Offering a benediction to close the Democratic National Convention last night, many wondered if Timothy Cardinal Dolan would raise the issue of religious freedom. He did.
Many wondered if he would pray for the unborn. He did.
Many wondered if he would pray for the sanctity of marriage. He did.
The DNC asked Cardinal Dolan to offer the benediction after he had been asked to offer the closing prayer at the RNC event. The invitation could be seen as a bit awkward as Dolan’s Archdiocese of New York is currently suing the Obama administration over the HHS contraceptive mandate.
But Cardinal Dolan didn’t seem awkward. That seems to be the thing with Cardinal Dolan. You ask for Cardinal Dolan, you get Cardinal Dolan. He doesn’t seem to shape himself to his setting.
But consider for a moment the bravery it takes to step to the podium in front of thousands and thousands of people who had just voted for a DNC platform that called for federal funding of abortion, supported a redefinition of marriage, and excluded (albeit temporarily) God from its official statement of beliefs.
But Cardinal Dolan wasn’t there to convince them of anything. In fact, he wasn’t even there to speak to them. He was there to speak with them. To God.
Everyone in the room knew what Cardinal Dolan meant when he thanked God for religious liberty:
We praise and thank you for the gift of liberty. May this land of the free never lack those brave enough to defend our basic freedoms. Renew in all our people a profound respect for religious liberty: the first, most cherished freedom bequeathed upon us at our Founding. May our liberty be in harmony with truth; freedom ordered in goodness and justice. Help us live our freedom in faith, hope, and love.
Dolan also prayed for the unborn saying, “We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected.”
This was a beautiful prayer. And a brave prayer.
It was not an admonishment. It was Cardinal Dolan’s prayer for this country.
Here’s the full transcript:
With a “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,” let us close this convention by praying for this land that we so cherish and love:
Let us Pray.
Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, revealed to us so powerfully in your Son, Jesus Christ, we thank you for showering your blessings upon this our beloved nation. Bless all here present, and all across this great land, who work hard for the day when a greater portion of your justice, and a more ample measure of your care for the poor and suffering, may prevail in these United States. Help us to see that a society’s greatness is found above all in the respect it shows for the weakest and neediest among us.
We beseech you, almighty God to shed your grace on this noble experiment in ordered liberty, which began with the confident assertion of inalienable rights bestowed upon us by you: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Thus do we praise you for the gift of life. Grant us the courage to defend it, life, without which no other rights are secure. We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected. Strengthen our sick and our elders waiting to see your holy face at life’s end, that they may be accompanied by true compassion and cherished with the dignity due those who are infirm and fragile.
We praise and thank you for the gift of liberty. May this land of the free never lack those brave enough to defend our basic freedoms. Renew in all our people a profound respect for religious liberty: the first, most cherished freedom bequeathed upon us at our Founding. May our liberty be in harmony with truth; freedom ordered in goodness and justice. Help us live our freedom in faith, hope, and love. Make us ever-grateful for those who, for over two centuries, have given their lives in freedom’s defense; we commend their noble souls to your eternal care, as even now we beg the protection of your mighty arm upon our men and women in uniform.
We praise and thank you for granting us the life and the liberty by which we can pursue happiness. Show us anew that happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Empower us with your grace so that we might resist the temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making, or to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community. May we welcome those who yearn to breathe free and to pursue happiness in this land of freedom, adding their gifts to those whose families have lived here for centuries.
We praise and thank you for the American genius of government of the people, by the people and for the people. Oh God of wisdom, justice, and might, we ask your guidance for those who govern us: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, Congress, the Supreme Court, and all those, including Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan, who seek to serve the common good by seeking public office. Make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country. Help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens rather than itself. With your grace, may all Americans choose wisely as we consider the future course of public policy.
And finally Lord, we beseech your benediction on all of us who depart from here this evening, and on all those, in every land, who yearn to conduct their lives in freedom and justice. We beg you to remember, as we pledge to remember, those who are not free; those who suffer for freedom’s cause; those who are poor, out of work, needy, sick, or alone; those who are persecuted for their religious convictions, those still ravaged by war.
And most of all, God Almighty, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.
For we are indeed “one nation under God,” and “in God we trust.”
So dear God, bless America. You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen!
