pastoral letter saying that Catholic officeholders who did not share the Vatican's opposition to abortion should not seek communion. He said he had apologized to the governor for any misperception by the public.
"I didn't name him specifically in the letter,'' Archbishop Myers said. "We have an understanding that I won't personally criticize him. And we are working together on a lot of issues, like providing social services for the poor and helping people with H.I.V. So I think we reached an understanding. I actually like him, and I think we have a cordial relationship."
The pastoral letter, issued early this month, rattled the state's political leaders. One Catholic state senator reacted to the archbishop's statement by announcing that he would leave the church, while others tried to sidestep the controversy by saying that they would attend Mass outside the state.
The most emphatic response came from Governor McGreevey, a former altar boy, who held a news conference to say he would refrain from taking communion at public services but would never let the church sway his public policy decisions.
In the weeks before the pastoral letter was published in the archdiocese's newspaper, The Catholic Advocate, two other New Jersey bishops criticized the governor for supporting abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. Archbishop Myers said the timing of his comments led some people to infer that he was specifically criticizing Mr. McGreevey.
Archbishop Myers is one of several outspoken conservative bishops who have sought to keep the issue of abortion on the minds of Catholic voters during this presidential election year. A bishop in Missouri has said that John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, should not receive communion because he supports abortion rights, and a bishop in Denver has decreed that any Catholic who votes for a politician who supports abortion rights should not take communion.
In New Jersey, one of the most liberal states in the nation, there are some indications that the bishops' aggressive lobbying could have unintended political consequences. A poll from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, taken shortly after the controversy erupted, showed a slight rise in Mr. McGreevey's approval ratings, and indicated that more than 60 percent of New Jersey Catholics felt it was improper for church leaders to pressure politicians.
Even Archbishop Myers said he admired Mr. McGreevey's politically deft response to the letter.
"I think he handled it brilliantly," the archbishop said. "Conservatives could appreciate that he accepted the authority of the church, and liberal Catholics could respect the fact that he stood by his convictions."
Archbishop Myers said he believed that it was his duty to remind New Jersey's 1.3 million Catholics that the church's opposition to abortion was absolute. But he said he also recognized that the traditional separation of church and state made many American voters bristle at any religious leader's attempt to influence them at the ballot box.
"Americans don't like anyone telling them how to vote," he said.
Which will just disappear with the next sodomy crisis the way things are going in AmChurch.
by non Catholic>>
The problem is that many ARE Catholics, they are Hispanics (Dominican Republic and Mexicans) who do not attend mass regularly or join in the faith community participating in the parish functions. There are dozens of cities in NJ in the same situation. Many of the Parishes are "national" parishes denoting a specific nationality of the European neighborhood in which the church reflected. Many of the Italian, Polish, German, Slovak, Hungarian, and Irish people who once lived in these great industrial cities moved out into the suburbs and either joined parishes there or drove into the city for mass and that was it. The new Hispanic Immigrants really aren't involved with the church unfortunately, and won't attend mass unless it's after 1 or 2 pm and in their native language.
Thanks for the tidbit on Mother Cabrini, I didn't know what she did.
As far as Hispanics in NJ are concerned, the problem for the Church is not just schedules and languages. The problem is that an increasing number of these immigrants belong to store-front evangelical churches.
The Pope acknowledged this problem in Mexico years ago; the Church was losing Hispanics in droves.
The problem is that an increasing number of these immigrants belong to store-front evangelical churches. >>
That's a fact and many just make up their own religion and church, there are tons of those type of churches in the cities.
They've existed for decades in the inner cities, but never before to this extent with "former" (or baptized) Catholics.
I don't know what caused the drift, but it has also spread into NJ's Portuguese community.
The ongoing sodomy crisis.
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