Salon: Ratzinger wrote letter (6/04) that handed Catholic vote to Bush

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Get a day pass and read THIS one, folks...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/04/21/tk/index.html



Holy warriors
Cardinal Ratzinger handed Bush the presidency by tipping the Catholic vote. Can American democracy survive their shared medieval vision?

By Sidney Blumenthal

April 21, 2005 | President Bush treated his final visit with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City on June 4, 2004, as a campaign stop. After enduring a public rebuke from the pope about the Iraq war, Bush lobbied Vatican officials to help him win the election. "Not all the American bishops are with me," he complained, according to the National Catholic Reporter. He pleaded with the Vatican to pressure the bishops to step up their activism against abortion and gay marriage in the states during the campaign season.

About a week later, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent a letter to the U.S. bishops, pronouncing that those Catholics who were pro-choice on abortion were committing a "grave sin" and must be denied Communion. He pointedly mentioned "the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws" -- an obvious reference to John Kerry, the Democratic candidate and a Roman Catholic. If such a Catholic politician sought Communion, Ratzinger wrote, priests must be ordered to "refuse to distribute it." Any Catholic who voted for this "Catholic politician," he continued, "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion." During the closing weeks of the campaign, a pastoral letter was read from pulpits in Catholic churches repeating the ominous suggestion of excommunication. Voting for the Democrat was nothing less than consorting with the forces of Satan, collaboration with "evil."

In 2004 Bush increased his margin of Catholic support by 6 points from the 2000 election, rising from 46 to 52 percent. Without this shift, Kerry would have had a popular majority of a million votes. Three states -- Ohio, Iowa and New Mexico -- moved into Bush's column on the votes of the Catholic "faithful." Even with his atmospherics of terrorism and Sept. 11, Bush required the benediction of the Holy See as his saving grace. The key to his kingdom was turned by Cardinal Ratzinger.

With the College of Cardinals' election of Ratzinger to the papacy, his political alliances with conservative politicians can be expected to deepen and broaden. Under Benedict XVI, the church will assume a consistent reactionary activism it has not had for two centuries. And the new pope's crusade against modernity has already joined forces with the right-wing culture war in the United States, prefigured by his interference in the 2004 election.

[realFedUp]

1. yeah, but your mainstream papers are still effusing about Ratz

bad news is no news right now.

[Beelzebud]

2. In the words of Mike Malloy....

Have I said today how much I hate these people?

Unbelievable...

[sniffa]

3. weLcome to DU

:hi:

good sentiment.

[CoffeeCat]

4. I'll check my facts on this, but I'm pretty sure that the Bishops...

...did not follow the Pope's advice.

I remember distinctly that at least (it might be even more) 2/3 of the Catholic Bishops came out swinging for Kerry.

I remember reading this and I also remember discussion of this by our local right-wing radio personality.

Also--That's truly sickening that Bush would lobby the Vatican for votes, and that the Vatican would oblige! The enmeshment between religion and the Bushistas is staggering.

You would think that the Pope would understand that he was being duped. After all, Junior could care less about religion or Jesus Christ. He opines about God when he's stumping for votes. His spirituality ends there. Pretty damn sad that the head of the Catholic Church was fooled too. Scary and sad.

[vi5]

5. It's not a matter of whether the Bishops followed this advice...

...as much as it is that the guy who issued this advice (strongly worded advice at that) is now the leader of the entire church and will dictate it's direction.

Bottom line is that most catholics are cafeteria catholics, be they conservatives overlooking the formal church positions on the death penalty, war, or poverty, or be they liberal and ignoring the church's position on abortion or birth control. The difference is which of these the church and it's leadership emphasizes more than others. At least JP2 sometimes addressed the poverty and war issues, even if it was nowhere near as much as he addressed the gay or abortion issues.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. The message was very forcefully delivered at the time.

I'm Catholic.

I sat in church for the weeks leading up to the election, during the "Prayer Of The Faithful" portion of the Mass, and had to endure Kerry slams about how we should ask God to give us "the wisdom elect a candidate who respects the rights of the unborn."

He wrote the letter, the message was delivered.

I called into Bernie Ward's show when this was all going on. He agreed that the message was being delivered, but at the time, who knew of or cared about our "future Pope?" We just lookede at this as "something that came from the Vatican" and gave no thought to its author.

