The video above is supposed to be an invocation for the Colorado Republican State Assembly and Convention in Denver last April. It's less an invocation than a segment on the Hannity propaganda show. David Gibson has the details. It's yet another depressing sign of the fusion of the Catholic hierarchy with the Republican party – a stark use of religious authority to endorse one political party and to echo partisan propaganda about the president. Mercifully, it's not only the nuns and Franciscans who are fighting back. A group of influential lay Catholics in Washington DC has just issued a statement criticizing over-reach by the Bishops in their partisan maneuvering. Money quote:
We are deeply concerned that, under cover of a campaign for religious liberty, the provision of universal health care–a priority of Catholic social teaching from the early years of the last century–is being turned into a wedge issue in a highly-charged political environment and that our parish, and indeed the wider church, is in danger of being rent asunder by partisan politics. We, as a group, may have differing views as to the wisdom of the details of the Health and Human Services mandate, against which our archdiocese has now announced a lawsuit in federal court, but we are united in our concern that the bishops’ alarmist call to defend religious freedom has had the effect of shutting down discussion. It is a step too far. We, the faithful, are in danger of becoming pawns and collateral damage in a standoff between our church and our government.
Amen.
The Dish 