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Vatican cardinal: Obama is 'Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic'
Pontifications ^ | November 15, 2008 | David Gibson

Posted on 11/15/2008 4:22:22 PM PST by NYer

Father Newman (see below) may have at least one big gun on his side, rhetorically if not canonically or theologically. According to the student newspaper of Catholic University of America, Cardinal Francis Stafford, a longtime American in the Roman Curia, on Thursday night painted an apocalytpic picture of the America he sees in the wake of Obama's victory:

His Eminence James Francis Cardinal Stafford criticized President-elect Barack Obama as "aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic," and said he campaigned on an "extremist anti-life platform," Thursday night in Keane Auditorium during his lecture "Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul."


"Because man is a sacred element of secular life," Stafford remarked, "man should not be held to a supreme power of state, and a person's life cannot ultimately be controlled by government."

"For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden," Stafford said, comparing America's future with Obama as president to Jesus' agony in the garden. "On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake."

Cardinal Stafford said Catholics must deal with the "hot, angry tears of betrayal" by beginning a new sentiment where one is "with Jesus, sick because of love."

The lecture, hosted by the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, pertained to Humanae Vitae, a papal encyclical written by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and celebrating its 40 anniversary this year.

Stafford also spoke about the decline of a respect for human life and the need for Catholics to return to the original values of marriage and human dignity.

"If 1968 was the year of America's 'suicide attempt,' 2008 is the year of America's exhaustion," said Stafford, an American Cardinal and Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary for the Tribunal of the Holy See. "In the intervening 40 years since Humanae Vitae, the United States has been thrown upon ruins."

This destruction and America's decline is largely in part due to the Supreme Court's decisions in the life-issue cases of 1973, specifically Roe v. Wade. Stafford asserted these cases undermined respect for human life in the United States.

"Its scrupulous meanness has had catastrophic effects upon the unity and integrity of the American republic," said Stafford.

Wow. I bet that wasn't the tenor of Obama's chat with the Pope the other day. Then again, lieutenants are there to do the dirty work so the white cassock stays clean.


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: aggressive; apocalyptic; catholic; democrat; democrats; disruptive; obama; obamatransitionfile
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To: NYer

That’s about how I would expect the Antichrist to be described.


21 posted on 11/15/2008 8:50:56 PM PST by Kevmo (Palin/Hunter 2012)
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To: lmc12
Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing that story! Is it possible to post that photo?

Throughout history, people from one generation to the next tend to forget the past. It becomes 'foggy' or is rewritten in such a way that they believe it will never happen again. You cited the story of Ratzinger's cousin. It was quite a surprise to read that more than 75% of the American Jewish vote went to Obama. In our generation, we have all heard, seen and read about the holocaust. While we are asked to 'remember' this horror, the Jews voted in another man who promises reform.

One of my favorite OT books is Ecclesiastes. The author begins his narrative with:

9
What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.
10
Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
11
5 There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.

Nothing has changed - there is still nothing new under the sun.

22 posted on 11/16/2008 4:28:36 AM PST by NYer ("Run from places of sin as from a plague." - St. John Climacus)
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To: Petronski

Love it :-)


23 posted on 11/16/2008 4:30:09 AM PST by NYer ("Run from places of sin as from a plague." - St. John Climacus)
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To: NYer

I am a one-issue voter, and that issue is abortion. I cannot support anyone who is not pro-life.

However, I read a letter to the editor in my local paper and that writer proposed that God knew Obama would become president even before he was conceived. If we believe that God knows all and ordains all, what does Obama’s election mean? And does that mean that all elections are meaningless since the winner is already preordained?


24 posted on 11/16/2008 4:36:44 AM PST by MetsJetsandNets
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To: MetsJetsandNets

I think that the main point in Genesis is free will. And free will seems to be in conflict with “preordained”. In my case, I can’t believe we were put here to just run out a predestined clock (so to speak).


25 posted on 11/16/2008 5:15:54 AM PST by blueheron2 (Goodbye CBS,ABC,CNN, PBS and GE/NBC news)
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To: NYer

It’s never too late to fight evil.