September 9, 2012 at 10:07 pm
The Church did not have to deal with pedophilia in such a large scale until after Vatican II so, the bishops were at a loss.
Rick, you're dead wrong. In 1049, St. Peter Damian wrote a treatise, Liber Gomorrahianus ("The Book of Gommorah") describing andn illustrating widespread clerical pederasty and concubinage. The sitting pope, Leo IX, failed to confront the problem under pressure from Vatican bureaucrats.
Also, remember that for centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Vatican ruled by and as a "papal pornocracy." While that mostly involved women, we can assume that pederasy was part of the game.
What are you doing to make things better? What positive actions are you taking to turn things around!?
Fr. Peckman, would you have said the same thing to Elijah, Samuel, Isaiah or Jeremiah in their day? How about Francis of Assisi or Catherine of Siena?
I'm not equating myself or Steve Dalton to any of those esteemed individuals. But it doesn't take a prophet to see what's going on in the Church. Speaking out about evil and encouraging people to confront it is doing something. It's called trying to get people to repent and avoid God's judgement for misusing His authority.
Which brings me to….
To put things in perspective, there is less than 1/100th percent of clerics that are sexual perverts. And of all the clerics in all religions, the Catholics have the lowest number of sickos.
So what, Rick? Do you think a holy, righteous God gives a damn about raw numbers? Or, rather, does He give a damn about the intense spiritual and psychological damage such "sickos" have perpetrated on the innocent — and about how such "sickos" (along with their episcopal enablers) have dragged His name through the mud?
This Church is beyond ripe for judgement. It has been for at least a millenium. Only mass repentence by the leadership — rejecting the inherent sense of entitlement, the isolation from the laity, and the lust for power, prestige and perks — will save this Church. Otherwise, more than a few bishops' heads will pave the floor of Hell, to paraphrase St. John Chrysostom.
September 9, 2012 at 10:08 pm
I'm a layman, but I'll be the first to admit that it's the laity which
elects and re-elects the Obamas, Pelosis and Kennedys out there.
Those politicians weren't appointed by our bishops and priests–
we laity are responsible for their victories. Our bishops and priests
didn't write the DNC platform– laity did. Bishops and priests aren't
aborting and contracepting at the same rates as the rest of Americans,
but Catholic laity are.
I'd suggest that the very, very least that we laity could do when we
see one of our prelates take a public stand for what's right is to take
a minute on the internet not to write a complaint at a blog, but to
write an e-mail to that bishop offering support and encouragement.
Don't you think that, if just 1% of the laity thought to encourage our
bishops and provide positive feedback when we hear of them taking
a stand for the Faith, then we'd have more stands for the Faith?
Sniping at His Eminence in spite of his stand is not productive. To
me, it seems small and lazy.
September 9, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Fr. Peckman, I've already answered your snarky question about what positive thing I'm doing. I support Mr. Voris and other people like him who are telling hungry Catholics what's wrong and what's right. As for knowing nothing about you, your arrogant, condescending manner tells me everything I need to know. You are just like the leaders of that religious cult I was in years ago. Same play, different actors.
Rick, your answer shows you're not dealing with reality. The Church has always known how to deal with sexually immoral clergymen. Expel them! It has also known about pedophilla. The Church knew the Old Testament, and it knew about the corrupt Greco-Roman culture that pederasty thrived in.
The practical ones?! Give me a break! Sending a sex pervert to a different location only gives him a new place to wreak lives.
They were at a complete loss!? No, they were more concerned with image, rather than stopping the abuse. As what to do, see the previous paragraph.
"I know victims". You may "know victims" but I have doubts whether you can emphasize with them. In your reply, you give the appearance of being on the side of the victimizers, rather than the victims. You seem to be so feel of pity and concern for the priests and bishops who made this disaster possible, but I just don't see any for the victims.
Dymphna, you asked the wrong person for an answer.
September 9, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Clinton, if the archbishop wishes to take a stand, then he needs to do more than talk. Unfortunately, Catholics are so used to pseudo-intellectuality that they confuse talk for action.
"the mysterious" cited Cdl. Burke's comments about the mass episcopal disregard for Canon Law. Well, what's Cdl. Burke doing about it? What's Pope Benedict doing about it? Where are the leaders who are supposed to do more that talk?
