Religion and politics go perfectly together, but is the church closing their doors to possible parishioners?

Archbishop John J. Myers (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Tom Moran was “born into a devout Catholic family, the fifth of nine children,” as the Irish American columnist wrote in a column this past Sunday for the Star Ledger newspaper in New Jersey.

Moran, however, now declares himself “a spiritual refugee,” who has “fled a million miles from the church.”

He, of course, is not the only one.

“One in three American adults was raised in a Catholic family, but fewer than one in four identify as Catholic today. No other church has shed so many followers, according to surveys by the Pew Charitable Trusts,” Moran writes.

This bit of soul-searching was prompted by a controversial letter written by Archbishop John J. Myers, the spiritual leader of the Newark Archdiocese.

Myers lengthy pastoral letter on marriage and family encouraged Catholics to vote a certain way in the upcoming presidential election. 

“Catholic citizens must exercise their right to be heard in the public square by defending marriage,” Myers writes. 

In short, Myers is placing gay marriage, as well as abortion, at the center of the 2012 election.  He adds that Catholics who don’t share his views should probably not receive Holy Communion.

Moran and many like him are wondering why such a prominent religious figure would release such a highly-charged document on the eve of the closely-watched presidential debates, and just a month before this hard-fought election, in which religious values have played a central, often contentious, role.

It’s easy to say religion and politics don’t mix, and that Myers shouldn’t go about endorsing candidates, even though Myers never technically mentioned that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan (who is Catholic) are members of a political party whose views match the Catholic Church’s.  Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden (also Catholic) support abortion and gay marriage.

Trouble is, religion and politics have always mixed, like it or not. 

“Dagger” John Hughes, the Irish immigrant who more or less built the New York Archdiocese, openly supported political candidates who joined him in his fight to rid New York’s schools of their deeply Protestant influences. 

John Drina of Massachusetts was a Catholic priest who joined the anti-war movement and actually won a seat in congress in 1970.  He was followed a few years later by Robert John Cornell of Wisconsin, a priest who served in Congress until 1978.

So, if you don’t like mixing religion and politics, that is your right, but it’s been happening for about as long as people have been mixing scotch and soda.

Perhaps the real interesting place to get some thoughts on the archbishop’s priorities is St. Anne’s school in Jersey City.  Or Queen of Angels in Newark itself. 

Those are two of eight schools in the Newark Archdiocese that were slated for closure in an announcement earlier this year.  Yes, Catholic school closures are generally about budgets and finances. 

But across the country, budgets and finances are in bad shape because so many Catholics are indeed
voting.  But not at the ballot box. 

Catholics, instead, are voting with their feet, by attending church fewer and fewer times.  They are voting with their pocketbook, simply unable to pay the high cost of (an admittedly very fine)
Catholic education.

Are people fleeing the church solely because of abortion and gay rights?  No, but most polls show the vast majority of American Catholics disagree with their leaders on these issues. 

And while it is easy to say an institution such as the Catholic Church has little use for polls, it’s going way too far to suggest that the church is some timeless institution that never changes or responds to the political tone of the day.

Myers, for example, is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a body which would probably not exist but for pressure created by victims.

Ultimately, it is perplexing why so many church leaders choose to make abortion and gay marriage the most pressing issue of the day, going so far as to suggest support for these issues precludes Catholics from participating in the sacraments.

Is this an institution that really wants to be closing its doors to anyone at this point?

Doing so may go over well with some on Election Day. But it only creates more and more spiritual refugees.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

Tell it to the Irish Catholic nuns, Mitt Romney - Government funds vital to helping American people

Sister Mary Rose McGeady

Earlier this month, Sister Mary Rose McGeady died at the age of 84. 

Back in 1990, Sister Mary Rose bravely stepped into what had been a media firestorm. 

Sister Mary Rose was selected to run Covenant House, a highly respected charity which offered shelter to homeless youth.  Covenant House’s original founder,

Father Bruce Ritter, had been hailed as a visionary.  He started Covenant House in the late 1960s, offering little more than two cold-water apartments to those who needed a roof over their heads. 

