I never quite understood why I always had a strong fondness for the Catholic Church. Once I received my first holy communion, my mother gave me the option of deciding whether I wanted to go to Mass on Sundays. Without being prodded, I decided to continue going to Mass--for many years.
I was in love with the church. There were many Sunday mornings when my friends were out playing baseball or riding bikes and I was sticking around for Mass after Mass because I wanted to serve the altar. I was not interested in much for my future other than becoming a priest. I saw many of my parish priests--especially the Jesuits who would visit the parish on Sundays--as great role models.
I struggled with the decision of whether to become a priest. In 2001, I even had a Jesuit spiritual adviser, because if I were to become a priest, it was going to be as a Jesuit or not at all. If I was going to take the plunge, I wanted the best education. I wanted no possessions of my own. I wanted to be like the men who influenced me during my four years as a high-school student at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J. I wanted to be like the Rev. Tony Azzarto, S.J., the greatest priest I've ever known.
But I ultimately decided against the priesthood. Perhaps the biggest reason for my decision, and a reason why it's been nearly four years since I've stepped foot in a church, is that the Catholic Church has betrayed me in ways I never thought possible. My church has deserted me during some of the most trying times of my life. And as I've learned since Barack Obama became president-elect, many of my church's bishops and priests have completely lost their sense of compassion, love and honor for the very people who make up the church. They have set a series of priorities that don't match the ideals of Christ. They have left me and countless others stranded, wondering what went wrong.
Take for instance what Cardinal Stafford said about Obama just a few days ago in Washington, D.C. According to The Baltimore Sun, Stafford said that Obama is "aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic" and led an "extremist anti-life platform" throughout his campaign.
"On Nov. 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake," he said.
He continued: "If 1968 was the year of America's suicide attempt, 2008 is the year of America's exhaustion. In the intervening 40 years since 'Humanae Vitae,' the United States has been thrown upon ruins."
There shouldn't be an American who cares about diversity who doesn't find fault with the cardinal's words. The cardinal believes America has "been thrown upon ruins" ever since 1968, the year the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. It has "been thrown upon ruins" by Obama's election, rather than by the horrors of the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, and the attacks of 9/11.
I beg to differ. In 1968, our country saw two of its greatest leaders killed. In the time since, however, the hopeful words of Kennedy that America could one day elect a Black president have come to light. In the time since 1968, there have been numerous incidents in America that that could have sent this resilient country into a tailspin--but didn't.
Since 1968, our once racist and hate-filled nation has made great strides for equality for all people. Our country has come a very long way from the days when Blacks couldn't sip from the same water fountain as whites. It has come a long way from the days when it was OK to turn a fire hose on peaceful protesters.
Yet Stafford would have his flock believe that President-elect Obama is the anti-Christ.
Of course, as much as our nation has made progress, there are still many social injustices that exist. And yet, a cardinal, a man who is supposed to speak out against injustice, instead chose to fabricate the notion that Obama is an anti-life extremist who will be responsible for the downfall of America.
This was a golden opportunity for the cardinal to build on the great strides we've already made by electing a Black man president. It was a chance for him to reach out to his flock and offer hope for the future. But the cardinal didn't do that. Instead, he was divisive.
We don't need this kind of nonsense in America right now--especially from religious leaders.
I wish cardinals like Stafford were as vociferous about sexual scandals in the church as they are about Obama. I wish cardinals like Stafford would have taken a greater stance for the victims of that abuse rather than making excuses for the responsible priests. I wish cardinals like Stafford would take a greater role in speaking about the need for more adoption centers in the country.
Yet Stafford and almost all of his brother bishops appear more concerned about denying communion to Obama supporters and scaring them into thinking they've caused the nation to turn upside down. They're more concerned about saving "traditional marriage."
Stafford is not concerned with social-justice issues. He's got it all wrong.
And every time he and his brother priests open their mouths and make comments like these, they continue to send a message that is loud and clear: The priorities of the church are far from being in the best interest of their flock. And every time they speak out in this way, more men and women pack it up and leave the Catholic Church for good.
I'd say that's something more "thrown upon ruins" than anything Barack Obama has said or done.
Think about it.
The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the writer, Associate Managing Editor Kevin Canessa Jr.
I just want to thank you for your courage to write this article. And that this is something that the nation as awhole needs to hear. Again thank you and keep writting these great stories....
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