Cardinal Dolan to give benediction at Republican convention
Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2012 / (EWTN News/CNA)
www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=6029
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, head of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, has been invited to offer the final benediction at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.
The news was announced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in an exclusive interview with Raymond Arroyo, host of EWTN’s news program The World Over.
Cardinal Dolan will give the concluding benediction prayer on August 30, the final night of the GOP convention, where Mitt Romney is slated to accept the presidential nomination for his party.
The cardinal has not endorsed either candidate in the 2012 presidential race.
However, he has been an outspoken critic of a mandate issued by the Obama administration to require employers to offer health insurance plans that covers contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
Numerous dioceses, non-profit organization and Catholic-owned businesses have sued the administration, arguing that the mandate violates the First Amendment by forcing them to compromise their deeply held religious convictions.
Obama has also voiced support for abortion and is the first U.S. president to openly advocate a redefinition of marriage to include homosexual couples.
Arroyo explained that during the interview, Romney “breaks news about what we can expect at the Republican National Convention and reacts to charges by President Obama that he chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to lower his personal tax burden.”
“He also talks about the hot issue of religious liberty, the role of prayer in his life, and how being a bishop in the Mormon Church prepared him for the presidency,” he said.
[To be "fair and balanced"]
Georgetown’s [Flakey] Fluke May Speak at Democrat Convention
blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/08/22/georgetowns-fluke-may-speak-at-democrat-convention/
The Associated Press is reporting that pro-contraception and homosexual rights activist Sandra Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University, will speak at the Democrat Party convention in September.
Two weeks ago, Fluke spoke at a campaign rally in Denver for President Barack Obama.
Fluke is the former co-president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice, former Vice President of Georgetown Law’s Women’s Legal Alliance, and Career Chair for Outlaw, the Law Center’s LGBT student group, according to the university. After her controversial testimony to Congress endorsing the HHS mandate, both Georgetown President John DeGioia and President Barack Obama publicly offered her support in the face of conservative critics.
In April, Georgetown, a Jesuit university, invited students, faculty and staff to a “Conversation with Sandra Fluke on Contraception Access.”
[Other influential pro-aborts will also address the Demo-Con]
Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Prez [and Similar Ilk] to Speak at Democrat Convention
by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 8/22/12
www.lifenews.com/2012/08/22/planned-parenthood-abortion-biz-prez-to-speak-at-democrat-convention/
The president of the nation’s biggest abortion business will be a featured speaker at the Democratic convention that will be held in September to nomination pro-abortion President Barack Obama for another four-year term.
In 2008, the Democratic National Committee allowed Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business which Obama has funded despite its coverup of child rape, to speak from the stage. Nancy Keenan, the head of NARAL, and one of the pro-abortion activists to endorse Obama early in the 2008 election, spoke as well.
Both will be back this time around and Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown student who has been a surrogate for Obama promoting the pro-abortion HHS mandate, will speak as well.
The speakers list released this morning by the Democratic National Committee includes U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; Former assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth; Denise Juneau, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Montana; Caroline Kennedy; Lilly Ledbetter; actress Eva Longoria; U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Maryland.; California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, and Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. All of them are strong abortion proponents.
Keenan said she is “thrilled to be chosen as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention.”
“It’s an honor to be able to speak to the delegates, honored guests, and American public watching at home about why we must re-elect President Barack Obama,” she said in a note to pro-abortion members of NARAL. “As I stand on stage at the convention, I will amplify your pro-choice voices. I will speak on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America’s million member-activists, and all Americans who understand that women–not politicians–should be able to make personal, private health-care decisions.”
Keenan also praised the DNC for keeping its pro-abortion commitment.
“As you may remember, I served on the Democratic platform committee and represented all of you at our platform drafting meeting in Minneapolis earlier this month. I’m proud that the Democratic Party is again reaffirming its commitment to protect women’s reproductive rights through the party platform, and by choosing so many pro-choice speakers for the convention,” she said.
“NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorsed President Obama for re-election because he understands the issue of choice is a deeply personal one. Throughout his first term, President Obama has been committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and making reproductive-health care more accessible and affordable for women. His administration has enacted critical reproductive-health policies that will affect generations to come,” Keenan added. “To prevail against the War on Women, we must defeat the Romney-Ryan ticket and send President Obama back to the White House for four more years. I’m proud to take that message to Charlotte next month on behalf of all of you.”
