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What is a Catholic Cuban? Or, better yet, who can be a Catholic in Cuba? An Associated Press story that looks at the forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba through the prism of his refusal to meet with Santeria leaders makes some claims on these points. But are they valid?
While the late Pope John Paul II — soon to be called St. John Paul the Great — was known as a strong supporter of interfaith dialogues that attempted to build trust, while declining to erase any true boundaries.
At a meeting of a few dozen female writers and editors yesterday, we got talking about civil society and the corrosive nature of politics. An editor I respect a great deal tried to calm things down by reminding us that the political climate isn’t necessarily more hostile than it was in the late 1960s (she told us that she saw targets for sale then wixth President Johnson’s face on them). But, she added, she was appalled by what she called the “deliberate misrepresentation” by the media. She was referring, of course, to the coverage of the HHS mandate requiring religious employers to provide insurance plans that cover abortifacients, sterilization and contraception, even if it violates the doctrines of their church.
But before we get into that, raise your cyber-hands if you think one of the most important stories in the year — think religious liberty, think higher education, think politics — is the growing evidence of deep, bitter rifts inside American Catholicism linked to (a) basic matters of doctrine and (b) the degree to which people practice the faith (the old reality of the “pew gap” statistics) in sacraments and worship?
One of my friends is an impressive campaign operative. He flies across the country each week advising campaigns, from congressional races to presidential ones. He’s smart and savvy and has energy to burn. And even though he’s much younger than I am, he’s been doing it for more than 15 years. He started as a young homeschooler.
Anyone who has been paying attention in recent decades knows that large segments of American Catholic culture — especially in academia — operate with a kind of “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when to comes to a variety of doctrinal and social issues. This is the reality, for example, that shaped the fierce debates about the late Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Consitiution Ex Corde Ecclesia, addressing issues linked to Catholic education.
Many weeks ago, we noticed that the discussion over the Obama Administration’s new rule (to force religious groups to fund things to which they’re doctrinally opposed) was being framed in two different ways. One side framed it as a religious liberty issue, since the federal government is telling religious groups to go against their religious teachings. The other side, because the Obama Administration is forcing religious groups to fund sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, framed it as an “access to contraception” issue.
Watching East Coast-dominated media coverage from middle America was pretty interesting this week. While Washington was obsessed over who needs to apologize for Rush Limbaugh’s remarks and who said what over Andrew Briebart’s death, those of us in the Midwest watched different kinds of disasters unfold this week. From the Ohio school shooting earlier this week to towns flattened by tornadoes, you can imagine how pastors might be adjusting their notes for weekend sermons on tragedy.
There is much to discuss in the feature story on Rick Santorum’s faith that has been served up by The New York Times. There is lots of interesting information, some questionable information and then a pretty large chunk of missing information.