By 1990, however, Covenant House was serving as many as 30,000 youths in 11 cities across America, as well as in Latin America.  Annual donations were estimated at $80 million.

Then came the sex abuse allegations against Ritter.

It may seem hard to imagine now, but there was a time when such allegations still had the ability to shock.  That, of course, has changed thanks to the avalanche of sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland, America and elsewhere since the late 1990s and 2000s.

No charges were ever filed against Ritter, who adamantly denied the allegations. But, as The New York Times noted, an independent investigation commissioned by Covenant House “found that although none of the sexual allegations could be proved, enough evidence existed, including evidence of financial irregularities, to warrant Father Ritter’s dismissal.”

Enter Sister Mary Rose, who picked the organization up off of the floor and made it into a miracle once again. 

She retired in 2003, and Covenant House is now said to be serving 50,000 people in over 20 cities, with annual donations of well over $100 million.

This Irish American Catholic nun’s heroic effort was worth thinking about in the wake of Mitt Romney’s now infamous comments that roughly half of the American population (47 percent) expects handouts from the government. 

It’s not even worth distorting the comments.  Romney did not call people “moochers” or  “freeloaders.” 

His own words need not be twisted.  For they are damning enough. 

We should actually give Romney credit.  We want our politicians to be honest? 

Well, it seems to me Romney was simply being honest. 

Many Republicans are not merely opposed to handing out welfare checks so that drug addicts can get their fix.  Many of them are also opposed to financial aid for college students.  And unemployment insurance. And aid for the elderly. And so on and so forth.

This even as they want to boost military spending, not to get soldiers the kind of medical assistance they deserve, but to purchase a lot of high-tech gizmos which just so happen to be manufactured by corporations that make hefty donations.

Again, give Romney credit.  He simply explained where the Republican Party stands. 

Now voters have to ask themselves – do I know anyone who benefits from financial aid? Unemployment? Medicaid or Medicare?

Where does Sister Mary Rose fit into all this? 

Well, don’t forget, the Republicans were happy a few weeks back when Timothy Cardinal Dolan made an appearance at the Republican convention.  It reinforced the notion that the GOP is the party of God, while the Democrats are Godless. 

As usual, the Democrats did themselves no favors by not welcoming Dolan, and then by leaving God out of their platform.

But if the Republicans are so happy to tout themselves as the party of God, they should have some long conversations with the likes of Sister Mary Rose McGeady, and the thousands of religious people like her toiling to make the lives of the miserable and wretched slightly more bearable. 

In the Republican universe, Covenant House is an exemplary organization.  It is a religious charity that raises its own money, meaning tax money is not required. (Irish American Kevin M. Ryan now runs the organization.)

But Romney, and all the other Christian GOPers, should actually talk to some nuns.  Don’t just prop them up and say, “Look, we actually like Catholics now.” 

For if you actually talk to those toiling with the impoverished and needy, they will tell you government funds remain vital to helping out not just the poor, but working and middle class Americans.

That might even add up to more than 47 percent, Mitt.

(Contact Sidewalks at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

The high price of free speech - Muslim and Irish protests against hate

Anti-U.S. protests in Ankara, Turkey last week (AP)

In 1849, Irish immigrants were a key participant in what came to be known as the Astor Place Riots. At least two dozen people were killed. 

Why?  The participants were battling over which Shakespearean actor was the era’s best -- England-born William Charles Macready (despised by the Irish) or American-born Edwin Forrest. 

Twenty five years later, Irish American anger at newspaper cartoonist (and anti-Irish bigot) Thomas Nast was so high police officers had to be posted outside of Nast’s home.

So as we watch predominately-Muslim countries explode into violence over an idiotic film, perhaps we should not be surprised.  At one time or another, people of divergent background have reacted violently to books or art or plays or movies.

But it’s not the 1800s anymore.  And just because people have always done this does not make it right. 

