Four years later, Vatican takes a different approach toward Obama

cns ^ | November 9, 2012 | Francis X. Rocca

[NYer]

A woman arrives early to vote at a polling place at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine in Washington on Election Day, Nov. 6. (CNS/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The day after Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, hailed his election as a "choice that unites," exemplifying America's ability to "overcome fractures and divisions that until only recently could seem incurable." Pope Benedict XVI sent the president-elect a congratulatory telegram the same day, noting the "historic occasion" of his election.

Four years later, the Vatican's reaction to Obama's re-election had a markedly different tone.

"If Obama truly wants to be the president of all Americans," said L'Osservatore Nov. 7, "he should finally acknowledge the demands forcefully arising from religious communities -- above all the Catholic Church -- in favor of the natural family, life and finally religious liberty itself."

Speaking to reporters the same day, the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, voiced hope that Obama would use his second term for the "promotion of the culture of life and of religious liberty."

The statements alluded to Obama policies favoring legalized abortion, same-sex marriage and a plan to require nearly all health insurance plans, including those offered by most Catholic universities and agencies, to cover sterilizations and contraceptives, which are forbidden by the church's moral teaching.

The insurance mandate in particular, which U.S. bishops have strenuously protested for the past year, has proven an even greater source of division between the church and the Obama administration than their previous disagreements and threatens to aggravate tensions between Washington and the Vatican during the president's second term.

From the beginning of Obama's presidency, his support for legalized abortion and embryonic stem-cell research inspired protests by the church and controversy within it. Some 80 U.S. bishops publicly criticized the University of Notre Dame for granting Obama an honorary degree in 2009.

Yet the Vatican itself remained largely aloof from such disputes, at least in public statements, and cooperated with the Obama administration on such common international goals as assisting migrants, working against human trafficking and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

But seeing a threat to the freedom of the church itself, the Vatican changed its approach and chose to address matters more directly.

In January, Pope Benedict told a group of visiting U.S. bishops that he was concerned about "certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion," through "concerted efforts ... to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices."

Any hopes that the administration might change its policy to the satisfaction of the church grew faint as the year wore on and the election drew nearer, to the increasingly vocal frustration of several U.S. bishops.

Two days before Americans went to the polls, the papal nuncio to the U.S. made it clear how urgent a priority the nation's religious liberty had become at the highest levels of the universal church.

Speaking at the University of Notre Dame Nov. 4, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano devoted most of a speech about "religious freedom, persecution of the church and martyrdom" to the situation of the United States today.

"The menace to religious liberty is concrete on many fronts," Archbishop Vigano said, noting the insurance mandate, anti-discrimination policies that require Catholic adoption agencies to place children with same-sex couples, and mandatory public school curricula that present same-sex marriage as "natural and wholesome."

Recalling persecution of Catholics in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the archbishop said that the "problems identified ... over six decades ago that deal with the heavy grip of the state's hand in authentic religious liberty are still with us today."

A government need not be a dictatorship in order to persecute the church, the nuncio said, quoting the words of Blessed John Paul II that a "democracy without values easily turns into openly or thinly disguised totalitarianism."

If the mere timing of his speech was not sufficient to underscore its political implications, Archbishop Vigano concluded by lamenting the support of Catholic politicians and voters for laws and policies that violate church teaching.

"We witness in an unprecedented way a platform being assumed by a major political party, having intrinsic evils among its basic principles, and Catholic faithful publicly supporting it," he said. "There is a divisive strategy at work here, an intentional dividing of the church; through this strategy, the body of the church is weakened, and thus the church can be more easily persecuted."

Jesuit Father Gerald P. Fogarty, a professor of history at the University of Virginia and an expert on U.S.-Vatican relations, said it is extremely rare for a papal diplomat to comment publicly on a host country's politics in such a way. The closest thing to a precedent in the U.S., Fogarty said, occurred nearly a century ago, during the Vatican's efforts to persuade belligerent nations to end World War I.

The archbishop's speech would seem to suggest that the Holy See has made religious liberty in the U.S. an issue in its diplomatic relations with Washington. Yet Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican since 2009, said that the disagreements between the church and the Obama administration over the insurance mandate have not interfered with his efforts to cooperate with the Vatican on areas of common concern.

