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Respect My Religion As I Respect Yours

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July 10, 2003

Respect My Religion As I Respect Yours

How often have you turned on the television or radio, hearing non-Catholics being interviewed who offer commentary criticizing the Church by telling us how out of touch its policies are? I can't tell you the number of times I have been asked by people in the media, "Mr. Ambassador, what's wrong with the people at the Vatican, they just don't seem to get it." Usually those comments go in one ear and out the other, but perhaps it's time to speak about it. Why do they feel that criticizing Catholic traditions for faithful Catholics is in the political and media arena for everyone, even non-Catholics?"

Let me give you one day's example of what I mean. On Sunday July 6th, my wife and I were about to attend the 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, MA. While heading down Main Street I was recognized by a polite enough young man walking his dog. He wanted me to explain to him why all Catholic Church leaders are so old and feeble. Why didn't the pope appoint a much younger man than Sean O'Malley to become Archbishop of Boston? He ultimately asked if I thought Bishop O'Malley would support same sex marriage. I attempted to answer his questions, but I posed him a question of my own. "Are you Catholic?" I asked, "Oh! no, I am not," he responded. "So why are you so interested in the Catholic Church," I followed. "I don't really know, but Catholics have so much power...you know, we have all the Irish Catholic politicians in Massachusetts running everything," he replied. My wife, Kathy, pulled at my arm and said, "Ray, it's time for church." Before I could utter a word, I looked in the window of the store in front of me and the front-page story in the Boston Herald was about the do's and don'ts for Bishop O'Malley to succeed as Archbishop of Boston.

It seems everyone wants to tell Bishop O'Malley how to do his new job. I am not singling out the Herald for criticism, because the Boston Globe had already ran a front page story two weeks earlier with a headline telling us that the pope had chosen Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl to be the new leader of the Boston diocese, and what we should expect from him.

Just before Mass started, a young priest just assigned to St. Francis Xavier welcomed me. He thanked me for all the kind things I had said about Bishop O'Malley on television. He also mentioned what I've said about the many wonderful faithful priests we are fortunate to have. I didn't expect to see Rev. Roger Landry at St. Francis, but I did know of him and admired him from his study days at the North American College in Rome. Father Landry descends from a wonderful working class family from around the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts. He is the kind of Catholic priest I have known all my life; men like Rev. Gerry Barry, who could hit a line drive harder then most major leaguers or Rev. Charlie McCoy, who could kick a football better then anyone I have ever met. But if you want to talk about women in the religious orders, Sister Paulina of Gate of Heaven School in South Boston had such a way of teaching children. She could even make me study and do my homework!

These few people are only some of the many true and faithful men and women who have served our Church. In fact, in his sermon, Father Landry concluded by saying, "I love God, God loves you. Help me serve both you and God as best I can." Following Mass, Kathy and I talked with several of the parishioners outside the church for a while. One in particular, an immigrant from Brazil who recognized me from TV. Pointing in the direction of the church, he proudly told me, "This is my new home." I assumed he meant Hyannis. I said, "Hyannis is a lovely town." But I realized he was pointing at St. Francis Xavier Church. That was the new home. With that, he went off with his wife and two small children.

It was now only 9:30 a.m., and I had already heard more about real people than most people hear in a year. But these early morning experiences were not quite yet over. We got into our car and headed back to the Irish Village where we were staying with the entire family. I turned on WBZ-1030 radio to get the latest news. We listened about a young man who had been killed on Carson Beach back home in South Boston. Just thereafter I heard Boston's best talk show host and my good friend, David Brudnoy, give his commentary. He cautioned his listeners, but me specifically, not to be to optimistic about Bishop Sean O'Malley until we see how he deals with important issues, like birth control, ordination of women and homosexuality in the priesthood. David implied that he didn't particularly agree with my previous TV comments that Bishop O'Malley was "a gift from God." David, my friend, you also are a gift from God. We all are.

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I was on my return trip to the hotel when I pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store to pick up a copy of the Sunday New York Times. A local resident recognized me waiting in line and introduced himself. He said, "Bishop O'Malley is a good man. I am not Catholic, rather I'm Jewish, but he was the Bishop down here. I am sure you know that. Many of us do not support his or the Church's opposition to abortion and the death penalty." Finally, the right words came to my lips. I said, "The Catholic faith isn't about what is politically correct or popular, or what the media elite think, or what Jews, Muslims, Protestants or Buddhists believe. It's about the teaching of Jesus Christ. It's about truth." The elderly gentleman moved quickly to his car before I could get another word out.

Musing over the exchange, all I could think of when I was a little boy, my aunt would take me to the Swan Boats at the Public Garden on a nice Sunday morning. We would also stop for a few minutes at the Boston Common and listen to the soapbox preachers talk religion and sometimes politics. Hundreds of people would listen and debate with them about issues and people like Sen. Joe McCarthy, Father Feeney and Joseph Stalin, as well as what Bishop Sheen had to say about freewill and evil. I almost felt that I was ready for a soapbox debate in the parking lot last Sunday on Cape Cod.

As far as I know, they don't discuss religion or politics anymore on Sunday mornings at the Boston Common. I can't say I miss it. Perhaps it stopped because it often got contentious and angry. On occasion, the police had to be called in to break up the heated arguments. However, a far worse anti-Catholic, mean-spirited rhetoric abounds in the media today. In fact, I'll borrow the word from yet another person I met earlier on that same summer Sunday morning in Hyannis to describe the media environment today. My good friend, Mike Barnicle, also a good talk radio host in Boston, called it, "Savage!"

I thought, too much for one quiet Sunday morning in these lazy hazy days of summer. I headed back to the hotel and decided I'd better take my grandchildren for a walk before it got too hot. Even while walking with them, I couldn't get the morning experiences out of my mind. I asked myself rhetorically, "What can I do about it?" I could certainly write about it if anyone would read it. And maybe, I could even make a constructive suggestion or two. All this time my 7-month-old grandson Aidan is sitting in his double carriage with his 16-month-old cousin, Joseph Raymond, both staring at me. I wonder if other Catholics feel as I do about all the constant advice, suggestions, and criticisms that the Church receives from the media, and non-practicing Catholics. I have two suggestions. First to the media, simply report the news and stop trying to change the traditional teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. After all, it was handed down by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Second, for anyone else who may not agree with its values and principles, that's your right. I sometimes don't agree with other peoples' religious positions either, but I respect them and don't criticize them or tell them what to do or believe.

Respect my religion as I respect yours.

_________________________________

Raymond L. Flynn
National President of Your Catholic Voice
www.yourcatholicvoice.org
Former Ambassador to the Vatican (1993-1997)
Former Mayor of Boston (1984-1993)
(617) 269-0909

Contact

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http://www.yourcatholicvoice.org CA, US
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Raymond L. Flynn - President, 661 869-1000

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