Monday, November 10, 2008

Opening of the Bishops' Conference in Baltimore

This excerpt of an article about the opening of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Baltimore is from Catholic News Service and was written by Chaz Muth.The complete article can be found HERE.


Bishops' conference opens with nod to historic presidential election
By Chaz Muth
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The historic significance of the election of President-elect Barack Obama dominated the Nov. 10 opening address of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fall general assembly in Baltimore."Symbolically, this is a moment that touches more than our history when a country that once enshrined race slavery in its very constitutional legal order should come to elect an African-American to the presidency," said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the USCCB. "In this, I truly believe, we must all rejoice."


Aren't Cardinal George's words today in marked contrast to his sharp November 5th remarks that Mark quoted in a comment in the previous article? I'm curious as to what will come out of this meeting of the bishops.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elegant remarks by Cardinal George of Chicago. After expressing satisfaction that we, as a nation, have a first African-American president (as we all should), he repeats the essence of the contradiction facing us as Catholics today:

""If the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were other people's property and somehow less than persons" was still law, Cardinal George said, "Mr. Obama would not be president of the United States. Today, as was the case 150 years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good."

Slavery yesterday, and abortion today, are destroying the common good, by denying the humanity of some persons. This man has the courage to speak Truth to power.

Anonymous said...

No contrast at all. His eminence simply pointing out the hypocrisy of those who stood up against slavery and racial hatred and now support infanticide.

I'm sure some politician 160 years ago remarked, "I don't personally support slavery, but I don't feel it my right to tell someone else they can't own a slave."