September 10, 2012 at 12:55 am
Hindsight is always 20/20.
September 10, 2012 at 1:03 am
That was awesome.
September 10, 2012 at 1:53 am
Not to sound insensitive let me state unconditionally that the predators need to be given the maximum penalty as stipulated by the law. Their administrators who failed to comply with reporting requirements need to be penalized as well – without favor or prejudice. Bishops and priests are not exempt from the law of the land.
And I have no sympathy whatsoever for those who abuse the trust placed in them and the dignity of their divine office. The MD cases was particularly horrendous – involving a child that is mentally challenged.
And those who have been sodomized or raped need to be compensated accordingly to be made whole to the extent that is possible by the Church. I recognize that their childhood cannot be restored and they may remain scarred for life. It is tragic as innocence cannot be regained once it is lost.
There are cases however that are not black and white, cut and dried meaning no one was raped or sodomized or touched in the reproductive organ. That is when there is no provision in canon law to use nor is there a violation of the criminal code of the state. Those cases are the one's where prudential judgment is exercised and where some people of goodwill make bad calls for good considerations e.g. the pastoral needs to the diocese et al.
September 10, 2012 at 4:54 am
Dymphna, cry against what is wrong and praise good behavior. When one does nothing but complain, is devalues anything they have to say. Usually all they are left with, when questioned, is personal attacks (cult leader…hmmmm…never been called that one before)and straw man arguments. Get involved locally. Join groups that promote traditional values within the church, for example, the Legion of Mary. Ask what is used in your religious ed programs, learn which are good and which ones are bad. Erstwhile cult leaders, such as myself, like the Ignatius "Faith and Life" series…educate the next generation to know the truth and live it. Pray!!! If you are blessed with a Perpetual Adoration Chapel (like us wild eye progressives so love to have in the parish..parishes like mine), use it well and often. In the end no cleric or layperson escapes the judgement of God, and woe to those who foment scandal! Offer up your daily crosses to God for the conversion of souls, both in and outside the church. Underlie all this with a sense of humility; those who cannot give thanks for when a person does right lack humility. Those who refuse to look for any bright spots and think all is lost lack humility, and those arrogant enough to make sweeping condemnations on those who serve God court a judgement from God Himself.
In as far as the scandals in the Church go, even one case is too many; no shepherd who serves God can prey upon His flock as well. The Church took some very foolish advice from some in the psychological community that pedophilia was a curable malady, something it is not. Some churchmen did turn a blind eye towards wrongdoing and will have to stand before God and give an accounting.
While we each lack the personal ability to control the reactions and responses of others, we do have the ability, through the grace of God, to manage our own…and it is our own responses and reactions that we will have to stand before God and give an account of and to which we are held responsible. Our age is no different than other ages, great saints have risen in times of incredible darkness within the structure of the Church. Read the stories of the saints, see how they responded. That is a fine start.
September 10, 2012 at 4:54 am
So who is served by the angry and emotionally charged commentary, God or Satan?
Just wondering.
September 10, 2012 at 6:15 am
One thing is certain, Subvet: God is not served by hiding, excusing and rationalizing sin.
Fr. Peckman, what good are all your suggestions when the "conservatives," "traditionalists" and "progressives" are infatuated with their respective agendas, and people who work in a parish or a chancery are infatuated with their power?
This sounds like the SAMO pseudo-piety that lay Catholics have had to tolerate for far too long. Yes, prayer is important but prayer without action is like faith without works: hypocritical.
It's interesting to note that you don't recommend confronting priests or bishops. I wonder why, hmmm?
Far too many Catholic clergy take their status as alter Christus as justification to lord it over the laity. Is that the kind of behavior that Christ want those who hold authority in His name to exhibit? If so, then you haven't read John 13 lately.
September 10, 2012 at 6:23 am
…those who cannot give thanks for when a person does right lack humility. Those who refuse to look for any bright spots and think all is lost lack humility, and those arrogant enough to make sweeping condemnations on those who serve God court a judgement from God Himself.
Well, Fr. Peckman, I guess you'd have trouble with St. John Chrysostom, St. Alphonsus Ligouri (a gentle man who recommended that priests who commit pederasty be castrated), St. Peter Damian and Erasmus (who should have been canonized ages ago), among others, who legitimately criticized Church leadership.
