Cardinal George "Embarrassed" of Obama Speaking at Notre Dame, But Indifferent to Clergy Abuse Matters?
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Cardinal Francis George, Chicago's eighth Archbishop, is ripping Notre Dame for inviting President Obama to speak at the school's commencement.
From The Huffington Post:
[. . .] Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, called Obama's planned appearance an "extreme embarrassment" to Catholics while speaking at a recent conference hosted by the archdiocese's Respect Life office in Rosemont, according to a video his remarks on lifesitenews.com.
"[T]he problem is in that you have a Catholic university - the flagship Catholic university - do something that brought extreme embarrassment to many, many people who are Catholic," George told the crowd. "So whatever else is clear, it is clear that Notre Dame didn't understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation."
The Embarrassing Cardinal
What embarrassment is Cardinal George exactly referencing: Obama's stance on science and fact trumping belief?
The Catholic Church claims that every life is important and worth defending, however, when it comes to children who have been abused by priests, they kind of scoff at the matter and try their best to sweep any "scandal" under their eagle rugs.
In the book, Being Catholic Now by author Kerry Kennedy, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke takes Chicago Roman Catholic Archbishop Francis Cardinal George to task for trying to split hairs on the priest sex abuse issue, specifically about how he portrayed a guest in his official residence. The guest, from Delaware, had admitted sexually abusing children, abuse that occurred before he became a priest.
Cardinal George said at the time that no priest in ministry in Chicago had substantiated claims of abuse against minors. He says now that was a true statement. Fr. Kenneth Martin had only been visiting and was not in ministry in Chicago.
Justice Burke says she was furious over what she calls the cardinal’s casual attitude about letting Fr. Martin stay with him. Burke says she found the cardinal’s lack of honesty difficult to deal with.
"I found the cardinal's lack of honesty really difficult to deal with," Burke said in the book. "How do I go on to trust what he says to me? This continues to the present day. He and his brother bishops have been in denial all along." (From Chicago's WBBM 780)
If Cardinal George would like to understand what an "extreme embarrassment" is, all he has to do is look in the mirror or read any one of my blogs on Cardinal Roger Mahony.