Impressive and uplifting.
Martino arrived unannounced in the midst of a panel discussion on faith issues and the presidential campaign at St. John’s Catholic Church on Sunday. According to people who attended the event, the bishop chastised the group for holding the forum and particularly took issue with the discussion and distribution of excerpts from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ position on voting issues. The document defines abortion and euthanasia, as well as racism, torture and genocide, as among the most important issues for Catholic voters to consider.It gets better.
“No USCCB document is relevant in this diocese,” he was quoted as saying in the Wayne County Independent, a Honesdale-based newspaper. “The USCCB doesn’t speak for me.”
Thomas Shepstone, a local businessman and Catholic who spoke about his opposition to abortion rights during the event, recalled Tuesday that Martino also told the audience that he voted against the U.S. Bishops’ statement and described it as a consensus document “written to mean all things to all people.”After the Bishop left, 2/3 of the people stormed out after him, but not before there was wild applause.
According to participants, Martino expressed dismay that the panelists did not discuss the pastoral letter he directed all priests in the Diocese to read in place of their homilies on Oct. 4 and 5. In that letter, he called on Catholic voters to consider abortion above all other issues, except those he defined as having equal moral weight, like euthanasia and embryonic stem-cell research.
“The only relevant document ... is my letter,” he said at the forum, according to the Independent. “There is one teacher in this diocese, and these points are not debatable.”
According to the Independent, the bishop also said he no longer supports the Democratic Party.
A diocesan spokesman on Tuesday confirmed the bishop’s comments as reported in the Independent.
The spokesman, William Genello, also released a statement that noted the bishop attended the event because he “was concerned because of the confusion and public misrepresentations about Catholic teaching on the life issues.
Doug Kmiec, one of the lone doctrinal benedict arnolds this election, takes the opportunity in the article to shamelessly mislead.
What a glorious witness Bishop Martino is!
3 comments:
That happened here too...oh wait...
(sorry, I couldn't resist!)
What no one remembers anymore, unlike this bishop, he takes a vow upon his anointing to teach the truth and accepts the responsibility for the catechetical teachings in his diocese. No synod of bishops American or otherwise can say they have precedence over him in his diocese. Except the Sovereign Pontiff the Bishop of Rome. I ask why should he tell them he was coming. Did he need their permission. Rather they needed his and he showed them his authority. This case he was right
Lynne,
And a hearty har har that is indeed!
Anon, you said it! Just the same, we have a couple of dozen more solid Bishops than we had five years ago - and the outrageous lying in the public square seems to have disappeared with McCarrick?
Or was there one I missed?
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