Posted on 10/21/2005 2:04:46 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Harriet Miers was not raised as a Catholic.
Catholic Church records and the White House both refute what has become a boilerplate part of discussions about Miers, the White House general counsel and nominee for the Supreme Court.
News stories, commentaries and editorials nationwide have repeated the description that Miers was brought up Catholic but now attends an evangelical Protestant church.
However, according to White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri, "Harriet Miers did not grow up Catholic."
When news reports first quoted the nominee's acquaintances as saying she had been raised a Catholic before joining an evangelical Protestant church in 1979, the editor of the Texas Catholic, newspaper of the Dallas Diocese, began checking records of baptisms and other sacraments.
"The Diocese of Dallas has no record of Harriet Miers or her immediate family ever having been a member of the Catholic Church," said Deacon Bronson Havard, spokesman for the Diocese of Dallas and editor of the newspaper. "We have checked all known sacramental records."
Miers' longtime friend, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, has been variously quoted as saying Miers was "raised Catholic," or that her family attended both Catholic and Protestant churches or that she "had a Catholic upbringing."
Since her nomination was announced Oct. 3, those comments have evolved into the widespread assumption that Miers was a baptized Catholic who left the church as a young adult to join Valley View Christian Church with a full-immersion baptism. Several local and syndicated newspaper columnists have raised theological concerns about the favorable spin some evangelicals have given to the idea that Miers' left the Catholic Church to "find Christ" as an evangelical Protestant.
Miers might well have occasionally attended Catholic churches as a child or young adult, but there is no evidence that she ever considered herself a Catholic.
Deacon Havard also said as an active Catholic and journalist for 35 years in Dallas he has never heard anyone refer to Miers as a Catholic or former Catholic until the current set of rumors.
He noted that a local Episcopal church has pews dedicated to her parents and that she worshipped there with her family on a recent trip to Dallas. Deacon Havard also said it was reported locally that Miers on the same Sunday attended a worship service by a group that split from Valley View Christian Church, which she and Hecht, among others, recently left.
Well, it ain't in the Bible.
Geneology work would probably be a bit hazier without church records.
LOL
well at least they aren't trying to hit the Nitrous with every post and story now like they were 2 weeks ago....
You'd think after being part of the team that recommended judicial nominees to Bush, she would realize just how she measures up and what the hearings would be like.
Gee, maybe she's dumb like Bush.
I never heard of this guy (I'm not a Catholic, BTW), but he doesn't seem to be a pundit. It's a valid data point so far as it reflects this person's reaction to the nomination.
Head of Human Life International blasts,
others still skeptical of would-be Justice MiersFront Royal, Va, Oct. 06, 2005 (CNA) - Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, head of the group Human Life International offered some of the harshest criticism yet today, in the confused firestorm around Harriet Miers, President Bushs recent pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor.
Fr. Euteneuer chided Bush, saying that his choice of close friend Miers sends a message of: "'If you are pro-life keep your mouths shut and hide in the closet if you ever hope to advance in your career.'
"The nomination of Miers, he said, is a slap in the face to pro-life lawyers and judges who have not been ashamed of the principles that inform their conscience; evidently courage of conviction disqualifies candidates for the bench." "We know very little about Miers, but her nomination revealed a lot about President Bush. It has become clear he is afraid to fight for the values on which he campaigned."
Fr. Euteneuer recalled that "Last year Bush asked faithful Catholics to fight for him, campaign for him and vote for him and they did in record numbers; now the President lacks the stomach to fight for the values of those who put him in office. ...
Damn, I was gonna use that.
"Is confidentiality required from a Church concerning someone's record of Church membership, participation and/or attendance?"
I would think not, as baptismal records, marriage records, death records, etc. would all be considered public information. The RC church even posts wedding bans before marriages so I don't think any of that stuff would be considered confidential.
As for attendance, unless you use an envelope with your name on it, who would be able to keep track of that? The most would be if you were registered at a Parish.
President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush are lifelong members of the Episcopal Church.
LOL, good point.
[Jonathan Adler 10/19 05:51 PM]
I’ve heard from more than one former administration attorney who thinks I’ve backtracked too much on Miers’ work on judicial nominations. They strongly suggest that she was not that involved in judicial selection before she became White House Counsel. Writes one:
First, you cannot look at this chart and say Miers was involved in nominations after July 2003. There is often a substantial time lag between the Judicial Selection Committee's decision that a nominee be recommended to the president and the nomination. The FBI and OLP background checks occur after POTUS OKs the nomination but before the nomination is made. If there are political issues requiring Hill negotiations, the delay could be longer than the 2 months the FBI takes. So for example Janice Rogers Brown, Brett Kavanaugh, and Diane Sykes were all approved before July 2003 even though nominated later. Miers had absolutely nothing to do with them.
Miers and Judicial Nominees
[Jonathan Adler 10/19 12:27 PM]
In this prior post, I suggested that Miers could not have played a role in the vetting of many appellate judicial nominees because so few were nominated between July 2003. This was an error. There were several nominated since then. (See the full list here.) However, it is worth reiterating that there have been few nominees since she became White House Counsel. Thus, while she may have participated in the review of various nominees — including Janice Rogers Brown, Brett Kavanaugh, Thomas Griffith, Diane Sykes and some others — she has overseen the review and selection of hardly any. As a final note, I would add that multiple individuals who worked on judicial nominations while Miers was in the White House — but before she became White House Counsel — have told me they do not recall her having much of a role during that time.
http://bench.nationalreview.com/
So why doesnt somebody just ask 'HER' if she was ever Catholic??
I don't give a flying doughnut if she was raised as an animist.
I want to know if she is an "originalist". That is to say, does she look to the founding fathers and their writings when she 'interprets' the constitution? Or is she of the barf that thinks the constitution changes day to day?
Thanks for responding, Jocon. That all makes sense, now.
Yeah...the joke is that if you want to find a Catholic baptismal record, just go to the LDS archives...
Seriously, I was amazed at the epidemiology in the book "American pox" which estimated the deaths from Smallpox in the Southwest US in the 1700's by combing baptismal and death records in New Mexico Indian mission churches...
As for her being "raised" a Catholic: No biggie, except that Catholics have all sorts, from Hitler to Jeb Bush to Teddy Kennedy...but you DO have to be baptized to be a Catholic...
Truth in advertising...
In a related story, Miers was photographed Sunday after attending an Episcopal service. Questioned about White House claims that she was an "Evangelical," she replied, "What's the difference? Don't they both start with an 'E'?"
No one can be born Catholic. The sacrament of Baptism must take place.
"No one can be born Catholic. The sacrament of Baptism must take place."
I must say that I was taught that one is baptized a "christian", not into any denomination. At least for Catholics, etc. who are baptized as infants. To be truly a Roman Catholic, one should be confirmed. I'd guess this was true of any church which offers confirmation as a sacrament. I suppose those who have adult, or teenage, baptisms probably don't have confirmation, so they would be different.
hey, but at least you can change your christian religion without having a death fatwa put on your head by the mullah!
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