The fact that four people had to die because some nincompoop named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula chose to make a bad movie about the prophet Mohammed is a tragedy.  The fact that large numbers of people in countries from Tunisia to Afghanistan believe this violence is justifiable -- and that artists
can be bullied into silence -- is a long-term problem for America.

And here’s another unfortunate thing. European nations, including Ireland, also believe that controversial religious material is best not discussed.  The implied message here seems to be that saying naughty things about another person’s religion is simply too much trouble.  It can, obviously, lead to violence. 

But rather than focus on the fact that a very small but very vocal minority of religious people seem to want to live as if it is still the seventh century, activists and lawmakers from Dublin to Cairo feel it is best to simply not talk about certain subjects.

“We don’t think that depictions of the prophets are freedom of expression. We think it is an offense against our rights,” Ismail Mohamed, a religious scholar, told The New York Times. 

“We want these countries to understand that they need to take into consideration the people … the West has to understand the ideology of the people.”

Mohamed was basically attempting to explain why anger in the Islamic world has boiled over.  He was also arguing that freedom of expression - so cherished and prized in the United States - is an inadequate defense of a movie which depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer and buffoon.

But here’s the thing -- much of “The West” already agrees with this.  America is pretty much the only country left where freedom of speech generally covers controversial religious material. 

Lest we forget, Ireland itself passed a controversial blasphemy law in 2009.  You may not agree with famed atheist

Richard Dawkins, who said that Ireland’s law would send the nation spiraling back into the Middle Ages.

However, this law - like similar laws passed by other European nations - does send a message to devoutly religious people that their rights are more important than the rights of anyone who might want to criticize certain aspects of any given religion.

From there, it’s not a great leap to simply taking the law into your own hands -- launch a rocket, storm an embassy.  Why not?  It’s my duty to my God.

I have long argued that people should be reverent and respectful about religion.  But part of living in a big, modern world is understanding that people inevitably disagree with you. 

Ultimately, as ugly as those disagreements can get, people must have a protected right to express those disagreements. 

The trouble is, those rights are fading.  Books such as Jeremy Waldron’s The Harm in Hate Speech argue that more - not fewer - restrictions on expression must be passed.  And many countries are doing just that.

Even U.S. authorities, for some reason, felt they had to detain Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a sight nearly as chilling as the angry protests inspired by his dumb movie.

The proper response to anything that can be called “hate speech” is more speech.  Passionate debate.  The organization of peaceful protests. 

Yes, this forces us to condone the speech of bigots and idiots.  To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is the worst system - except for every other one.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

The day that never ends - everyone was affected by 9/11

Navy Commander Patrick Dunn was among those
 killed at the Pentagon on 9/11

Eleven years ago, I lived on Staten Island.  You could not avoid or escape the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. 

Everyone knew someone who perished in the terror attacks that day -- a relative, a former classmate, a neighbor.

For months, wakes and memorial services were held in churches across the borough.  In the years that followed, you could drive for 15 minutes and pass as many as two dozen streets named in honor of fallen cops, firefighters or Wall Street secretaries.

Three years ago I moved to New Jersey.  It goes without saying that New Jersey residents of neighborhoods such as Middletown paid a horrendous toll that day. 

On the other hand, my neighborhood in Woodbridge didn’t seem to have as close a connection to the attacks.  It didn’t seem, for example, that quite as many people on my block worked in Manhattan.

Furthermore, a decade after 9/11, you pretty much thought you had heard of all the people connected in some way to the attacks.

Dunn Memorial

Then, a few weeks ago, I was out for a walk.  I happened past Our Lady of Peace Catholic middle school, located on Amboy Avenue.

A small plaque and memorial caught my attention.  It was dedicated in memory of Patrick Dunn, who was killed on September 11.

Dunn grew up in Woodbridge and attended Bishop Ahr Catholic High School in Edison.  Dunn’s father served in the Navy, as did his brother. 

Dunn eventually graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and went on to serve on the USS LaSalle and the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

In December 2000, Dunn was transferred to the Pentagon, where he would serve as surface warfare officer in the U.S. Naval Command Center.

