How the Vatican influences and supports the Bush Administration

The Vatican Connection: How the Roman Catholic Church Influences the Republican Party.

John M Swomley on how, in the 1996 elections Robert Dole's endorsement of the Catholic political agenda, along with a similar endorsement by the Republican Party platform, made the Republican Party in effect a religious or sectarian party, how the Catholic bishops took action to aid the Republican Party and how Henry Hyde, in turn, according to the National Catholic Reporter, invited Catholics to help him develop the party's 1996 platform.

ÒThe Vatican wants to extend its authority over civil law, not only in countries with Catholic majorities but in others with religiously diverse populations. The Catholic bishops have decided to try to impose papal authority in the United States through the abortion issue.Ó From: CHISTIAN ETHICS TODAY, APIRL 1997

The Vatican Connection:
How the Roman Catholic Church Influences the Republican Party
By John M Swomley

It was the Vatican's program that dominated the Republican Party platform and presidential campaign in 1996, although Ralph Reed and the Christian coalition claimed the credit.

After winning the Republican primaries, candidate Robert Dole made a major speech to the Catholic Press Association's annual convention in Philadelphia on May 23, in which he endorsed Òschool choice,Ó which involves the funding of parochial schools through tuition tax vouchers. He also attacked President Clinton's late term or Òpartial birthÓ abortion veto and, in the context of abortion, said, ÒThough not a Catholic, I would listen to Pope John Paul II.Ó

The word ÒlistenÓ in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, is defined as Ògive heed, take advice.Ó

Immediately following that speech, Dole had a 20-minute meeting with Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia. On June 25, Dole had an hour-long private meeting with Cardinal John O'Connor of New York City in which they discussed Dole's commitment to the papal position on abortion (and presumably family planning) as well as his strategy to persuade moderate pro-choice Republicans to accept an anti-abortion platform. ÔWhen a reporter asked O'Connor if he was comfortable with Dole's efforts to seek tolerance for pro-choice Republicans, the cardinal endorsed Dole's plan by saying, ÒI cannot imagine that Senator Dole will deviate from his commitment on abortion.Ó He also said, ÒI think that Senator Dole has a wonderfully pro-life record and I doubt very much that that's going to change in any significant way.Ó
Although Dole did not request a joint photo, the cardinal posed with Dole for a picture for the New York Times which appeared the next day on the front page as an obvious endorsement.

On July 18, Dole spoke to a Catholic audience at Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee where, according to the New York Times, he emphasized his proposal for Òvouchers paying $1,000 a year in tuition for pupils in grades one through eight and $1,500 a year for high school students. States that had adopted voucher programs would apply for federal assistanceÓ and the Òfederal government would provide $2.5 billion a year to be matchedÓ by the state.

Bob Dole chose Rep. Henry Hyde as head of the Republican platform committee. Hyde is generally regarded as the Catholic bishopsÕ spokesperson in Congress. Hyde, in turn, according to the National Catholic Reporter, invited Catholics to help him develop the party's 1996 platform. In an open letter to Catholics, he wrote: ÒCatholics are a powerful voice for moral authority and fulfill a growing leadership role in the Republican Party,Ó noting that Òthere are nine U.S. senators, 55 members of the House, and nine governors who are both Republican and Catholic.Ó His letter also said, ÒAs a Catholic, I believe the basic principles of Catholic teaching are philosophically and morally aligned with those of the Republican Party.Ó

The Catholic Political Agenda
However, although Dole's endorsement of the Catholic political agenda, along with a similar endorsement by the Republican Party platform, made the Republican Party in effect a religious or sectarian party, it is even more significant that the Catholic bishops took action to aid the Republican Party. The president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland, departed from custom to tell the 250 bishops that, although they should not engage in partisan politics, they could address political issues that might be closer to the views of one party. Then, after a Òstinging attack on President Clinton's veto of a measure that banned a type of late-term abortion,Ó the bishops, according to the June 24 New York Times, Òunanimously endorsed [Dole's] appeal to Congress to overturn the veto.Ó

Continue to read:
http://www.population-security.org/swom-97-04.htm

 

Every individual and organization has religious liberty. They have the right to believe Catholicism. No problem on it.

 

You are talking Dole, now the agenda is being manipulated by the Project for a New American Century, which is more concerned with the security and future of Israel. John Paul II came out strongly against this armed conflict. You can't blame this crap on the Catholic church.

And it's more the fundamentalists and Baptists trying to influence this administration. I think the Catholics have taken a step back and said this is all to radical for us. If you are trying to make Catholics the bad guys, you better come up with some better arguments. Sure they are against certain things, that's part of their catechism.

 

exactly

 

Double exactly. Pope John Paul was very vocal against the Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War-he made it clear that the Iraq war was an unjust war and against the teaching on war of the Catholic Church, and scolded Bush and his cronies about it publicly. The real problem is the fundamentalists-they NEVER saw a war that they didn't like, and it's closely tied in to the Protestant philosophy that "God made America the greatest country on earth" and other such inane garbage. That kind of thinking is alien to Catholic teaching.

 

Interestingly, the historical american racist and anti-immigration organizations---the KKK, the know-nothing party, the Nativists and all the wicked societies, were very anti-Catholic. I think the one who post this thread belong to one of these.

 

You can't accuse the thread poster of being racist or anti-immigration simply because they disagree with Catholicism.

I do agree though that it is more the (stereotypical*) Baptist and the like that are influencing this party more. (Pat Robertson for example)

*I say stereotypical Baptist because Baptists seem to have a segregation in their own church. I used to belong to a Baptist Church in Utah and then we moved to the south. Our church, if I can remember correctly (both in Utah and in the South), never bashed homosexuals and didn't do the radical things that many Baptist churches do. The Baptist Church near my old house (not the one we went to) had homosexual hate messages on their marquee. I think there should be a note that not all of them are crazy. Most definitely some are, but not all. The crazy ones make all Baptists (and all Christians) look bad, unfairly.

 

Well, the homosexual thing is a different issue, but the Southern Baptist Convention was formed to support slavery during the Civil War-it broke from other Baptist groups because of its support of slavery-at the same time the Pope denounced slavery as unnatural and evil. Southern Baptists were ardent supporters (with few exceptions) of segregation until they finally had to give up the fight in the 1970's.

 

most of the KKK are Southern Baptists.