What shocked me we was not so much his response, b...

2006-12-14T11:03:00.000-06:00

What shocked me we was not so much his response, but the situation that he was describing. As a United Methodist, I hadn't followed the voting record of Catholic politicians as Catholic politicians. So, I was surprised to hear the Cardinal lay it out like he did.

I confess that I was led astray by stereotyping. We have come to expect that a United Methodist politician (e.g. G. W. Bush) would not make decisions in line with the church's doctrines. I suspect that it has more to do with the church's stances being irrelevant in their minds. However, there is a stereotype of Catholics being in step with the teachings of their church. It was Cardinal Francis George's shattering of this illusion that I found shocking, not his response to the situation.

The only reason that I mention this at all in this context is to highlight the necessity of merging one's faith life with every other aspect of their being – something that most of us in America do not do very well.

He's not only prominent, but he's also smart, prag...

2006-12-14T00:44:00.000-06:00

He's not only prominent, but he's also smart, pragmatic, hard-working, straight-talking (well, I guess you found that out *grin*) and someone I regard as a pre-eminent example of Christian virtues :-)

I'm curious about what you found shocking about his comment. Many Catholics line up squarely behind him on this; would this shock you, as well?

I'm NOT trolling; I'm genuinely curious. I came across your blog because of a google alert I have on him; set it up last summer when he was ill and found it interesting enough that I've just left it on. We've known him since he was our Archbishop in Oregon (briefly; too briefly! -- but then we moved on, too...) years ago.

Comments on preachykeen: Is there a time for the flag to be in the church? ...

What shocked me we was not so much his response, b...

He's not only prominent, but he's also smart, prag...