26 posted on 11/16/2008 5:52:42 AM PST by NewCenturions
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To: NYer

For later read.


27 posted on 11/16/2008 7:36:41 AM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: NYer
Praise the Lord and Pass the Backbone on to all Catholics and to leaders of other faiths!

I'm sitting here jumping up and down and yelling "wooo hoo" Catholics speaking out and making their voices heard.

Don't know what the Pope talked about with PeeElect, but I am quite sure His Holiness did emphasize the culture of life. I joined the Catholic Tradition at Easter 1992 and I am always so thankful for the foundation and the traditions which the Church professes. That and I do have the Pope's email address which I use on rare occasions. benedictxvi@vatican.va

28 posted on 11/16/2008 7:42:44 AM PST by HighlyOpinionated (Psalm 66:7b "He watches every movement of the nations. Rebels will not be able to oppose Him.")
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To: lmc12

What did [Pope Benedict XVI] see as he gazed so lovingly at James? I believe he saw his cousin. I believe he saw the face of Jesus. And I believe that his great prayer as he elevated that host on that impossibly beautiful day was “As long as you did to these the least of my brethren, you did it to Me.”

The next day April 18th, a boy was born to of all people, the Gover­nor of Alaska. They named him Trig.


Oh, Wow. I'm teary eyed. I hope you will go over to the Governor of Alaska's website [gov.state.ak.us/] and click on 'contact' and tell her this story. WOW. It's just too awesome for words. I know it will mean a lot to her. Our God is an Awesome God.

Thank YOU for what you do for "the least of these" -- I know God blesses you through them. I have a 14 yr old cousin with Down Syndrome. She lives in France with her Mom and younger brother. She understands French and English but prefers French. Her brother prefers English.

29 posted on 11/16/2008 7:57:31 AM PST by HighlyOpinionated (Psalm 66:7b "He watches every movement of the nations. Rebels will not be able to oppose Him.")
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To: MetsJetsandNets
God gives us free will. He also offers many tests of our Faith and our Resolve.

I believe the zero's presidency will be a test for all peoples of faith. Sadly, some of my Catholic brethren have been tested and found wanting -- they voted for obama.

30 posted on 11/16/2008 8:09:58 AM PST by Malacoda (CO(NH2)2 on OBAMA.)
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To: NYer

These are the kind of words we need to be hearing from our American bishops. Too bad, the vast majority of them are too concerned with the politically correct niceties, rather than an all out fight for life.


31 posted on 11/16/2008 8:52:27 AM PST by diamond6 (Is SIDS preventable? www.Stopsidsnow.com)
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To: NYer

WOW!!!


32 posted on 11/16/2008 3:17:23 PM PST by GOP_Thug_Mom (libera nos a malo)
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To: NYer

I’m impressed. Let us pray that this is only the beginning.


33 posted on 11/16/2008 3:23:18 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: lmc12

WOW what a wonderful wonderful story!!!


34 posted on 11/16/2008 3:24:10 PM PST by visualops (portraits.artlife.us or visit my freeper page)
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To: NYer
The Vatican wasn't too keen on hitler either.

http://www.zenit.org/article-7143?l=english

But, in that case, it appears it was a strategy of avoidance.

What we see here is more severe. Yes, more severe than its language toward Hitler. This is a scary indication of what the Vatican sees on the horizon.

35 posted on 11/16/2008 3:44:10 PM PST by Barnacle (God help us.)
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To: Salvation

Great compilation.


36 posted on 11/16/2008 3:45:40 PM PST by Barnacle (God help us.)
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To: lmc12

That’s so beautifully expressed it should be published in one of the pro-life magazines or some such. Thank you.


37 posted on 11/16/2008 4:56:17 PM PST by baa39 (www.FightFOCA.com - innocent lives depend on you)
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To: NYer

This is all well & good BUT American bishops still “congratulated” Obama for his election???

AND supposedly 54% of Catholics voted for Obama!

So I am disgusted with the American electorate; especially my fellow Catholics who voted for Obama and those who “congratulated” him...I’m sure there are those in Heaven who aren’t so pleased by his election!


38 posted on 11/19/2008 7:55:28 AM PST by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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