San Antonio Catholic Democrats Cave To Political Ambition And Money

"Politics is important. How we vote in November will help choose the course for our nation, for good or ill. But as Christians, our story began long before this campaign season. It will continue long after."  - Archbishop Chaput

OLLU celebrates reconstruction of 24th Street
http://www.satodayscatholic.com/OLLUreconstruct.aspx

Photographs are powerful tools in placing an idea in the mind of its viewers. On September 7th I received the Today’s Catholic with this 8 x 8 ¾ image on the front page of Mayor J Castro and OLLU President Tessa Martinez Pollack and CDP Superior General Sister Ann Petrus presenting Castro with a Main Building brick following the ribbon cutting for the 24th Street Improvement Project. (Information taken from the front page.) How long is it going to take the Catholic Church to find out that ‘honoring’ the enemy with any type of ‘gift’ will not reduce the amount of liberals but only empower them? If you check the link under the Today’s Catholic clipping you will not find this image. But it is the very same article…interesting.

Right now in San Antonio, Texas there is a lack of courage or defiance of the truth among the Catholic Democrat community or both. These Democrats are fighting the surge of conservative Hispanic Republicans running for office and the Democrats don’t like it. So they have begun to throw their weight to intimidate Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller and the Catholic community. Commissioner Tommy Adkisson sent a letter to the Archbishop complaining about the ‘Religious Rally promoting Republicans’ on October 6. The following is the article written by liberal Brian Chasnoff, Express and News columnist, dated October 13.

Letters to archbishop parse religion in politics (excerpts)

As election season peaks, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller has received letters from two distinct varieties of Catholics, each concerned about what they consider an inappropriate mingling of religion with politics.

One was sent by Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson, expressing dismay for a “religious freedom” rally held last weekend in Main Plaza, where retired Bishop John Yanta gave an invocation and participants received a “Catholic voter guide” endorsing only Republican candidates (and one Independent). About a dozen candidates, all Republicans, spoke at the rally, organized in opposition to the Obama administration's birth control “mandate.”

“That our Archdiocese would sully its reputation and independence by its involvement in the rough and tumble world of politics is truly unbelievable!” Adkisson, a Democrat, wrote the archbishop. (Retired Bishop John) Yanta was more blunt. Regarding Adkisson, “I know that rascal, and he endorses intrinsically evil actions,” he said. “He has to endorse all of those if he's running as a Democrat. That's in the platform.” Adkisson, who's pro-choice and pro-death penalty, described himself as “one-part rebel, one-part hardcore Catholic.” “I cannot take one aspect of my beliefs and say, ‘If you don't do that, you're going to hell,'” he said, echoing Vice President Joe Biden in Thursday's debate. “That's bull.”

Here is the response from Phil Sevilla, President of Texas Leadership Coalition"

Letters to the Editor
San Antonio Express News

Regarding article published last Saturday on "Religion in Politics" by Brian Chasnoff:

Mr. Chasnoff missed some key points I made to him when he called last Thursday about the religious freedom rally organized on October 6th by the Texas Leadership Coalition Institute for Public Advocacy PAC.

1. The rally was held at the downtown main plaza outside the cathedral which is not on church property. Commissioner Adkisson really has no business bothering the Archbishop about the rally unless he’s about scoring political points. The archdiocese had nothing to do with the rally. It was organized by lay Catholics, an event sponsored by the TLC-IPAC PAC without the knowledge or participation of the archdiocese.

3. Bishop John Yanta gave the invocation at the October 6th rally, that is, a prayer for our nation, city, and all gathered at the rally. This is in our tradition with precedents set by other Catholic prelates like Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the 2012 Republican and Democratic Party conventions and Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles in 2000.

3. The Castro party at the St Paul Community hall on September 1st, on the other hand, was on church property. At that event the Castro brothers, Mayor and State representative running for federal office, beseeched the crowd to vote for and re-elect Barack Obama, with Fr. Jimmy Drennan standing by them on stage by the podium. This was captured on video and is still on SAEN's website. It is quite disingenuous for Fr. Jimmy Drennan to say that while the Castro brothers were calling for Obama's re-election, he was standing next to them by the podium to give a "general blessing". This is very different from Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Yanta leaving the stage after an invocation at a rally or convention to avoid the impression they were giving their endorsement for a particular political candidate or party.

4. We as Catholics have every right to help influence public life and direct it to the common good, "to evangelize the various sectors of family, social, professional, cultural and political life" (Pope John Paul II, "The Church in America"). The candidates we invited to pray with us at the rally were all vetted by our organization and were in support of the theme of the rally, defending religious liberty, and whose views on the non-negotiable issues critical to Catholic voters are in accord with Catholic moral teaching. If there were any Democrats running for office who fully support our Church's stance on morality, we would consider endorsing them and we would have joyfully invited them to join us at the rally.

5. I did not say to Mr. Chasnoff that the "pious happen to be all Republicans". This is absurd on the face of it. I have no idea who or what a pious Democrat or Republican is. What we can determine through our questionnaires, interviews, analysis of voting records, and public statements as part of our candidate vetting process are facts which help to inform us about who we can vote for as faithful Catholics and good citizens.

