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.
That’s about how I would expect the Antichrist to be described.
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.
Love it :-)
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?
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).
It’s never too late to fight evil.
For later read.
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.
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.
WOW!!!
I’m impressed. Let us pray that this is only the beginning.
WOW what a wonderful wonderful story!!!
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.
Great compilation.
That’s so beautifully expressed it should be published in one of the pro-life magazines or some such. Thank you.
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!
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