If Mark Rubio was hired by the Archdiocese to run the Chancery, I would have been all over this story but on reflection, I hoped and prayed a good priest or Bishop would reach out to Marco and see if they could catch him in the net and bring him back to the Sacraments.
I went through a period in my early 20s and then again in my 30s when I was hanging by a thread to the Catholic Church. I actually even visited a few other Christian churches (thankfully those experiences left me empty).
Devout Catholic isn't a word I'd use for that period of my life.
If Rubio is courting the religious right by misrepresenting his faith, running around like John Kerry or Ted Kennedy does when they exploit Catholics, I missed it. It would be dumb to tarnish his credibility with this kind of foolishness because his political convictions stand on their own merits. I don't think the guy would have a problem picking up the Catholic vote, so I chalked it up to some kind of misunderstanding. This story just didn't sit right with me Does Eric Guinta vote for or against people on account of their religion? Does he think Catholics are only endorsing Catholics or we're going to jump the ship of a politician because he's not going to Mass?
We pray for him, we may encourage priests we know in the area to reach out, but we vote for people because of their political convictions.
The New York Times picked up the controversy today.
Frankly, the where Rubio is worshipping has the stink of an agenda on it though I can't quite put my finger on what it is. (The Romneybots?)
5 comments:
Let's see how he performs in office. Back in 2000, for US Congress, we had three candidates. Both the Republican and Democrat candidates were pro-abortion rabidly liberal catholycs. I supported the third-candidate pro-life conservative Jew.
The Washington Post did a recent profile of Chris Matthews in which he is referred to as a "devout Catholic".
Matthews, of course, epitomizes the "pick and choose" cultural "Catholicism" that the elites are feverishly trying to deconstruct the Roman Catholic Church into.
Rubio has probably been influenced by the Pentecostal and Baptist incursions that have taken away many Hispanic Roman Catholics away from the Church.
We should all pray that Hispanic Catholics find their way home to the Church. However, as a political creature Rubio is preferable as a Baptist, a Pentecostal or any Bible Christian than a meaningless "cultural Catholic" in the Kennedy, Matthews etc mold.
I support Seantor Rubio in his politics but question his status as what I call a "nondenominational Catholic" (an oxymoron, especially because the Catholic Church is not a denomination; see David carlin's book "The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America"). Another such "contradiction" (i.e., to me; viz., in his political and religious views) is Dinesh D'Souza, descended from the 16th century Portuguese settlers in Goa (part of India) but who describes himself as a "believing Catholic but a poorly practicing one" and, similar to Senator Rubio, has a Protestant wife and is a regular attendee at her "nondenominational" church. He recentkly became the president of the nondenominational Protestant King's College in New York City.
When he gets to Washington, Father John McCloskey will help him find the straight and narrow. He has converted far more challenging souls.
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Catholic/2003/11/Converting-Capitol-Hill.aspx
Thanks Dan for the reminder of Fr. McCloskey's generous and loving work.
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