Cardinal Mahony and the Law
Barbara Anderson
March 25, 2006
When Cardinal Mahony weighed in on the illegal immigration problem, he set many Catholics to wondering just what was the proper response. Cardinal Mahony, an avid advocate for illegal aliens, stated that if a restrictive immigration reform bill was passed, he would instruct his priests to disobey the law and continue to “aid and abet” illegal aliens to live and work in this country. Catholics who are still reeling from the discovery that some of their bishops and cardinals had “aided and abetted” child molesters to avoid detection by shuffling them around, now confront the reality of some of these same clergy urging them to break the law.
Cardinal Mahony claims he serves a higher law, the moral law of God. He claims that he is following the exhortations to “feed the hungry and clothe the naked”, etc. However, he is disobedient to his own boss, Pope Benedict XVI, who instructed in his encyclical of 12/25/05 called “Deus Caritas Est”, that:
Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction of between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God……The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics….The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible………”
Cardinal Mahony’s calling for civil disobedience has many Catholics confused and conflicted. A friend, Maria, is one such Catholic. She says, “My church has always taught to render what is Caesar’s to Caesar and to God what is God’s.
Also, we have always been taught that the end does not justify the means. Many Catholics find abortion so abhorrent that they wanted to take extreme measures, such as withholding taxes, in protest. That was always discouraged by the clergy. I wonder how the cardinal would like it if the State could force a priest to divulge something heard in the confessional, something that would help police to find a murderer, for instance. Some states have tried to pass such laws, with little or no success and the church has always objected strongly to such a law being made. We expect the state to respect our religious values, but seem to not respect the laws made by democratic means for all Americans.”
The Catholic Church has lost membership in recent years. The scandal of the priest pedophiles may be part of the decline. That is not the only casualty. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been drained from assets to satisfy the victims’ claims of molestation. Judges in the dioceses of Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon have ruled that the assets of the parishes must be considered as being part of the dioceses’ holdings and therefore liable to be seized in the bankruptcy cases before these judges. The average Catholic in the pews, although the vast majority of them had no knowledge of the molestations happening in their church, nonetheless may have their parish assets taken from them. These are the people who have sacrificed to build the churches, parishes and schools being used now.
Maria says that although she has always been taught to respect the hierarchy, the priest scandal has shown that some have been proven to be very wrong in their shielding of certain priests. The priests were moved from place to place, thereby insuring that it would be more difficult to pin down a moving target. Maria’s trust has been broken and she now scrutinizes what the bishops are doing more thoroughly.
I went to the United States Catholic Bishops’ website and was surprised at the amount of advocacy there for certain legislation. It was strongly advocating what some call the “social gospel”. It was even doing what I consider lobbying on behalf of certain legislation. Since a lot of its money comes from the government, it looks like the church is using taxpayer money to advocate for only one segment of taxpayers. It’s also troubling that some bishops are ignoring the other nationalities who are waiting in line to enter this country lawfully. Those who want to take advantage of the benefits of this country must jump through the hoops of bureaucracy and wait their turn to do so. What about the people from other countries? Is it fair to make them wait and demand those who just sneaked across our borders be given amnesty? I don’t consider that social justice. I consider that favoritism. Some even think the church is doing this to swell their ranks and fill their pews, since most of the illegal aliens coming in now are perceived to be Catholics. It’s kind of hard to argue against that charge.”
Maria is echoing the discomfort many Catholics are having with Cardinal Mahony’s declaration of intent to disobey the laws of this country. She says she has seen people in marches who have black hoods and black masks, carrying signs that say “Anarchy Now!” It sent a message to disregard the laws made by a democratic government. Maria reluctantly concludes:
You know, whether someone is wearing a black hood and mask, or a white robe and mitre, anarchy is anarchy.”
Cardinal Mahony claims he serves a higher law, the moral law of God. He claims that he is following the exhortations to “feed the hungry and clothe the naked”, etc. However, he is disobedient to his own boss, Pope Benedict XVI, who instructed in his encyclical of 12/25/05 called “Deus Caritas Est”, that:
Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction of between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God……The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics….The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible………”
Cardinal Mahony’s calling for civil disobedience has many Catholics confused and conflicted. A friend, Maria, is one such Catholic. She says, “My church has always taught to render what is Caesar’s to Caesar and to God what is God’s.
Also, we have always been taught that the end does not justify the means. Many Catholics find abortion so abhorrent that they wanted to take extreme measures, such as withholding taxes, in protest. That was always discouraged by the clergy. I wonder how the cardinal would like it if the State could force a priest to divulge something heard in the confessional, something that would help police to find a murderer, for instance. Some states have tried to pass such laws, with little or no success and the church has always objected strongly to such a law being made. We expect the state to respect our religious values, but seem to not respect the laws made by democratic means for all Americans.”
The Catholic Church has lost membership in recent years. The scandal of the priest pedophiles may be part of the decline. That is not the only casualty. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been drained from assets to satisfy the victims’ claims of molestation. Judges in the dioceses of Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon have ruled that the assets of the parishes must be considered as being part of the dioceses’ holdings and therefore liable to be seized in the bankruptcy cases before these judges. The average Catholic in the pews, although the vast majority of them had no knowledge of the molestations happening in their church, nonetheless may have their parish assets taken from them. These are the people who have sacrificed to build the churches, parishes and schools being used now.
Maria says that although she has always been taught to respect the hierarchy, the priest scandal has shown that some have been proven to be very wrong in their shielding of certain priests. The priests were moved from place to place, thereby insuring that it would be more difficult to pin down a moving target. Maria’s trust has been broken and she now scrutinizes what the bishops are doing more thoroughly.
I went to the United States Catholic Bishops’ website and was surprised at the amount of advocacy there for certain legislation. It was strongly advocating what some call the “social gospel”. It was even doing what I consider lobbying on behalf of certain legislation. Since a lot of its money comes from the government, it looks like the church is using taxpayer money to advocate for only one segment of taxpayers. It’s also troubling that some bishops are ignoring the other nationalities who are waiting in line to enter this country lawfully. Those who want to take advantage of the benefits of this country must jump through the hoops of bureaucracy and wait their turn to do so. What about the people from other countries? Is it fair to make them wait and demand those who just sneaked across our borders be given amnesty? I don’t consider that social justice. I consider that favoritism. Some even think the church is doing this to swell their ranks and fill their pews, since most of the illegal aliens coming in now are perceived to be Catholics. It’s kind of hard to argue against that charge.”
Maria is echoing the discomfort many Catholics are having with Cardinal Mahony’s declaration of intent to disobey the laws of this country. She says she has seen people in marches who have black hoods and black masks, carrying signs that say “Anarchy Now!” It sent a message to disregard the laws made by a democratic government. Maria reluctantly concludes:
You know, whether someone is wearing a black hood and mask, or a white robe and mitre, anarchy is anarchy.”
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