Bishop's Ax Falls on Obama. And on the Vatican Curia

In a bombshell article published in Rome, archbishop criticizes American president and the churchmen who praise him.

ROME (Chiesa) - "I will always forcefully defend the right of the bishops to criticize me," Barack Obama pledged just before his meeting with Benedict XVI last July 10.

Indeed. About 80 of the Catholic bishops of the United States are in open disagreement with him on crucial questions, in primis the defense of life. Among these is Cardinal Francis George, president of the bishops' conference and archbishop of Chicago, Obama's city.

And there's also the archbishop of Denver, Charles J. Chaput, 65, member of a Native American tribe and a Capuchin Franciscan. Last year, he published a book that starts getting its point across right from the title: "Render unto Caesar. Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life." It is right to give Caesar that which belongs to him. But one serves the nation by living one's own Catholic faith in political life.

Chaput does not like the fact that in Rome, at the Vatican, they turn a deaf ear to the criticisms of Obama made by the American Church. He especially didn't like the effusive praise heaped on the American president last July - in conjunction with Obama's meeting with the pope - by a venerated cardinal of the curia, Georges Cottier of Switzerland, theologian emeritus of the pontifical household, in an article published in the magazine "30 Days."

"30 Days" is a magazine of ecclesiastical geopolitics that is widely read in the Roman curia. It is directed by the most "curial" of Italy's veteran Catholic politicians, senator for life Giulio Andreotti. Published in six languages, it reaches all the dioceses of the world, and fully reflects the realist politics of Vatican diplomacy.

After reading Cardinal Cottier's enthusiastic article - enthusiastic above all about Obama's speech at the Catholic university of Notre Dame - and having read before this an editorial in "L'Osservatore Romano" that was also highly congratulatory of the first hundred days of the American president, even for his "support of childbirth," Chaput felt compelled to reply.

He put pen to paper and responded point by point. To Obama, to Cardinal Cottier, and to the Vatican secretariat of state. And not in an American newspaper, but in a newspaper printed in Rome, so that the Vatican would see it.

His reply was published on October 6 in "il Foglio," the opinion journal directed by Giuliano Ferrara. It is not Catholic, but is very attentive to the public role of religion, and has a definite "Ratzingerian" slant.

The article by the bishop of Denver filled the entire third page, beneath the title: "L'ascia del vescovo pellerossa - Charles J. Chaput contro Notre Dame e l'illustre cardinale sedotto dall'abortista Obama [The hatchet of the redskin cardinal - Charles J. Chaput against Notre Dame and the illustrious cardinal seduced by the pro-abortion Obama]."

The text is reproduced below, with its original title.(Editor: See "Chaput:Politics, Morality and a President" our first related story directly under this article")

Also on October 6, on the front page, "il Foglio" published an interview with Cardinal George, who was in Rome at the time to present his new book entitled: "The Difference God Makes - A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion, and Culture."

In the interview, among other things the cardinal said:

"Today the greatest difficulty we have as a Church is that of communicating to society that there is a hierarchy of values. Let's take the question of abortion and of life in general. The Church's voice is listened to in the United States, but it also faces a lot of hostility. And the criticisms of the Church take place for one reason: because our society maintains that individualism and freedom of choice are the most important value to protect. Free will today is valued more highly than life."

And again:

"The Church's morality on certain issues has never changed. L'Osservatore Romano - it is true - may have written a dozen lines in favor of Obama, some cardinal may have spoken in enthusiastic terms of the current American administration, but beyond the journalistic hype one point remains: the Church cannot betray itself."

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Chiesa is a wonderful source on all things Catholic in Europe. It is skillfully edited by Sandro Magister. SANDRO MAGISTER was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1943, in the town of Busto Arsizio in the archdiocese of Milan. The following day he was baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife’s name is Anna, and he has two daughters, Sara and Marta. He lives in Rome.