Asked whether such compartmentalization would be possible during Obama's second term, Diaz, who will step down in mid-November, voiced hope that current tensions, including the dispute over the insurance mandate, might be resolved soon.

"Perhaps my successor will not have the same kinds of issues" to contend with, he said, "because that person will likely have a whole set of different challenges."

[Rashputin]

I believe this society is corrupt enough for a similar push and that it will come down the same way. I really don't know what country and who it might be that sides with the Church, but it'll be at least as unexpected as it was to see the US stand up after decades of preaching compromise and unilateral disarmament.

The fascists in this country aren't even bright enough to analyze the collapse of the Soviet Union and learn from it. They've just picked up where Jimmy Carter left off and restarted all the same programs with all the same arguments.

I well remember Carter talking about turning down the thermostat and getting used to not having "smokestack industries" while the steel industry collapsed. If I recall correctly, he refused to guarantee loans that would have allowed a good many steel works to modernize without the government being on the hook for anything but the interest if there were a default.

They haven't changed a thing since Carter, either. This coming four years they won't be paying off their union pals from industrial unions, they'll be finishing off the industries they work in. Then the Federal government will take over their pension funds, reduce what they were promised, and have all their good union supporters in the same position as black folks on the welfare plantations. Government employees unions give them all the union based support they need and are more reliable to boot.

The Gingerbread men riding on the nose of the fox are not long for this world.

[Morris70]

I thought bill Clinton was supposed to be the ant-Christ.
Color me confused.

[RBStealth]

On the evening of Nov 6th, Obama had his Hitler moment when he(Hitler) saw the Aurora Borealis in the sky and knew that God had paved his way. What is coming is that God has already withdrawn his favor, the earth and the people will groan and it will be much worse than WWII.

[Jacquerie]

My first memory of Carter was his admonition that Americans must accept a lower standard of living.

Ronaldus Magnus disagreed and proved Carter wrong.

To your point, yes, we are likely corrupt enough.

[GeronL]

The Bible says there will be many anti-Christs but there will be one big one.

[Morris70]

Right. Sometimes make trigger wise crack comments without thinking.
Not on a good streak today.
Think I’ll take a break from that for today.

[GeronL]

lol.

We have all had days like that. You’re still thinking heads and shoulders above liberals though

[slapshot]

The Vatican the corporate HQ of the oldest, largest most profitable multinational corporation on the planet. They will finesse a deal with dear leader, mark my words. In the end, the Corporate VPS (aka Cardinals) will sign on to what they consider a reasonable business decision and support obamacare implementation with a few tweaks of doctrine. Pedophile priests will continue to ravage unsuspecting parishes, doctrines will become mushy, pro abortion legislators will be members in good standing (as long as the collection plates will continue to be heavy).

[Alex Murphy]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The day after Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, hailed his election as a "choice that unites," exemplifying America's ability to "overcome fractures and divisions that until only recently could seem incurable." Pope Benedict XVI sent the president-elect a congratulatory telegram the same day, noting the "historic occasion" of his election.

Four years later, the Vatican's reaction to Obama's re-election had a markedly different tone.

I don't think so. As posted on EWTN:

7-November-2012 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Holy Father Sends Message to President Obama
Assures Reelected Leader of His Prayers to Carry Out Duties to the Nation

By Junno Arocho

VATICAN CITY, Nov. 7, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, told journalists today that Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to US President Barack Obama, congratulating him on his reelection. The telegram was sent through the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, DC.

The Holy Father expressed his best wishes to President Obama and assured him of his prayers to carry out his duties to the country and the international community.

The Pope also conveyed his hope that "the ideals of freedom and justice that has guided the founding fathers of the United States of America continue to shine forth as the nation progresses."

Commenting on President Obama's reelection, Fr. Lombardi stressed the immense responsibility that the US President has not only for his country, but as well to the rest of the world, "given the role of the United States in the international [community]."

Fr. Lombardi concluded his statement expressing his hope that President Obama will respond to the expectations of his fellow citizens "for the good and development" while promoting a culture of life and religious freedom.

The director of the Holy See Press Office also stated his desire that the reelected President "may find the best ways to promote the material and spiritual welfare of all, as well as effectively promote the integral human development, justice and peace effectively in the world."

[Salvation]

**”If Obama truly wants to be the president of all Americans,” said L’Osservatore Nov. 7, “he should finally acknowledge the demands forcefully arising from religious communities — above all the Catholic Church — in favor of the natural family, life and finally religious liberty itself.”**

Amen!!!

