This Deacon here--is HE the "bad guy"?
A deacon upbraided Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday morning Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for voting in favor of embryonic stem cell research, prompting the congressman and his family to walk out during the sermon.
The Rev. Art Smith, pastor of the South Buffalo church, said he felt "horrible" about the Higgins family's departure on "Respect Life Sunday" and offered an apology from the pulpit after the congressman had left.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo later issued a statement also criticizing Deacon Tom McDonnell's action.
"I can't tell you how terrible I felt," Smith said Tuesday. "While we have to always uphold the church's teachings regarding life, I don't think it's ever fair to publicly criticize someone who serves our community and our parish so well."
Added Kmiec: "The pulpit is not the appropriate place for confronting a member of the congregation. It is my belief that in situations like this, we are more effective when we have substantive, one-on-one conversations with individuals outside the context of the Mass."
The Congressman in question is rated "100%" by NARAL and has voted against life at every opportunity.
And if Bp. Kmiec had said "Look, I've spoken with the Congressman and he's committed to his evil ways--but the Deacon shouldn't have named names..." we'd feel better.
But that's not what the Bishop said, is it? In fact, the Bishop doesn't say ANYTHING about whether he's addressed the issues with the Congressman, does he?
Hmmmm.
"What happened is so painful, so hurtful," Smith said. ".
Fr. Smith is the pastor of the parish.
It hurts so bad! Pain. Owwwww!
Tell me, Father: does it hurt as bad as getting your brains sucked out before you get chopped up so it's easier to get you out of the womb?
Hmmmmmm?
HT: ProEcclesia
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3 comments:
No, what hurts Pastor Smith is that he cannot get tithes nor political kudus from the indignant congresscritter. That's what hurts.
The Bishop is a clown. The Pastor is a clown.
I can imagine that the Deacon "could" have been more tactful. I don't know, I wasn't there. But what IS CLEAR is that both the BISH and the PASTOR are more concerned with the ABORTION FRIENDLY LOCAL CELEB, than the church's clear moral requisites.
We must be cautious in making these condemnations, that our exasperations with pro-abort 'catholic' pols (and the squishy clergy that coddle them) doesn't lead us to be uncharitable. 'Tis a fine line, to be sure, and the soft-peddling clergy do nothing to help with our frustrations.
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