So I can only speak for my experience in my church. We were handed a big heaping helping of Catholic Guilt regarding John Kerry, the baby killer.

Bernie Ward pointed out the fact that Bush only cares about them until they're out of the womb. We discussed Bush's giggling "impression" of Karla Faye Tucker when he was Governor of Texas ("Please don't kill me! Giggle giggle giggle") and the staggering number of dead in Iraq. Yep, vote for the fucking candidate that "respects life," George W. Bush.

:grr:

[ThorsHammer]

14. I think you're right w/r/t to the US Bishops

IIRC, the Bishops said that it was sinful to vote for someone based solely on their pro-choice stance. However, they did also invoke proportionately, which said that while abortion cannot be the sole issue, voters can vote for a pro-choice candidate if the other factors (war, poverty, etc) outweigh this.

[funflower]

6. And they scream about the U.N.

"undermining American sovereignty."

[LisaM]

7. This doesn't seem like my church anymore

these developments are truly sickening. Luckily for me, I have always attended churches in liberal or college towns and never really was faced with the issues of dealing with right-wing Catholics. It's now something I have to cope with. I may start going to a Jesuit church in Seattle - haven't decided yet, but thanks for linking to this article. This, in combination with the Seattle Times article on Ratzinger's participation in the persecution of Raymond Hunthausen, just adds to what I already thought about him.

[ozymandius]

9. Old nazis gotta stick together. n/t

[fryguy]

10. Guess I wont be voting Benedict in '08 - n/t

[arewenotdemo]

11. My clan of Catholics in western rural Ohio would have voted

for the Cheerleader, regardless.

But I'm sure the Wojtyla/Ratzinger policy turned more than a few given the 6% swing.

Seems that damned rosary Kerry carried everywhere with him didn't work any miracles. Almost poetic justice, IMO.

Hold the flamethrowers....ex-Catholic here with the mental/emotional scars to prove it...practically stigmatic.

[imenja]

12. Can we see the letter itself?

If it was, as the article states, read from pulpits, it should not be hard to locate.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

15. The letter wasn't read from the pulpits

The letter went to Bishops. Here, in Silicon Valley, the diocese Bishop is Patrick McGrath. He communicated the intent of the letter to the churches in his diocese but no letter was read.

It's not hard to locate in Silicon Valley. It's either on the hard drive of Bishop McGrath's computer or sitting in his file cabinet.

[imenja]

17. OK, I reread Blumenthal's piece

It says a "pastoral letter" was read from the pulpits. That must be the statement by the Council of Bishops. It should be easy to find.

Here is another article that gives a somewhat different view: http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1021705&tw=wn_wire_story

I think it's time to think about the fact that Democrats are playing into Republican hands over this issue. People are letting the Republicans drive a wedge straight down the Democratic party base, of which Catholics have long been an important part. As a result of a proliferation of hateful comments on this site, I am, for the first time in my life, starting to wonder if the Republicans may not have a point about some on the left hating people of faith.

[WI_DEM]

13. handed Catholic vote to Bush?

Not to nitpick, but while Bush may have won the Catholic vote, a huge minority (over 45%) of US Catholics voted for John Kerry, who is also a Catholic. I agree that the Cardinal shouldn't have middled in US elections, but lets keep things in perspective--just because the church hierarchy may have opposed Kerry that didn't mean that all Catholics are in lockstep with them. For that matter according to most polls, a majority of US Catholics are also pro-choice.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

16. Agreed...but the Catholics who took the bait WERE handed to Bush.

I remember sitting in church, FURIOUS while these "prayers" were being spoken to all gathered.

One thing I will say for my church, which set it apart from many others. They had a night set aside in which they offered "the facts, so people could make up their own minds," and they were careful to say that they were not trying to tell anyone how to vote.

But if you paint a picture of John Kerry as a baby killer, you're pretty much telling people how to vote.

I'm self-employed, and a member of my church (who also used to be my attorney) sold me on joining Knights of Columbus as a way to network. I told him that I wasn't interested because they got on all fours for Bush in the election. I told him that if the Knights of Columbus asked me to piss on a burning George Bush, I'd run and get the marshmallows. He kept nagging, and I joined. The newsletter came yesterday and I promptly fed it into my shredder. I haven't attended a single meeting and don't intend to. (Part of the reason the attorney became the "ex" attorney was because of advice like this).