The Democratic Party has already turned back efforts by pro-life Democrats to moderate its pro-abortion position and add any language to its platform showing it welcomes Democrats who oppose abortion. As LifeNews has reported, the Democratic National Committee has officially rejected an effort by pro-life Democrats to get the party to include them in its platform that calls for keeping unlimited abortions legal and paid for at taxpayer expense.
Democrats are also coming under fire from within its own ranks for not offering child care during the convention.
Cardinal Dolan willing to do closing prayer at Democrat Convention as well
by Patrick B. Craine
www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-dolan-willing-to-do-closing-prayer-at-democrat-convention-too
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, August 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After the revelation Thursday that Cardinal Dolan will offer a benediction closing the Republican National Convention next week in Tampa, the Archdiocese has issued a statement clarifying that his appearance is not an endorsement and he would be willing to offer benediction at the Democratic National Convention as well.
The news comes as the Democrats reveal a slate of pro-abortion and pro-same-sex “marriage” speakers at their convention.
When accepting the Republicans’ invitation, said Archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling, “it was made clear to the convention organizers … that the Cardinal was coming only to pray not to endorse, and that he would be willing to accept a similar offer from the Democratic Party as well.”
“That same sentiment was conveyed to the Democratic National Committee,” Zwilling added.
Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, told LifeSiteNews that Cardinal Dolan’s offer is a sound pastoral move and aligns with conventional wisdom that the Church should avoid appearing partisan.
“The kind of legal advice regularly found in circulation in Church institutions these days would suggest taking steps like this to avoid not only the legal actuality but also the public perception or suspicion of being partisan,” Fr. Pavone explained. “But good pastoral zeal would also suggest offering oneself to both camps, to give witness to the pro-life message.”
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Demetrios, will pray at the Republican National Convention this week as well. He has prayed at both Republican and Democratic conventions in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
Cardinal Dolan has been an ardent defender of the right to life and has won praise from pro-life groups in recent months for his leadership in opposing President Obama’s contraceptive mandate, which requires religious employers to cover contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortifacient drugs.
A key theme of the Democrats’ campaign has been to charge that Republicans are waging a “War on Women” through their opposition to abortion and Obama’s contraceptive mandate. The list of convention speakers released Thursday confirmed that the “War on Women” would be a main topic at the convention, with a headline talk by Georgetown Law graduate Sandra Fluke, who soared to national prominence this year after she backed Obama’s contraceptive mandate and has since been a staple of his campaign.
The convention will also feature addresses by Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, in addition to numerous pro-abortion politicians.
Cardinal sin: (O)Bam(a) blew off DNC blessing
By CARL CAMPANILE
New York Daily News
August 24, 2012
WASHINGTON — President Obama turned down a chance to have Timothy Cardinal Dolan deliver a prayer at the Democratic National Convention after Dolan told Democrats he would be “grateful” to deliver a blessing in Charlotte.
Dolan — considered the top Catholic official in the nation, as head of the Archdiocese of New York and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops — tipped off Democrats a few weeks ago that he had agreed to deliver the prime-time benediction at the Republican convention in Tampa next week, Dolan’s spokesman Joseph Zwilling told The Post.
“He wanted to make sure that they knew that this was not a partisan act on his part and that he would be just as happy and grateful to accept an invitation from the Democrats as he would to have received one from the Republicans,” said Zwilling.
“He has not been contacted by them” since, he added.
A senior Obama campaign official said yesterday that the Democrats would have a “high-ranking” Catholic at the convention, but indicated the arrangements weren’t yet final.
“I can’t announce it because the person hasn’t got their plane ticket,” said the official.
Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher would say only, “The Catholic clergy will be an important part of a diverse community of interfaith leaders represented in Charlotte.”
Read more: www.nypost.com/p/news/local/cardinal_sin_bam_blew_off_blessing_aLYqq7VnyqG8maCqZaui2K#ixzz24TN1gjz6
Cardinal Dolan would give a blessing to Satan’s legions if it meant another photo op.
I think his and Obama’s egos feed off each other.