Robert Morlino, bishop of Madison, WI is going to hold a Mass for the unemployed. This is in the wake of a GM plant near Madison closing 2 days before Christmas. While I applaud Morlino for actually thinking about workers at all, his track record is as a bishop is pretty poor.Bishop Morlino is supposedly an extremely pro-life bishop. He has urged his "flock" to vote pro-life is prior elections, speaking harshly against abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia. The one contradiction in all of this is the stupendous support he gives to the School of the Americas (SOA), the U.S. sponsered terrorist training camp for Latin American soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia. He is, in fact, on "the board of visitors." Their job is to report to congress what a great job the SOA is doing. This unqualified support of the SOA is all the worse since he holds a Ph.D. in moral theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. This all makes me a bit suspicious of Bishop Morlino's intentions. This mass for the unemployed seems more like a PR stunt than a cause Morlino cares about. Morlino's past actions have never indicated a concern for the worker or the economy.
A Faithful Catholic
9 comments:
He is, in fact, on "the board of visitors." Their job is to report to congress what a great job the SOA is doing
And you state with moral certainty what "their job" is because, what? You have a copy of the job description?
FC,
Have you attended the School of the Americas that you know with certainty what they teach?
I seem to recall that a number of schools throughout the world have graduates who committed war crimes. I'm not sure what school the officers who oversaw the My Lai Massacre were from, but I'm pretty sure we haven't closed that school. Have the Germans closed all their universities that produced many of their officers during WWII?
You'll be shocked to know that the answer is no. I think its great to have a Catholic Bishop on the board of visitors. His job is to oversee the school and ensure they the excesses of the past (where they existed) do not continue.
I think the real reason for your rant is your disgust with Bishop Morlino because he is a strong bishop who has taken stands for the Orthodox Catholic Faith, a faith you abhor.
Having following this to story to a National Catholic Reporter story (shudder at the heresy of that paper), I saw some of the readers saying they should be generous and give the bishop the benefit of the doubt, "just like they give military chaplains the benefit of the doubt".
The truth is, people like you, despise the military and anyone who wishes to be associated with it. If that person is a Real Catholic, so much the better.
I am pretty sure most of the training at the former SOA is there to help Latin America countries train police to combat drug cartels, yes in earlier times the SOA had an anti-communist focus and some of the acts commited in that cause were morally wrong but I am waiting for the opponents of SOA to say the same about the actions of Communist tyrants and drug cartel kings.
-DJ
DJ,
You are right on. In general the opponents of the SOA are thick into Liberation Theology. A Heretical teaching that sought to combine Marxism and Christianity, but in the process, hollowing Christ out of Christianity. Many of the opponents are upset that in the end "The Right" and democratic movements defeated the Communists and their Leftists allies.
Did graduates of the SOA commit atrocities, yes. But what is ignored is the atrocities of the Communists, because, ultimately, in the eyes of these people, they were the good guys.
Today the SOA has much more oversight and in general the Latin American governments are more responsive to the will of the people, gone are the right-wing Military Juntas that didn't care about human rights. They are replaced by more moderate liberal democratic regimes that answer to the people.
The opponents of the SOA are trapped in the past longing for the victory of Marxism over the West.3
Heehee.
Although I like Bush, he graduated from Yale. The Left considers him a war criminal. Ought we close down Yale?
Didn't John F. Kerry graduate from Yale? He claimed to be part of some type of murdering/evil-ness in Vietnam.
CLOSE THE YALE! CLOSE THE YALE!
Boy, if this picture doesn't tell a story, what can?
Jack
"if this picture doesn't tell a story"
Looks like something we'd see from an event, like a fundraiser or donor appreciation dinner, at which seminarians donate their time to act as waiters. But perhaps F.C. can link to or otherwise indicate the source of the photo.
This mass for the unemployed seems more like a PR stunt than a cause Morlino cares about. Morlino's past actions have never indicated a concern for the worker or the economy.
It's supposed to take some of the harshness off of the "Vote Republican or Roast in Hell" message the bishops have become famous for in recent years. After you common folk get done voting for the depression party, drop by church where we are hosting a "mass for the unemployed" in your honor. Please try to attend (after you leave the food bank). We bishops feel your pain.
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