[A.A. Cunningham]

The best approach to 0bama is to turn around and run as fast as you can.

That's the way a coward responds to a threat.

The best response to Soetoro is to go toe to toe with him and give him the fat lip, bloody nose and black eyes he so richly deserves.

[RobbyS]

Yes. The only thing that would catch public attention would be a dramatic act such as the excommunication of someone like Biden. But the time for that may have passed.

[cothrige]

Now, they are less sure of him because he will make them pay for contraceptives.

Absolutely, this is what I have been saying. We must avoid thinking that all of a sudden the entire body of bishops, and their numerous wildly liberal priests, have spun around to the truth about these issues. Rather, they have simply responded to the fact that this mandate puts the bill at their doorstep rather than that of the random taxpayer, i.e. their congregations. They are tickled to death to support any kind of horror as long as we have to pay for it, but turn it around and say they will have to fork over the money and they suddenly cry foul and scream about immorality. Don't get between a bishop and his worship of his god Moloch.

[Rashputin]

I've been thinking about this and talking with the wife and kids about it.

In one way you're right, the time may have passed. In another, though, this is the ideal time much more than prior to the election would have been. Biden is part of an administration that was just reelected with the help of Catholics. Catholics who had no real reason to know they they shouldn't vote for the pair. Sure, they have plenty of excuses and can complain that the Bishops weren't clear enough, their individual parish is liberal and didn't read even a watered down statement from anyone, and so on.

Those are excuses, though. Even the government itself has made it clear they are going after the Catholic Church as an instutition. Plus, who can honestly say they don't know the Catholic Church condemns both abortion and contraception?

Troops willing to fight march toward the sound of the guns, not away from it. Nothing would magnify the sounds of battle more than the very public excommunication of Biden and all of the other pretend Catholics in Congress and the administration. Besides, anyone who is a party to mass murder should at a minimum rate being included in a public proclamation listing those who by their actions openly deny that they are Catholic and ends with "Let them be anathema" shouldn't they?

The Federal government has already declared war on the Catholic Church and it was a CINO who chose where to fight the initial battle. It's obvious that a large number of those who claim to be Catholic have either already sided with the enemy or have no stomach for battle. Give those who are faithful the sound of battle as a signal that the Church intends to fight rather than the near silence of shuffling legal briefs and toothless proclamations. The noise of battle might even wake up a few of those who didn't vote for Barry and Satan, but didn't bother to vote against them either.

JMHO, and hey, I'm new at this Catholic stuff so what do I know?

[RobbyS]

Not quite so simple. Vatican II was in part a rebellion against Rome, led by bishops, priests and theologians with their own agenda. It is less what is in the documents as what these leaders afterwards said was in them. I am reminded of the Church after the first council, which condemned Arius. Only, many of the clergy had one foot in his camp, and the Emperor found it persuasive. Soon we have three parties: the Catholics, the Arians, and the Semi-Arians—the mushy middle. Today we have the “conservatives”, the liberals, and the guys in the middle, the kind that in the Johnny Cash song is called “a Methodist.”

[NYer]

As a Head of State, it is expected that he will send a congratulatory letter to a newly elected president. In that letter, he states:

Fr. Lombardi concluded his statement expressing his hope that President Obama will respond to the expectations of his fellow citizens "for the good and development" while promoting a culture of life and religious freedom.

This is consistent with the pope's understanding of the US political landscape and his warnings, earlier this year, when he met with US bishops.

Pope Benedict XVI raises his voice against the "dominant culture of secularism in America" and, between the lines, he attacks Obama's policy in favor of contraception, gay marriage and abortion, preventing a true freedom of conscience to American Catholics.

Pope Benedict Warns of "Secularism", Words Clearly Relevant to American Politics

[Mrs. Don-o]

"The insurance mandate in particular, which U.S. bishops have strenuously protested for the past year..."

They certainly did not. "Strenuously" indicates something like shaking themselves awake and getting up off their big episcopal .... seats, for somethng other than a photo op.

Yes, yes, a few of them spoke short sentences where you could find the subject and the verb. +Jenky in Peoria was heated, strong -- and like a man standing alone.

.

And the rest, those who apparently still want some lovin' from Obama: Obama will certainly give it to them, good and hard.