On September 11, according to the Star Ledger, he called his brother, who worked in Manhattan, when he’d heard planes had crashed into the Twin Towers.  Dunn and so many others had no idea that another plane was headed to the Pentagon.

"He was extremely attached to his family and he was there when you needed him," one of Dunn’s sisters told the Star Ledger.

Dunn’s wife was pregnant with their first child when the attacks occurred.

Many people have already commented that the anniversary of the attacks will probably pass by with less and less fanfare, now that the 10th anniversary has come and gone.  That is terrible, especially since it seems that day has not even ended yet. 

Whether it is another first responder dying of cancer, or learning about someone such as Commander Patrick Dunn, we are still struggling to emerge from the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

True, when I lived on Staten Island, it seemed you couldn’t go a few blocks without a reminder.  But I was naive to think that moving to a different place would prove any different. 

Whether it was a street corner or a volunteer firehouse or a humble memorial at a Catholic middle school, it was inevitable that I would confront a poignant reminder of all that was lost that day.

Which is why it is so disheartening to read about the ongoing struggles to open a museum and memorial at Ground Zero.

“Aides to (Mayor) Bloomberg and (Governor) Cuomo have so far been unable to resolve their differences over which government agencies will pay the operating costs of the museum, which is intended to document the terrorist attacks of 2001 and honor the nearly 3,000 victims,” The New York Times reported on Saturday.

“The two sides also remain at odds over who will have oversight of the museum and the surrounding memorial.”

About this, I am not naive.  These things cost money, and it is fine that the mayor and governor do some work to figure out how to pay the bills for this. 

But they had better figure it out. Memories of that day will inevitably fade. 

But that does not mean future generations must inevitably forget.  They will, in fact, crave to learn about and remember that awful day, and all memorials, big or small, play a role in that.

As Americans, we deserve - we need – a grand museum and memorial in lower Manhattan.  It’s also the least we can do for the widow, for the daughter, of people such as Commander Patrick Dunn.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

BBC America’s “Copper” - in search of New York’s Five Points

A still from BBC America's 'Copper'

Irish Americans shouldn’t need Hollywood or the BBC to tell them where one of the most famous Irish neighborhoods in New York used to be.

I was thinking about this last month, when I paid a visit to the great Old Town bar on East 18th Street, owned for the longest time by the Meagher family.  It is a stalwart bar in an ever-changing city, and one of the few places you can still find an Al Smith campaign poster.

I was joined by writer and historian Kevin Baker, author of several excellent novels, including Paradise Alley, set among Irish immigrants in the old Five Points section of downtown Manhattan. Inevitably we began talking about the new BBC America series Copper, about an Irish immigrant cop, set in the Five Points.

There was also an angry, hand-written sign in the window of the Old Town that made this topic impossible to ignore.

“The Brits are at it again,” the sign read.  “BBC has produced a series on New York during the Civil War when half the metropolis was peopled by Irish driven from their homes by Victoria, a dowager so homely they could only marry her off to a first cousin, Albert, a German midget who couldn’t speak English.  It is indeed ironic that the Irish starved as Victoria, a fat slob, stuffed her mouth with groceries.”

The sign continued, “As usual, BBC depicts the New York Irish as a collection of tramps, idlers and thieves.  They even have the main character, an Irish copper, portrayed by a Welshman.  (Irish actors need not apply.)  As part of a New York Irish family since the 1820s that established successful businesses before the Civil War, we reject the Brits’ cartoon. 

“Ya gotta give it to the Brits.  They are consistent.”

I will respectfully disagree with the Old Town’s house TV critic, at least about the quality of the show Copper, if not necessarily about the rotundity of Queen Victoria. 

However, the airing of Copper does represent an important opportunity to address another matter of interest to Irish New Yorkers.

Just where were the Five Points located?

The Five Points have got to be the hottest piece of real estate no one can find on a map.  They are a notorious slice of hell that have been the subject of fascination going all the way back to 1842 when none other than Charles Dickens toured the area and declared, “Debauchery has made the very houses prematurely old. See how the rotten beams are tumbling down, and how the patched and broken windows seem to scowl dimly, like eyes that have been hurt in drunken frays.”