There IS NOT "one Catholic voice." Nazis don't live forever. Eventually, they need to be replaced.

[flaminbats]

18. now I'm beginning to understand why only one Catholic has been President..

any Catholic candidate must endure the attacks of neocon Protestants, Mormons, liberals, and his or her own Church.

[dogman]

19. This is from a man who had no conviction when he was young.

Why didn't he stand up to the Nazi regime? It was not allowed, he would have been hung from the lamppost. Just think he could have been a martyr and JPII could have canonized him. He finally deserted when he was 18. That's four years of service to evil. His penance is to help keep B$$$ in power? At least when Kerry realized his service was not right, he took a stand against the War. Kerry has more honor and decency than this man will ever have.

[hippiegranny]

20. But... but... but

Kerry did win. Despite the intervention of People of Papal Persuasion. Never forget that. Bush only "won" by cheating.

[Nikki Stone 1]

21. Right. Even Pope Ratgut couldn't do what Diebold did.

Greg Palast was right. Kerry did win.

[femme.democratique]

22. Ratzinger will live to regret that letter

Especially when he realizes he traded in a mere sinner for Satan himself, and has to live with the fact that he caused the destruction of the world! Dumb fucking Pope....he should have kept his mouth shut!

[Malva Zebrina]

23. Oh come on Blumenthal

this is just an attack on Catholics and it is instigated by the media. There is not a scitilla of proof here, and Pope Benedict is a holy, humble, non political advocate of the faith :sarcasm:

Interesting that no one was refused communion that supported Bush and his slaughter in Iraq. Why no letter about that,especially when the late Pope John was adament in his opposition to the war?

No, the subjugation of women, by old men, presumably old men who have been celebate all of their lives because sex with a woman will take away their power or some other silly reasoning, and wish , in their sexual frustration, to lord it over women by religious decrees because women, and their sexual power, are feared and therefore worthy opponents. Many women in the faith readily and willingly accept this insult out of surrender to "authority"(celebate old men telling them what to do) and passively accept the role of cow, propagator, and breeder. That is what is behind this immoral abomination of harm heaped upon others, propagated by Pope Benedict.

100,000 dead innocent human beings, many of them children and done on lies. That is human slaughter. No letter from the revered Ratzinger extorting Catholics to vote against Bush for his evil lies. No, Bush, another man, is too powerful for another man to take on--better for the cowards in scarlet robes, to take on women, whom they know they can control from the pulpit.

[cmkramer]

24. I'm a great admirer of Sidney's

and I have no doubt that letter swayed some Catholic voters to Bush's side, but I don't believe it was the deciding factor for many. I'm guessing that vast majority of Catholics who voted for him were going to do so anyway no matter who the Cardinal implied was the better candidate.

Having said that, KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF OUR POLITICS, YOUR HOLINESS!!!!

[Malva Zebrina]

25. I think there was as much as a five percent or more increase

in Bush voters from Catholics who had voted Democratic previously, and the publicity given to the denial of communion and the threat of denial of communion to those who voted for Kerry,(they are committing a grevious sin if they did vote for Kerry) had to be a factor and reports say that a million votes were lost to Kerry because of it.

Nevertheless, there was NO letter written to the Bishops, from the Vatican, denying communion to those who voted for Bush, his lies, his deceit and his responsibility for murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings even though it was well known that the late Pope Johno declared the war injust.

It reminds me of the tacit complicity of the Catholic church when it remained silent, relatively and officially, to the fascist regime of Adolph Hitler.

No outrage for the killing of at least 50,000 children, as far as the Vatican goes and their tight hold upon who and who cannot receive communion, according to their political views.

Having said that, keep your nose out of women's uteruses,(uterii?) your holiness.

I also enjoy reading Blumenthal.

[arewenotdemo]

27. Very nicely stated! One question, though...

how exactly is it that any psychologically healthy heterosexual man chooses celibacy?

It could very well be, as you noted, fear of women and their sexual power, maybe even the emotional and psychological power his mother held.

Shit happens, I know, and back in the day many Catholic families would sacrifice one son to the "calling". Today, I figure you've either got to be gay or crazy.

[flordehinojos]

26. all my catholic friends voted for KERRY, so from where I stand, I have to

say, it was the DIEBOLD machines the ones who handed the vote to Bush.