Posted on 05/20/2005 9:57:40 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Washington DC, May. 20, 2005 (CNA) - This morning at the 2nd annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, held in Washington, Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput urged Catholics and Christians to make their voices heard in government and public life.
“Catholics”, he said, “see politics as part of the history of salvation. For us, no one is a minor actor in that drama. Each person is important. And one of the most important duties we have is to use our gifts in every way possible for the glory of God and for the common good.”
He added that, “That’s why Catholics and other Christians have always taken an active role in public life. What we believe about God shapes how we think about men and women. It also shapes what we do about promoting human dignity.”
The Archbishop, who was joined by President George Bush, San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez and an estimated 2,000 other participants in what is said to be the only major event of its kind.
Archbishop Chaput, who was criticized during the recent presidential election for adding his own voice to the public square, said that, “If God is the center of our lives, then of course that fact will influence our behavior, including our political decisions. That’s natural and healthy.”
“What’s unnatural and unhealthy”, he said, “is the kind of public square where religious faith is seen as unwelcome and dangerous. But that seems to be exactly what some people want: a public square stripped of God and stripped of religious faith.”
Archbishop Chaput chided what he sees as a false idea of religious pluralism, saying that often, people are afraid of being “too Catholic” and offending others.
That, he said, is “not democracy. Democracy and pluralism depend on people of conviction fighting for what they believe through public debate – peacefully, legally, charitably and justly; but also vigorously and without excuses.”
“Divorcing our personal convictions from our public choices and actions is not ‘good manners,’” he said. “On the contrary, it can be a very serious kind of theft from the moral treasury of the nation, because the most precious thing anyone can bring to any political conversation is an honest witness to what he or she really believes.”
Calling on all members of society, from politicians to average folks, the Archbishop said that the Church is Christ’s—not ours.
“Only God is God, and only Jesus is Lord,” he said in closing. “When our actions finally follow our words, then so will our nation, and so will the world.”
A quick read was enough to establish it as a Protestant movement. Sometimes heresy is so easy to spot it's not fun anymore. Kiko's catechism could have been written by Luther.
Pinging you to my #15 -- Archbishop Chaput is in Opus Dei, a personal prelature approved by the Vatican, NOT that neocatechumenal "Way" group.
I love that you are the Navigatrix of that most august association.
It was on my resume' that I can conn a ship through two pillars so they hired me ;)
St. John Bosco, pray for us.
Thanks for correcting me.... :-)
I have nothing to say oe way or the other about Archbishop Chaput's involvement with OD. What concerns me at present is that he has gone on the record as an outspoken supporter of the NC Way. It's not exactly hard to find examples of this. Google is our friend.
I'll have to do some investigation of my own into this NC way, thanks.
I wouldn't mind Cardinal Archbishop of Washington. Burke wouldn't be bad there either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.