Let me rephrase your comment so that it at least has a measure of truth:
Those who believe they can attack others for pointing out the truth lack humility. Those who give lip service to righteousness yet fail to promote or cultivate it lack humility. Those who turn a blind eye toward ecclesiastical sin in the name of "solidarity," denominational loyalty or blind groupthink court a judgement from God Himself.
Read Ezekiel 34. Read 1 Samuel 2: 12-36. Then look in the mirror.
September 10, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Tell me Joseph…did these named saints do nothing but complain? They all reformed form within. Complaining is not getting skin in the game…working from within is. IN this debate, if you actually understood the writings of any of these men (and woman in the case of St Catherine of Siena), you would be taking a different tune. If you want to be a positive force for true change, then get directly involved and at least set up future generations! By the way, I think doing the things that the saints themselves recommended and did themselves in other dark times is a proven way to go…I do not merely count on the voice of man…but count more on the grace of God.
September 10, 2012 at 4:30 pm
When exactly, also, have I turned a blind eye to ecclesiastical malfeasance? Read my last post. Scripture tells us that it is the shepherds who will receive the harshest judgement. All I am saying, again, is that when someone does something that is good..say getting in front of thousands of people who have spent the last three days doing things like booing God and praising abortion and boldly praying a prayer that not only reprimands but seeks God's mercy..would it kill you to say, "Hey, that was good." ?
September 10, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Fr. Peckman, your most recent comment was spot-on. Even our
Lord wasn't able to reach everyone who heard Him speak, which
must be some consolation.
Subvet, yours was an excellent question. I think we all know the answer.
September 10, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Fr. Peckman, I read your first two posts. All you're doing is covering for the clergy's mistakes and blaming the laity, which has been par for the course for far too long. Quite frankly, I doubt you would have changed your tune on this thread if you weren't confronted.
As far as "counting on the voice of God" goes, how do you think God operated in Jesus' day? Through men, most of all through His Son and disciples. God doesn't work in some disembodied vacuum; He works through His creation. When He becomes frustrated with de facto apostacy (which is the Church's current state), He makes his displeasure known through people.
I've seen far too much defensiveness among Catholics (such as yourself) and far too little serious, committed repentence. Furthermore, I see no indications that such Catholics are taking God's demands for righteousness and His Son's demands for humble service seriously. If I notice this, what do you think God notices? What do you think His solution is?
September 10, 2012 at 8:32 pm
BTW, Fr. Peckman, your comments would have merit if the Church hadn't become a religious mafia run by the clergy and its chancery sycophants for the clergy and its chancery sycophants. What else do you think explains the corruption, malfeasance and disregard for God's demands that have pervaded the centuries?
September 10, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Subvet, I think the godless Democrats or the devil is served very well in this thread as the dignity of the Church's hierarchy is dragged through the mud to the point of nullifying the impact of Card. Dolan's benediction / proclamation / condemnation of the anti-life policies and platform of Obama and his ilk.
September 10, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Rick, how is the Devil served by a discussion of truth, especially since Christ Himself called Satan "a liar and the father of lies"? How is the Devil served by pointing out not only Dolan's hypocracy but also the hierarchy's? How is the Devil served by demands for the hierarchy to practice what it preaches?
The Devil only is served when these things are glossed over, rationalized, excused or explained away — as far too many Catholics are want to do.
Besides, if Dolan is really all that concerned about abortion, then why did the USCCB (and he was a bishop when this happened) support ostensibly Catholic agencies that promote abortion?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive//ldn/2009/sep/09092205
September 10, 2012 at 10:25 pm
One more thing, Rick: The hierarchy has done a far better job of dragging its own dignity through the mud than any layman or priest can.
September 10, 2012 at 10:53 pm
We get it, Joseph, you're morally superior to every bishop out there,
evidently up to and including the Holy Father ("What's Pope Benedict
doing about it? Where are the leaders who are supposed to do more
that (sic) talk?").
It's a shame, really, that you're not Pope, Joseph, since your flawless
life, laser-like intellect and towering moral superiority would
doubtless usher in a Catholic golden age overnight. No internet
critic would find the least reason to act the armchair bishop with
you!