Weston Martinez, a strong advocate for conservative Hispanic officials and candidates, told me that the conservative Hispanics now running are “a brave lot because it is hard to be a conservative and even harder to be a conservative Hispanic among all the liberal Catholic candidates in San Antonio.”

Spineless Catholic Democrats like Pete Gallegos, Judge Larry Noll, Michael Mery and Joaquin Castro, Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and many others are knowingly blind about their Catholic faith. It seems these so called Catholics are being supported by Republicans gone rogue, or other elected Catholic Democrats or by a Catholic priest, Father Jimmy Drennan. Father Drennan is the current pastor of St Joseph’s Honey Creek in Comal County and past pastor of St Paul’s Catholic Church in San Antonio. Father Drennan was a strong voice for the Obama Administration when he first arrived at his new parish in Comal County. So I am not surprised at his presence at the Julian Castro sendoff party.

Father ‘Jimmy’ as he was affectionately called by Julian stands next to Julian and Joaquin Castro while Julian lauds his upcoming appearance at the Democrat National Convention. Both Castro brothers intention is promoting Obama for reelection and his stance on abortion and same sex marriage. In an Express-News article written by Brian Chasnoff, Express-News columnist, Chasnoff quoted Father Drennan as saying, “I have blessed countless elected officials. It was a general blessing over a sitting officer.” While this might be true, Father Drennan does not allow any partisan activity at his current parish. If anything, Father ‘Jimmy’ used bad judgment standing next to these men in what appears to be moral support and with his blessing.

Julian as we all know stood in front of millions of American viewers and proclaimed his stance on same sex marriage during his keynote speech at the Democrat National Convention. And we all know how Cardinal Timothy Dolan reacted to the perverse DNC.


Julián & Joaquín Castro Sendoff to Democratic National Convention

 

Joaquin: if we are to preserve that American dream we need to reelect President Barack Obama.

Julian: First I want to say thank you to Father Jimmy for blessing us today. It is also a homecoming to you. You spend many years inspiring our community.

Julian: I won’t lie to you I’m not going to be talking to any empty chairs up there. But I am going to be saying some things that are meaningful for America in 2012 for the community that all of us share and for the America more importantly to me to build the future by reelecting Barack Obama.

Julian: I think we are going to need the blessing that you offered tonight uh today Father Jimmy because with that and the support of all of you as friends I am going to do a great job, I hope.

 

How can Catholic candidates not know that the Catholic Church is involved in a brutal battle with the Obama Administration? The Catholic Church is fighting for Freedom of Religion, the right of conscience and to continue their services to all regardless of religion. It is NOT, I repeat it is NOT about contraception as the media would have you believe. In fact, Vice President Joe Biden lied during the debate with Paul Ryan vice president nominee for the Republican Party. His statement on the Health and Human Services Mandate was not true. The following information is from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

Joe Biden: "With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."

This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served. http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm Let me make this perfectly clear about judges and Texas judges. Judges duties are to follow the US constitution and the Texas constitution. The statement that I have seen concerning the judges is ‘Justice should not be decided by party lines’! But I beg to differ with this statement. The judges run their campaigns based on party affiliation. And until this practice is rejected, judges will continue to run with the party they align themselves with either Republican or Democrat or other. This election is critical because the president either Obama or Romney will appoint two or three Supreme Court judges. These appointments usually go to those who best reflect the views of the president. Federal judge appointments are for life. In Texas the governor appoints judges to the Texas Supreme Court and to lower courts. The judges appointed by the governor have to then campaign and run on their merits in the following election. So you see being a judge is a partisan to his party. What happens if obama wins? He will appoint liberal Supreme Court judges like Sonia Sotomayor, or Elena Kagan. The president also has the power to appoint other federal judges who reflect his views. This race might end up being very close and we do not want to risk any liberal judge appointments.

How is it possible that so many Catholic Democrat candidates feel more obligated toward their political party then their faith? It is not a question of who is more pious; it is a simple affirmation of following your faith. Commissioner Adkisson’s statement that “I cannot take one aspect of my beliefs and say, ‘If you don't do that, you're going to hell,'” “That's bull.” is preposterous, an excuse, a cop out! If you are Catholic how can you in good conscience go against all that the church teaches and wait for the fall of church institutions?

The Republican National Platform and the Democrat National Platform are very distinct. The RNP platform stands for Pro Life and marriage between a man and a woman. While the DNP platform follows the Obama Administration and its stance on abortion and same sex marriage. The fact is that the word ‘God’ would have been eliminated in the Democrat platform if the Democrat delegation had not been pressured by public opinion.

These Catholic Democrats residing in San Antonio are NOT exempt from the Obama agenda. If they want to be Democrats then they must adhere to Obama’s policies. San Antonians can not continue to sit on the fence and pretend that Obama’s destructive policies do not exist. Conservatives in San Antonio should also understand that they must take a firm stand, fight the good fight and let your voice be heard. After all the liberals are squealing! RED SONJA 2012©

The Republican National Party Platform 2012
http://www.gop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012GOPPlatform.pdf

The Democrat National Party Platform 2012
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platforms

Castro brothers rock DNC sendoff celebration
September 1, 2012

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Castro-brothers-rock-sendoff-celebration-3833470.php#photo-3399529

A PRAYER FOR AMERICA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrzGKNYA_Fs&feature=player_embedded

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