Three events in New York this Christmas season pointed to the fraud and disintegration of the local Catholic Church, as her members fail to live the Gospel of Life.
Former New York Governor, and prominent abortion advocate, Mario Cuomo was given a Catholic funeral today at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in NYC.
In his eulogy, heard through speakers on Park Avenue, St. Ignatius Pastor George Witt S.J. said Mario Cuomo was a “humble man of great faith in God.” He added that the Cuomo “family life was rooted in Christ, Catholic education, and faith.”
Actually, a good case could be made for Mario and Andrew Cuomo being self-excommunicated from the Church for their advocacy of abortion rights as governor.
Just days before the Cuomo funeral, Peggy Noonan, former presidential speech writer and Wall Street Journal columnist, appealed, in a WSJ column, to Cardinal Dolan not to close “my little church (St. Thomas More), a jewel in Catholicism’s crown,” on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Ms. Noonan suggested that the Cardinal’s residence should be sold instead of St. Thomas More.
Someone should remind the bold Ms. Noonan that her professional advocacy for the Iraq war, and subsequent American foreign policy in the region, is an offense against God, has undermined her country, contributed to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and done immeasurable harm to Christians in the Middle East and Africa. Perhaps the world would be better if Ms. Noonan’s “little church” closed immediately—if she is its exemplar.
On December 11, 2014 Cardinal Dolan met with wealthy Catholic donors over breakfast at a Bank of America in Manhattan, hoping to raise funds to help restore art/stained-glass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In the course of the meeting a $70,000 vase, the Cardinal had brought along, was knocked to the ground and destroyed by the New York Republican Chairman Ed Cox.
The best hope for the Church and nation is a coherent living out of the Gospel of Life, rather than pursuing a double life that sees darkness as necessary. For Catholics of all stripes, the words of Jesus should be the guiding light of their life. Fasting, prayer, penance and study of the Gospel are needed to overcome the false truths presented by the world, and sometimes even by churchmen.
“A pressing appeal addressed to each and every person, in the name of God: respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!” St. John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, 1995
On this day commemorating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, it’s worth noting the Civil Rights movement, led by King, was a Christ-centered movement not a Bolshevik self-centered movement.
