Be patient with me, it is going to be very difficult to get through this post with a straight face.
Father Jim Lisante, a Long Island priest, has gotten into his own little political pickle for which he has now apologized. Fr. Lisante, speaking at a Republican Fundraiser in NYC, used the occasion of the invocation to put in a plug for John McCain.
[Newsday]”One final thing, Lord, I promise,” Lisante, dressed in his clerical collar, said at the end of the invocation, a videotape of which was posted on the Internet. “This November could you keep an eye on all of us and see that the change that we embrace comes from Arizona and not Illinois?”
He also made other disparaging comments about Obama, including criticizing him for failing to quickly distance himself from his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
Yes Father, that was very very bad.
Lisante apologized for using the invocation for his comments saying “In hindsight I would have separated out the invocation, the prayer, from my commentary.” However he maintained that just because he is a priest he does not forfeit his citizenship.
“I do not as a priest forfeit my right as a citizen to a point of view, even when it comes to standing by a particular candidate,” he said. “Yes, I am a supporter of John McCain and I believe in him very much as a man of character and strength for our country.”
Let’s look at a little reaction. Keith Olberman called Lisante one of the “worst people of the day” (a badge of honor) and advised him and all preachers to “stay the hell out of politics.” Can anyone remember Olberman telling Pfleger to stay the hell out of politics during his months of support of Obama before it blew up in his face. How ’bout Rev. Al Sharpton? Rev. Jesse Jackson? Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.? Didn’t think so.
Fr. Thomas Reese, of course, has a comment. (Doesn’t this guy have anything else to do?) Fr. Reese, who was kicked out of his job as editor of the left leaning magazine America about 17.5 seconds after the election of Pope Benedict has this to say about Lisante’s endorsement.
U.S. bishops have been “pretty strong in saying their clergy should stay away from partisan politics,” Reese said. “It’s OK to talk about issues. But to get into endorsing candidates crosses the line in terms of church practice.”
As we all know, Fr. Reese has dedicated his life to staying in line with the “strong sayings” of the Bishops and the Pope.
The double standard of these guys amazes me. (Not Really). As for Fr. Lisante, what you did was probably over the line, funny, but over the line. I am very disappointed in you. (Not Really)
June 5, 2008 at 4:10 am
It is actually refreshing to hear of a Catholic priest endorsing a prolife candidate.
June 5, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I see. When a priest endorses Obama it’s a scandal and he needs to be fired. But when one endorses McCain it’s funny. You people are such hypcorites!!!!!!! What’s the difference?
June 5, 2008 at 3:26 pm
1. “post hoc ergo proctor hoc”…. just because Fr. Reese’s unfortunate silencing came just after BXVI’s election doesns’t mean the Pope had that on the top of his list and just couldn’t wait to get to it before lunch his first day. Sadly, it was in the works for a long time.
2. On the Lisante issue, all he was doing was correctly describing church policy, as Cardinal George did in Chicago a few days ago.
June 5, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Dear Anon,
Thanks for the Latin logic lesson. I didn’t actually say that Benedict fired him did I? Just that his departure happened in close proximity. “Accipe Hoc” Besides, its funnier that way.
As for Fr. Reese, I was merely applauding him for his new found devotion to the “strong sayings” of the Bishops and the Popes. Didn’t say he was wrong, did I?
“Accipe Hoc” again!
This is fun…
June 5, 2008 at 8:50 pm
If a priest or clergy member wants to support a political candidate, that’s fine, there shouldn’t be a double standard depending upon who he is for. However, when the candidate being supported stands for numerous things that the church of the clergy member is against (such as BOTH Obama and McCain) then this is where the problem lies. I think it is scandalous for Father Lisante to support McCain just as it is scandalous for Fr. Pfleger to support Obama, due to the many issues that both candidates support which are so against Catholic teaching.
June 5, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Bro Robin,
What exactly does McCain support which is “so against Catholic teaching”?
JBP
June 5, 2008 at 10:19 pm
“I see. When a priest endorses Obama it’s a scandal and he needs to be fired. But when one endorses McCain it’s funny. You people are such hypcorites!!!!!!! What’s the difference?”
The difference is that McCain doesn’t support the murder of innocent babies and Obama does!
June 6, 2008 at 12:09 am
The guideline from the USCCB is that priests can never endorse or not-endorse candidates specifically.Fr. Lisanti knew this.
Fr. Lisanti said he does not give away his Constitutional rights when he becomes a priest, but when he stands up there wearing his Roman Collar infront of a mic, he is a Roman Catholic priest. If another priest stood up there in his Roman collar and said heresies, would he not be a priest and not libel to his Church?
I was very, very disappointed in his mock prayer. To pray to God in a mockery is stomach turning, and unleashes a lot of red lights, but it is something that he has apologized for.
Christ associated with every social outcast of society: the tax collectors, the prostitutes and the lepers. The one group he never, ever associated with was the politicians. Fr. Lisanti can learn from this. He is too close to them now.
June 6, 2008 at 1:03 am
(Caveat: I’m a candidate person as opposed to a party person, and I just love Ron Paul to pieces, tho’ he could play TweetyBird in the movie. I’ll still write him in, if I have to. Otherwise, I’ll vote for him.) I am sick to death of this mideast occupation–I find it to be intrinsically evil and quite unnecessary, as does my son Over There, and yet, I couldn’t possibly vote for a Raelian of any stripe. So, my vote won’t count, right. As for priests endorsing anyone, it doesn’t seem to help anyway, does it?
Carol
June 6, 2008 at 1:45 am
VITC,
I dont think anyone disagrees that Lisante went too far.
you wrote “The one group he never, ever associated with was the politicians.”
I can;t say for sure, but he might have shied away from comboxers who take themselves too seriously as well. Just a thought.
June 9, 2008 at 4:31 am
When John Paul II cracked down on priests in politics, Fr. Drinan was the liberal representative in Congress, and the Sandinistas were being advised by the priests of liberation theology.
The Church as a moral force is spent whenever a bishop or priest endorses a particular candidate. Such politicking is what has hurt the Church in places such as Mexico and Spain, where it is perceived, often unfairly, as the defender of the status quo.
Fr. Lisante crossed the line. If he urges his communicants to pray for the end of abortion and discusses abortion vividly as a mortal sin, he has informed their consciences. An endorsement of a candidate is heavy-handed and less effective.
We need good priests such as Fr. Lisante to be above reproach.