History books will tell you that the Five Points name derives from the intersection of today’s Baxter and Worth Streets.  But that’s not what the streets were named in the 1860s. 

The real problem is that if you stand today at the intersection of Baxter and Worth Streets, northeast of City Hall, there is nothing to tell you that this, in fact, is where the notorious Five Points once stood.

Perhaps there is no point in erecting something like a memorial to the Five Points.  Life there was harsh, and it’s probably best for all involved that the slum is so more. 

Nevertheless, there is much to be learned from the Five Points about the Irish, immigration, poverty and perseverance.  So there should be something to let tourists as well as native New Yorkers know where the Points once stood.

I recommend the Collect Pond Park, a block north and west from the original Five Points, on Leonard Street, between Centre and Lafayette.  Collect Pond was a body of water actually used for drinking until the early 1800s, when the area was solidly middle class. 

Bungled municipal efforts to fill the pond created a festering swamp which bred disease - hence, middle class New Yorkers fled, leaving the Five Points to become an impoverished immigrant enclave.

The New York City Parks Department, which is currently renovating Collect Pond Park, should include efforts to explain what and where the Five Points were before the park reopens this fall. 

I think even the Old Town bar TV critic would agree that New Yorkers should know at least as much about the Five Points as Hollywood and the BBC.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

Mitt Romney’s secret Irish Catholic Weapon - Senior Adviser Peter Flaherty

Peter Flaherty

Mitt Romney has a secret, Irish Catholic weapon in Tampa this week, one that  experts say is key to him stealing away the Catholic vote from Barack Obama.  

Timothy Cardinal Dolan?  Nope.  Paul Ryan?  Nope.

His name is Peter Flaherty and he is a senior adviser to Romney, and prefers to  keep himself out of the spotlight. Which is a little odd given that Flaherty has worked in both national politics  as well as Hollywood. 

Nevertheless, Flaherty is described as one of Romney’s closest aides.  His main job?  Persuading Irish Americans and other Roman Catholics that Romney is the man they should vote for.

Much attention was paid when it was announced that Dolan would say the closing prayer at this week’s Republican Convention. “The move is perhaps the clearest sign of a more aggressive push by Republicans to win over Roman Catholic voters this election cycle,” according to The New  York Times.

But Romney’s close relationship to Flaherty is arguably more important. 

When Romney served as Massachusetts governor Flaherty was his liaison to Catholics, including Boston’s Sean Cardinal O’Malley.

While much has been made about Romney’s “invitation” (as the Times put it) to  Dolan, the New York Catholic leader also made it clear he would do the same  thing for the Democrats. Rather stupidly, the Democrats have apparently declined Dolan’s offer. 

Yes, there are major differences between the church and the Democratic Party - on gays and abortion among other things.

However, it would seem that President Obama would want to stress common ground, especially when every Catholic vote counts in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Romney’s Catholic running mate Ryan has been lauded for his  budget-cutting proposals, but guess what organization slammed Ryan for slashing social services and even misunderstanding the Catholic doctrine of “subsidiarity”? 

None other than the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops.  And who leads that organization?  You guessed it, Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

No, if you really want to get a sense of how the Republicans are going to try  and sway Catholics away from Obama you’ve got to listen to Flaherty, who told the Times, “We’re going to have outreach to Catholics in a coordinated, organized effort — state by state, diocese by diocese, parish by parish and pew by pew.”

Flaherty grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross, majoring in economics.  An Irish American aunt named Eileen Gill was murdered in Boston when Flaherty was young, and he has long said that terrible crime spurred him to fight the bad guys.

Flaherty became an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County before going to work for his brother, Michael, who runs Walden Media in Hollywood.

Flaherty returned east and began volunteering for Romney, and has been with the GOP candidate ever since. 

Inevitably, the question arises of whether or not there really is a “Catholic vote” in America. 

Obviously, the days of Roman Catholics voting largely for the party of JFK are over.  Irish and other white ethnic Catholics are much more willing to vote Republican these days, while Hispanic Catholics are generally Democratic. 

