Anyone watch Chris Matthews interview Andrew M. Greeley?

Matthews asked about whether John Kerry should be refused ecumencial rites because of his pro-choice position.

Greeley said no, and also that no one is saying people who are pro-death penalty or pro-Iraq War should be refused ecumnenical rites for their positions, even though the Catholic Church is against the death penalty and against the Iraq War.

...for people who support the death penalty, and the Iraq invasion, against the expressed position of the Church, turn around and call other people 'Cafeteria Catholics'.

Hypocrisy -- it's not just for hippos anymore.

...other hypocrits? Doubt it.

excellent point.

embrace all Catholics rather than discriminate against those who may not be in lockstep with the rigid conservative Catholics.

Man hates.

Not "ecumenical." Kerry IS a Catholic, so it's not a matter of being ecumenical.

But the point is, the Roman church is trying to bully its adherents, as usual. The real absolute hypocrisy here: they want to refuse Kerry the right to take communion, but they don't want to say "excommuncation." But to deny communion to a person IS "excommunication."

As usual, conservatives don't have the courage of their own convictions.

As in, if you want to invade Iraq to "liberate" it, why didn't you make that argument to begin with, instead of hyping WMD and making up a lot of other crap? Answer: moral cowardice. "Cuz in a fair debate, we thought we'd lose."

Same goes for any number of policies they've snuck in under the radar. Hey, guys, if you really think it's a good idea, why do you have to pretend it's not what you're really advocating? If you think your ideas can stand up to scrutiny, why are you always so afraid of having 'em scrutinized?

If you think Kerry should be excommunicated, why not use the word? Why not be proud of what you're doing, out of principle, and say so? If you're afraid to use the word, doesn't that mean there's something morally suspect about what you're doing? Hmmm?

nt

"ecumenical" is an adjective referring to relations across sectarian divisions. An "ecumenical" service would refer to, say, Lutherans and Roman Catholics worshipping together. "Eucharist" is the rite of communion itself, irrespective of who's doing it.

The Eucharistic is the "Body of Christ," the Holy Communion.

all Dems
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=IL&last=Greeley&first=Andrew

Tweety seemed to genuinely enjoy this interview. Is Tweety Roman Catholic? 'Twas my impression that he is. Day-by-day, Tweety grows on me. Now, if he would just let his guests choke out their answers! Jamie Gorelick had to "Excuse me! Excuse me! Let me finish!" last week.

Holy Cross.

nt

Jesuit college, founded 1843, alumni include Michael Harrington, author of The Other America, and founding member of Democratic Socialists of America (YAY!), Democratic fixer Joe Califano, and Clarence Thomas, blot on the eschutcheon of the American judiciary (BOO!).

Likes to think of itself as the Catholic Amherst, or the Catholic Bowdoin.

Good school -- but that good? I'm an alum, and I'm not so sure.....

Drinking the blood of Christ and eating his body.

Sounds vampirish and canabilstic to me.

Uh... No thanks. I pass on that.

In a fast paced exchange following comments about Mel Gibson's movie, Tweety asked Fr. Greeley about Jesus' personality.

Fr. Greeley responded, "He's hard to nail down because He's such a paradox..."
I thought it was milk through the nose hilarious, though neither Tweety of Greely picked up on the humor.

Imagine, Jesus being hard to nail down....



Oh well; I thought it was funny.

what every Catholic priest should be. Recognizes the "rules" of the church but also understands the human condition and society. What a breath of fresh air for a lapsed Catholic like me.