31 - 38 of 38 Comments

1. rafaelmarie

   5 months ago

   THEN WHY HAVE RELIGION???
   
   FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD!
   
   AND AFTER ADORING GOD, HOW WE DEMONSTRATE THE MOST LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR IS TO DEFEND THE UNBORN!
   
   CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!!!

2. mike robertson

   5 months ago

   My honest answer to your question is that Catholic democrats should stay out of politics. They should not vote. I refer, of course, to those who voted for their party's candidate. Those Catholic democrats attended Mass on Sunday. On Tuesday they voted for someone who thinks it is OK to kill girls and boys outside of their mom's womb even after they survive the attempt to kill them in the womb. They voted for someone threatening our Church and our institutions with closure because of our "crime" of obeying God and His laws. They voted for someone who calls marriage what God calls an abomination. I assume they voted out of economic ignorance due to lack of education and reading on the subject. Their candidate leads us to a Greek-like collapse. He says there is no spending problem when the debt is 16 trillion dollars and growing. His class warfare is preventing the creation of new jobs. I am on the lower half of the ladder and I need more jobs created since mine is being eliminated. The Catholic democrats' candidate is suffocating the job-creating source which people like me need. A sadistic denunciation of those with more wealth than me may satisfy his desires but it me does not impress nor help me. Catholic democrat voters should stay home and get out of politics.

3. Larry

   5 months ago

   Good article. Perhaps its in the area of 'give unto Caesar what is Caesar's' that we can understand the impact of Catholic traditions and teachings for our lives. We are coming into a renewal time in Catholic life - spirituality, sacraments, sacramentals, reforming the hierarchy leaders, etc. Laity are more informed, educated and in many more public positions than ever. How to handle the responsibilities in public life (government positions, social groups, politics, leadership positions, involvement in community, etc.) with a focus on Catholic eyes is important, not that there is only one way to do every thing but that we use the principles of our faith to guide decisions.
   I agree that too many Catholic laity and leaders follow in lock step with the Democrat party with the sentiments and fights of the 60s and 70s on their mind. I too took part in many of those activities and still believe in those principles and society still has room to be changed but my focus these days is to focus on individual change on how to use the tools in society to advance my views and improve personal and community success. If Catholic leadership is stuck on past slogans and beliefs (why did not one stand up to Carolyn Kennedy for her remarks during the Democrat Party Convention or at least make public remarks about her remarks) then any interpretation about how to act today has not advanced for our benfit and the laity needs to get more involved in leadership in the pews, in church organizations, in universities and in public. Life is putting beliefs into practice, but you have to know what you believe, why and what it leads to to do this

4. Fr. James Farfaglia

   5 months ago

   Regarding the question: should Catholics even bother with politics, I would answer the question with a yes and a how. No matter what the situation may be in a particular country, the Church calls us to be light, salt and leaven. No matter how difficult the circumstances, we can't be seeking a paradise here on earth. However, what remains is the how.
   
   I would argue that Catholics should forget about the national situation. For me, November 6 was a complete game changer, and we should focus on our states and our local communities.
   
   I would also argue that neither party has adequate answers. Ever since the presidential candidacy of Senator George McGovern, the Democratic party has gone down the path of the radical left. After Ronald Reagan, the Republicans have been playing games with their own principles.
   
   Until both parties begin to really defend life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, until both parties really do something to help the poor and the immigrant, until both parties stop creating wars in the hot spots of the world, nothing will really happen on a national level. The answer, if there even is one politically, is on the state and local level.
   
   For example, the State of Texas, which is my adopted home, continues to chip away at abortion with effective legislation that is reducing the number of abortions.
   
   One interesting phenomenon is the successful migration of Catholics to areas of the country where local communities are being fortified by significant numbers of Catholics who are heroically living out traditional family values on a daily basis.
   
   Case in point would be the example of Front Royal, Virginia where many young Catholics have settled around Christendom College, Human Life International and the Mother Seaton Homeschooling headquarters. Rather than looking for a Catholic Amish village, these Catholics are engaging the local culture and are a vibrant part of the community.
   
   Another interesting example would be the town of Post Falls, Idaho where very large numbers of Traditional Catholics have settled around a school for girls run by Traditional Dominican nuns and boys' school run by the SSPX. Both schools have been extremely successful.
   
   The local area of Post Falls, counts with a vibrant economy and the large presence of traditionally minded Catholics allow them the opportunity to blend into the community (levean) and be a vibrant and successful part of the community.
   
   Most interesting, the students of these two schools go off, in great numbers, to different colleges and universities with great success. They marry, start their own families, and perhaps may settle in another part of the country.
   
   Maybe this is the answer: the creation of strong local communities (not islands and caves) that then produce the well formed next generation to go out and be the light among the Gentiles.
   
   I do know that the Holy Spirit is alive and working hard. The answer to the Deacon's question is a firm yes, but I would qualify it with a firm "how." We need to work smart and not waste any time.
   
   Finally, the other problem at hand are us - the Catholics. I don't mind engaging a difficult culture: that is just a given in any age. The most difficult thing that I find are the Catholics.
   
   So many have lost any sense of what it means to be Christian. The de-christianization of Catholics, for me, is a serious and very heavy reality. If Catholics were to really be Catholics, the situation of our country would be quite different.
   
   

5. Tom McGuire

   5 months ago

   To be sure we must, as Catholics be involved in politics. The Church must however NEVER be identified with a political party, as was true in the last election. What is needed in the Catholic Church is a real dialogue between people of different convictions. That will be difficult or impossible if as so many of the respondents to your articles insist that those of one party are evil.

6. Mary

   5 months ago

   For a year before the last election, I prayed every day that Obama would not be re-elected because it is definite that he is against our Constitution, God and the unborn. I was very disappointed in Obama's re-election but God is still my saviour. It was not his fault that Mitt Romney lost. How could he have won in the midst of Hollywood immorrality, self greedyness and those who have no respect for life AND those who dod not wish to work for a living.

7. Timothy Canezaro

   5 months ago

   Deacon,
   This is one of the most real time accurate and inspiring pieces I have come across written from a Catholic perspective. Yours is an energy we need to foster amongst all our brothers and sisters and like you said this will call on us to be courageous. That is in our Lineage beginning with our Great Teacher. May the Spirit and energy behind this manifesto spread now to those places in the world that are the current battlefronts on attacks on the Sanctity of Life, Marriage, and Family.
   Thanks so much for sharing about your experience and how the Holy Spirit brought you to a place of Brave Renewal.
   Many Blessings,
   Timothy Canezaro

8. vance

   5 months ago

   Excellent article. We Catholics need to stand together against the Marxist Democrat Party tyranny. We also have a big problem with the majority of our priests and Bishops being aligned with the Party of Death. Further, we had 52% of Catholics voted for Obama and other Death Party candidates. We have our backs against the wall.

Leave a Comment