Phoenix Bishop Defends Right of Church to Prohibit Speakers at Odds With Church Teachings
The Catholic bishop of Phoenix Arizona, Thomas J. Olmsted, angered politicians and the local newspaper editors earlier this month by implementing a US Conference of Catholic Bishops decision to prohibit pro-abortion and other dissident Catholic speakers from Phoenix parishes. LifeSiteNews.com reported that the Phoenix diocese was frustrated with media representation of the decision as an attempt to squash freedom of speech.
Now, Bishop Olmsted has responded in an editorial appearing in the weekend edition of the Arizona Republic. In the August 21 column titled, “Church Must Defend its Basic Beliefs Against All,” Bishop Olmsted, refuting the accusation that he was meddling in political areas outside his jurisdiction, said that he was fulfilling his duty to defend the right to life, which, he says, is not an issue of interest only to Catholics, but one “of primary concern for all.”
As to the specific issue of giving a platform to those whose ideas are directly opposed to those of the Catholic Church, Olmsted said he wrote out of his obligation as a bishop to teach and defend the Catholic faith. “I trust that this position is not that difficult to understand,” he wrote. “Why would we honor or give a platform to someone who radically disagrees with our fundamental teachings? We should instead be criticized if we allowed such things to happen.”
Another Republic editorial appeared two days after Olmsted’s called, “Bishop's Heavenly Decree Creates a Political Purgatory,” that implied that his decision is hypocritical in allowing dissent on some issues but not on abortion. The Republic editorialist, E.J. Montini’s attempt to mock Olmsted’s defense of “fundamental moral principles” backfired, however. Montini himself, by implying there is no difference in seriousness between the absolute prohibition against killing the innocent unborn, and issues such as the Just War theory which are open to prudential judgment, proved his own ignorance of the most rudimentary notions of moral thought.
Olmsted had already answered Montini’s question before it was asked, calling the right to life an inalienable one. He wrote, “To stand up for the dignity of every person, then, and to speak out against intrinsic evils such as abortion, euthanasia, racism and sexual acts outside of marriage is a service that God requires of us on behalf of all persons, not only members of our own faith.”
Olmsted turns the tables on his critics. He says that it is not a new thing for the Catholic Church to back up its teachings with actions, no matter how unpopular those teachings may be. Citing the 1962 decision of New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel to excommunicate Judge Leander Perez over racial segregation in Catholic schools, Olmsted asks, “Was this bishop imposing his sectarian views on a public official? Was he meddling in politics or impeding freedom? Or was he defending the human dignity of all children, no matter the color of their skin?”
Read Bishop Olmsted’s editorial:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0821olmsted21.html
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Phoenix Bishop Misrepresented by Secular Press
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05081009.html
PHOENIX, August 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com)
Now, Bishop Olmsted has responded in an editorial appearing in the weekend edition of the Arizona Republic. In the August 21 column titled, “Church Must Defend its Basic Beliefs Against All,” Bishop Olmsted, refuting the accusation that he was meddling in political areas outside his jurisdiction, said that he was fulfilling his duty to defend the right to life, which, he says, is not an issue of interest only to Catholics, but one “of primary concern for all.”
As to the specific issue of giving a platform to those whose ideas are directly opposed to those of the Catholic Church, Olmsted said he wrote out of his obligation as a bishop to teach and defend the Catholic faith. “I trust that this position is not that difficult to understand,” he wrote. “Why would we honor or give a platform to someone who radically disagrees with our fundamental teachings? We should instead be criticized if we allowed such things to happen.”
Another Republic editorial appeared two days after Olmsted’s called, “Bishop's Heavenly Decree Creates a Political Purgatory,” that implied that his decision is hypocritical in allowing dissent on some issues but not on abortion. The Republic editorialist, E.J. Montini’s attempt to mock Olmsted’s defense of “fundamental moral principles” backfired, however. Montini himself, by implying there is no difference in seriousness between the absolute prohibition against killing the innocent unborn, and issues such as the Just War theory which are open to prudential judgment, proved his own ignorance of the most rudimentary notions of moral thought.
Olmsted had already answered Montini’s question before it was asked, calling the right to life an inalienable one. He wrote, “To stand up for the dignity of every person, then, and to speak out against intrinsic evils such as abortion, euthanasia, racism and sexual acts outside of marriage is a service that God requires of us on behalf of all persons, not only members of our own faith.”
Olmsted turns the tables on his critics. He says that it is not a new thing for the Catholic Church to back up its teachings with actions, no matter how unpopular those teachings may be. Citing the 1962 decision of New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel to excommunicate Judge Leander Perez over racial segregation in Catholic schools, Olmsted asks, “Was this bishop imposing his sectarian views on a public official? Was he meddling in politics or impeding freedom? Or was he defending the human dignity of all children, no matter the color of their skin?”
Read Bishop Olmsted’s editorial:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0821olmsted21.html
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Phoenix Bishop Misrepresented by Secular Press
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05081009.html
PHOENIX, August 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com)
posted by R7 | 8/27/2005 01:07:00 AM
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