In today’s post you wrote….<i>” Stowe said “it was very hard to speak out clearly about the former President of the United States,” though he himself found it necessary to do so. He also recapitulated his rather unvarnished criticisms of Donald Trump, and the many ways in which his policies and actions were “antithetical to what the Church teaches about the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life,” criticisms which I certainly share”<i>
While I consider myself up on what has transpired these last four years, could you give some examples of President Trump’s antithetical Catholic positions? For example, I seem to recall his many pro-life statements and attendance at the Right to Life rally in D.C., as did Vice President Pence. Hmmm. You have me both baffled and upset that I missed something. Please tell, and maybe these were antithetical to the U.S.C.C.B.’s bureaucracy instead of true Catholic social justice positions?
Well, Bp. Stowe's list included two that I would certainly agree with, namely the expanded use of capital punishment and the treatment of migrants at the border. Issues on which the USCCB also repeatedly denounced administration policy at the time.
I just read your handicapping of the committee chair races to be held next week in Baltimore. I take great exception to your characterization of Archbishop Paul Etienne as "...not known especially as an administrator, or to have a particular nose for numbers." I worked with Archbishop Etienne side-by-side as his Director of Development and Stewardship in Cheyenne, where he led the charge to take a financially floundering diocese, hard-hit by the crash of 2008, to one that had finally achieved a balance sheet and income statement that were outstanding, growth in ministry, and investments that followed Catholic doctrine. I can personally attest to his "nose for numbers" and his astute business acumen. And talk about empathy for smaller dioceses? The Diocese of Cheyenne covers 98,000 square miles serving 18,000 Catholic families and is a mission diocese. Because the majority of his episcopal ministry was in a small diocese and small archdiocese (Anchorage) he truly understands the nature of serving the people of God where they are few and far between.
This is an example of what he has done, Matthew, and thank you for it. My point was that he is not, as I said, especially known for those gifts — they’re not usually what bishops say when they talk about him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them.
In today’s post you wrote….<i>” Stowe said “it was very hard to speak out clearly about the former President of the United States,” though he himself found it necessary to do so. He also recapitulated his rather unvarnished criticisms of Donald Trump, and the many ways in which his policies and actions were “antithetical to what the Church teaches about the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life,” criticisms which I certainly share”<i>
While I consider myself up on what has transpired these last four years, could you give some examples of President Trump’s antithetical Catholic positions? For example, I seem to recall his many pro-life statements and attendance at the Right to Life rally in D.C., as did Vice President Pence. Hmmm. You have me both baffled and upset that I missed something. Please tell, and maybe these were antithetical to the U.S.C.C.B.’s bureaucracy instead of true Catholic social justice positions?
Well, Bp. Stowe's list included two that I would certainly agree with, namely the expanded use of capital punishment and the treatment of migrants at the border. Issues on which the USCCB also repeatedly denounced administration policy at the time.
Administrations do not set immigration policies,Congress does. Some follow the law and some don’t.
#2 should be </i>
I just read your handicapping of the committee chair races to be held next week in Baltimore. I take great exception to your characterization of Archbishop Paul Etienne as "...not known especially as an administrator, or to have a particular nose for numbers." I worked with Archbishop Etienne side-by-side as his Director of Development and Stewardship in Cheyenne, where he led the charge to take a financially floundering diocese, hard-hit by the crash of 2008, to one that had finally achieved a balance sheet and income statement that were outstanding, growth in ministry, and investments that followed Catholic doctrine. I can personally attest to his "nose for numbers" and his astute business acumen. And talk about empathy for smaller dioceses? The Diocese of Cheyenne covers 98,000 square miles serving 18,000 Catholic families and is a mission diocese. Because the majority of his episcopal ministry was in a small diocese and small archdiocese (Anchorage) he truly understands the nature of serving the people of God where they are few and far between.
This is an example of what he has done, Matthew, and thank you for it. My point was that he is not, as I said, especially known for those gifts — they’re not usually what bishops say when they talk about him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them.
After I wrote my defense, I thought that. I still think he is a great choice for the chair.
“Curate’s egg” - another delightful Britishism I had to google thanks to our favorite ex-pat (former ex-pat? Dual citizen? Bi-National?) Mr. Condon.