Just a couple of notes on Nancy Pelosi and others.
The president of Trinity has a blog and has posted some letters that were written in protest of Trinity’s celebration of Pelosi. Her post in response is merely a set of links to various statements on articles on "faithful citizenship," etc., with nothing specific about life issues. She only says:
Continuing this week’s reflection on the issues involving Catholic teachings and political citizenship (see my three previous blogs), I am referring readers to some important source documents. Learning about Catholic teachings and the many commentaries on these issues is a vital part of our responsibility as a university rooted in the Catholic faith tradition. We may agree or disagree about the issues, but we cannot be agnostic about the actual sources of moral teachings and learned analysis of their applications in specific places in public life.
Trinity is also proud of alumna Kansa Governor Kathleen Sibeleus, also a Catholic abortion rights supporter, newly elected chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
This, via blogger LA Catholic, who also points us to a University of San Francisco president Fr. Stephen A. Privett S.J.’s invocation at last week’s opening ceremonies:
University of San Francisco President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. called upon Congressional leaders to put aside self-interest and to pursue the common good of all people during the invocation of the opening of the 110th Congress and the swearing in of Nancy Pelosi as the speaker of the House of Representatives Thursday morning.
"We pray that the new leadership of this Congress and all of its members will write into law the story of a country that measures its success by God’s standards," Fr. Privett said.
Pelosi had asked Fr. Privett to deliver the prayer. The two struck up a friendship after Pelosi attended Fr. Privett’s inauguration as USF president in November 2000. Pelosi was sworn in Thursday as the first woman to serve as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Fr. Privett ended his prayer by encouraging lawmakers to focus their time on "those who need us the most."
During a five-minute interview on KTVU-TV’s Mornings on Two, Fr. Privett said the mood in Washington Thursday morning could be characterized by anticipation, excitement, and hope. When asked how Pelosi’s Catholic faith relates to her politics, he returned to the theme of his prayer, saying "both religion and politics are about bringing hope to despair."
…as well as this letter to the SF Chronicle from a San Francisco priest who begs to differ:
Editor — Regarding "Pelosi’s new image as Italian Catholic mom — more than a ‘San Francisco liberal’ ” (Matier & Ross, Jan. 7): What a joke! If Nancy wants to reclaim her Catholicity, she had best start by reviewing Catholic teaching. She said that she considered herself a conservative Catholic, but nothing is further from the truth.
She supports too many positions the church is against, beginning with pro-life issues: embryonic stem-cell research, gay adoptions, partial-birth abortion, funding contraception and U.N. family planning, same-sex marriage. She favors allowing minors to have an abortion without their parents’ knowledge. She is against making it a crime to harm a fetus while committing other crimes. She is against allowing funding for health providers who do not provide abortion — which would close Catholic hospitals.
She is not a Catholic in good standing with her church.
SS Peter & Paul Church
San Francisco
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