John Gehring, FPL’s Senior Writer and Catholic Outreach Coordinator, is quote in this article.
Polls show that one-third of people raised Catholic no longer attends church.
That may not be a bad thing, says Bill Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League and author of Why Catholicism Matters.
Donohue notes that Pope Benedict XVI has intimated that a smaller, more orthodox church might be better anyway. If people are so dissatisfied, Donohue says, why don’t they just join a liberal denomination, like the Episcopalians?
“I think for a long time, what I would consider the base of Catholic Church — the ones who practice, who go to church regularly and who pay the bills, generally of a more conservative stripe — we feel like we’ve been neglected,” Donohue says. “And now we feel like, ‘Hey, maybe our time has come.’ ”
It certainly feels that way to John Gehring, a church-attending Catholic who works for the progressive advocacy group Faith in Public Life. Gehring says the Church he loves used to care as much about poverty and social justice as sexuality.
“I believe in a ‘big tent’ Catholicism, where liberals and moderates and conservatives can get along,” Gehring says. “We share a faith, we share rituals, we break bread together. But this is as much my church as it is Bill Donohue’s church.”
And so Gehring plans to stay — and hopes that one day, the pendulum will swing back his way.
add a comment »
FPL provided media support for the “Nuns on the Bus” tour
The two-week, 2,700-mile tour concluded with a prayer service and press conference on Capitol Hill.
The nuns have been compared by some to rock stars, greeted by screaming fans holding signs and wearing commemorative T-shirts. That was also the scene outside the United Methodist Building on Monday as scores of attendees cheered the arriving bus.
“Nuns on the bus speak for not just Catholics, not for Christians only, not for Jews. They speak for all of us,” said Sayyid Sayeed, national interfaith director of the Islamic Society of North America.
add a comment »
FPL provided media support for the “Nuns on the Bus” tour
A nine-state bus trip by Catholic nuns opposing proposed cuts in federal programs for the poor, stopped in Cleveland Tuesday to visit a West Side soup kitchen and to drum up support for their crusade.
The trip, on a brightly decorated touring coach with red letters, “Nuns on the bus,” is stopping at life-line agencies run by nuns to highlight the work they do for the poor, the sick and the disenfranchised.
“We’re getting educated about what the real needs are for real people,” Sister Simone Campbell told the editorial board of The Plain Dealer. “We have seen nothing but responsible programs since we left Des Moines.”
add a comment »
FPL provided media support for the “Nuns on the Bus” tour
“Nuns on the Bus” came to Cedar Rapids a few days ago on their national bus tour to call attention to a Republican congressional budget plan that they insist would “decimate” the social safety net.
The plan’s author, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, contends that his budget blueprint was informed by his Catholic faith and teachings. The nuns begged to differ. “My astute political analysis was ‘liar, liar pants on fire,’” said Sister Simone Campbell of the Washington D.C.-based social services lobbying group Network.
The nuns’ basic argument is that broad cuts or changes in social programs such as Medicare and food assistance proposed by Ryan’s plan would deny millions of Americans access to the help they need in tough economic times. And they question the contention that charities and churches can make up the gap. For one thing, many churches and charities partner with the government to provide programs, and would struggle without that help. Campbell said Bread for the World, a faith-based anti-hunger advocacy group, estimates that every religious congregation in the country would have to raise $50,000 annually to just make up for the proposed cut in food assistance.
add a comment »
John Gehring, FPL’s Senior Writer and Catholic Outreach Coordinator, is quoted in this article.
In 2010, the Knights were also generous with their contributions to individual bishops, doling out nearly $350,000 for a variety of programs in various dioceses. Of that, $248,700, or 71 percent, went to Lori’s former Diocese of Bridgeport.
Lori — who is the man most directly in charge of the Fortnight for Freedom campaign — has been the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus since 2005.
The Knights did not respond to requests for an interview about the organization’s involvement with the bishops’ campaign, but the organization has dedicated recent issues of its monthly magazine to the topic of religious liberty.
John Gehring, Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, a liberal advocacy group in Washington, said while the Knights’ charitable works was “commendable … its leadership has steered a fraternal organization into political waters in ways that should raise questions.”
Asked by reporters in Atlanta last week if the Knights’ involvement in the religious liberty campaign introduces at least the perception of partisanship, Lori said no. Other groups have contributed to the campaign, he said, mentioning Our Sunday Visitor and the Order of Malta.
add a comment »
