(John Patton blogs at phototilly.eu)
It seems that few celebrities wish to be associated on Friday with Donald J at his inauguration. Garth Brooks, Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli have already publicly declined, despite the offer of Ambassadorships; ‘B’ listers are scurrying to cover behind the ornate gowns of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the admirable Charlotte Church has replied to Trump’s invitation in piquant, Welsh tones. There is now a frantic search by organisers for suitable invertebrate to fill spaces.
Step forward Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York who will give the Trump Presidency his imprimatur. The term ‘Far Right’, when used to describe religious leaders in the States, usually implies the anti-gay , Pentecostalist neo-cons who are the heartbeat of the Republican Tea Party groups. As conservatives go , Timothy Dolan is out there with them. When Dolan was chosen to be President of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, it may have surprised many educated American Catholics but it underlined the drift of the Church to the right. Last year, a gathering of US religious Right Groups at the UN, in partnership with some of the World’s most repressive regimes such as Uganda, lobbied against any recognition for the human rights of lesbian and gay people. They were assured of the enthusiastic support of Archbishop Dolan. Scarcely the message we are getting these days from Pope Francis.
On joining Trump’s jamboree, he will have the encouragement of many Irish Americans, descendants of the ‘Democrats for Reagan’, who voted in droves for this racist abomination. A Gortahork friend has expressed his deep disgust at the volume of support given to Trump by Donegal folk. The Archbishop could happily discuss shady deals with Donald; when he was Bishop of Milwaukee, it was reported in the US media that Dolan sought and received permission from the Vatican to move $57m into a Cemetery Trust Fund where it would be safely beyond the reach of victims , claiming compensation for sexual abuse by priests.
He will not be the sole clergy rep, honouring the occasion; joining him will be Paula White , a ‘prosperity Gospel preacher. Trump thoroughly approves of her religious message – ‘God wants people to be rich and he makes them wealthy as a sign of his blessing and favour; the richer you are, the more God loves you’. Her ministry has been described as the Church version of Trump University.
Trump will be thrice blessed by a colourful gaggle of the Right at the swearing-in ceremony. But what about the entertainment show? What is this narcissistic braggadocio to do?
Pussy-Riot, perhaps? How about it , Vlad?
Very sad day for Catholics.
Is it racist to excuse Obama for conducting assassinations in several countries; overthrowing sovereign governments; investing record amounts of tax payers money in weapons and in terror states like Israel and sponsoring the deaths of thousands of innocents in the Middle East, by simply saying ‘ach but he made history as the first black US president’?
plenty of time for partying.theres walls to be built and deportations to start on monday morning donal cant be doing with hangovers now..
It is clear that there are two churches in the United states of America -and indeed in the world today. The reactionary right wing church represented by Cardinal Dolan and those who voted for Trump and the progressive and radical church represented by the Catholic Worker who will continue to resist the right-wingers. and do the decent Christian thing-feed the poor.
It´s join the WASP bigot brigade for our benighted far right Irish Americans, such as Hannaty, O Reilly and an assortment of far right Catholic bigots. They have finally arrived. I´m sure the Famine generation would be very proud of them. Could we not arrange a march for them down O Connell street to show our appreciation for promoting such wonderful values in the USA I wonder?
Glad to see it, Trump was elected yet there are many who are still railing against that, damn them voters. Those who wish to stomp off into petty pouting land should do so but I personally want to see the leader of Catholicism in New York attending the ceremony. it is really strange that the author seeks to link attendance as approval or otherwise of any of Trumps policies just in the same way that McGuinness shaking the queen of England’s hand is an any way endorsing her governments policies. It really is childish analysis.
It is also interesting that he is now labelled as Far Right, whatever that means as I have never yet seen anyone define far right, middle right, near right or whatever. It is just a method to allow opprobrium to be cast onto someone, in this case for associating for someone who the author clearly disapprove off. Guilt by association?
Another over the top claim is that the claim about the denying of any, the word is any, recognition of human rights for homosexuals, that is not true, but Yabba dabba doo any slur will do.
And again the allegation that Dolan moved money into the Cemetery Fund to avoid paying fines for sexual abuse, absolute rubbish, the money was moved in order to protect the graves of the dead, but perhaps you would rather see them sold and developed. The money was always held separately and solely for the intention of looking after the graveyard, Dolan done the right thing, however the cynical and nasty always like to portray it different.
Just another rant from those who cannot accept the election of Trump with the added spice of anti-Catholicism thrown in for good measure. Very lazy but predictable.
So Catholicism is devoid of people with far right views then? There are many Catholics, I would guess the vast majority in Ireland, who are repelled by Trumpovitch. I would hazard to guess that Pope Francis is one of them. As a Catholic myself, I am one of them.
Croiteir, I am happy to accept that Trump was duly elected President of the United States but that does not imply that I have to like the man or what passes for his political policies. Cardinal Dolan is on record (New York Times – Oct 2016) of praising what he termed Trump’s position on ‘religious liberty’ . Curious indeed since Trump had repeatedly stated during the election campaign that he wanted ‘a ban on Muslims until we find out what the hell is going on’ . Cardinal Dolan wants a repeal of the Roe V Wade ruling on abortion and wants the appointment of Supreme Court Justices who share his views and those of Trump. In effect, he wants his beliefs to be imposed on the people of a secular state.
I agree that there are not definitions of ‘far right’ since it is a fairly amorphous grouping. Nevertheless, it is a description which is widely understood in common parlance to apply to those who hold extremely traditional and socially conservative views on a diverse range of issues.
You are rather given to postulation, Croiteir. To claim simply that something is untrue in the face of the facts without producing any contrary evidence to support your case is fallacious thinking. The New York Times had several pieces on the UN gathering and the involvement of the Archbishop in it. Your retort on the transfer of Church funds is derisory. At the start of para 4, you use the sweeping claim, ‘rubbish ‘ to deride my comments on the movement of funds before the Church faced hundreds of litigation claims. You will know that Milwaukee Diocese was the initial epicentre of the US sexual abuse by priests scandal. However, at the end of the same paragraph, you commend Dolan for doing the right thing.
You misuse the word , rant, to describe my piece and go on to accuse me of anti-Catholicism . Cardinal Timothy Dolan is a senior member of the US hierarchy who is accountable for his actions. As other commentators have pointed out here, he does not represent their Christian and/or Catholic views. As Joe McVeigh has pointed out, the Catholic majority has departed from the likes of Timothy Dolan and his ilk.