Nevertheless, it would be silly for either Romney or Obama to dismiss 25 percent of the voting population who - for all of their differences - share important key factors.

First and foremost, they are clustered in key battleground states.  Also, while polls show that a majority of American Catholics are generally not opposed to birth control and abortion, they are also reverent and respectful towards religion in a way that Republicans can take advantage of.  That’s why it seems such a blunder for the Democrats to not accept Cardinal Dolan’s offer to pray at their convention.  It is the type of small thing someone like Peter Flaherty could make a big deal out of. 

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tomdeignan@earthlink.net or tdeignan.blogspot.com)

Are the Irish liberal or conservative? GOP’s Paul Ryan meet Sister Megan Gillespie Rice

Sister Megan Gillespie Rice

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, meet fellow Irish American Megan Gillespie Rice.

As the political world debated Romney’s pick – which means that for the first time, two Irish Catholics will be vying for the vice presidency –Gillespie Rice was doing some political work of her own.
Sister Megan, as she is known, is a Manhattan native and activist nun who has been arrested over 40 times throughout her busy career. 

Now 82, her most recent action landed her on the front page of The New York Times this past Saturday. 

Earlier this summer, Sister Megan and two accomplices carried out what the Times called “the biggest security breach in the history of (America’s) atomic complex,” breaking into the Oak Ridge nuclear reservation in Tennessee.

Sister Megan, in short, is a left-wing Irish Catholic activist, a label she would surely wear proudly, just as the anti-war Berrigan brothers did in the 1960s, as many members of the Catholic Worker movement did, and as activist groups such as the Catholic Radial Alliance did back in the 1930s (which was founded, incidentally, by one priest named O’Toole and another named – you guessed it – Rice).

Anyway, the next day, another Irish Catholic was in the news, this one named Paul Ryan, a darling of the American conservative movement.

Which begs the question -- who represents Irish American politics better, Ryan or Sister Megan?

A few weeks back I wrote a column about Irish America’s tense relationships with African Americans and racism.  Over 100 folks commented on the story on irishcenteral.com and I received loads of e-mails, some thoughtful, others not so much.

And by the way, the debate rages on.  In this Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, an article about race riots in Chicago specifically referred to problems caused by the “mostly Irish police force.”

But at the heart of the question of Irish Americans and race is the bigger question of Irish American liberalism and conservativism. Who is the face of Irish American politics -- Kennedy or Reagan? 

More and more, as people like Ryan rise to prominence, it seems to be Reagan.  Conservative Republican Irish Americans are very easy to spot these days.  Look at the podium during the GOP convention later this month when the keynote speech is given and you will see Ryan’s fellow Irish American, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Quite a few people have traced how the Irish evolved from loyal Democrats until the 1950s and 1960s, when they started trickling, then flooding, to the Republican or independent lines. 
What people have talked about less is whether or not Irish Catholics (voters as well as politicians) have specific responsibilities based on their backgrounds. 

After all, people love flaunting their Irish Catholic roots. On St. Patrick’s Day, Republicans and Democrats love talking about where their grandparents came from in Ireland. 

But doesn’t that also mean you should have sympathy for 21st century immigrants?  

Kissing babies after Mass makes a great photo-op.  But does that also mean you should obey the church’s teaching on gays, poverty, abortion and the death penalty?  Or confront the church over these contentious issues?

Ryan himself waded into this by claiming that his ultra-conservative budget plan was actually in line with Catholic social teaching.

This prompted criticism from, among others, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops because, as Gerald Beyer recently noted in America magazine, “Official Catholic social teaching has long accorded a positive role for the government in protecting the economic rights and well-being of people.”

The sad truth is that most Irish Americans are not true to their Irish or Catholic roots. 
Republicans too often bash immigrants and the poor.  Democrats too often are condescending towards religion. 

So, who is the true face of Irish American politics?

Right now?  Nobody.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tomdeignan@earthlink.net or tdeignan.blogspot.com)