Nacy Pelosi has received a summons invitation from the Grand Inquisitor Archbishop of San Fransisco, to come chat with him about her public statements about her own heretical personal views on her Roman Catholic faith and the balance she must strike with her public duties.
I have a lot of respect for people like Pelosi, John F. Kennedy and Justice Joseph Brennan, who understood that their duty to their Roman Catholic faith was entirely personal and they could not use their official positions of power to promote Catholic doctrine. For some, like Brennan, it was at times difficult to balance the two but in the end, he was a shining example of how a separation of Church and State could be accomplished while still living according to his own faith. It’s too bad we don’t hear more stories like that these days.
Stumble It!
2 responses so far ↓
1 tehehehe // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:58 am
I think Pelosi may have “strayed over the line” when she made public statements on TV purporting to speak authoritatively on Catholic Doctrine. Pelosi can believe whatever she likes. She can also say that in her particualy personal way, she doesn’t think her actions conflict with Catholic Theology. But when she says “Catholic Theology says this …..” in an authoritative manner on broadcast networks, she is stepping out of her role as a legislator IMHO.
I don’t ever recall Justice Brennan going out and trying to explain that the Pope actually got it wrong when he delved into privacy rights. He doesn’t claim to be a theology expert. He merely applies the law and interprets the law. Pelosi should follow his example.
Don’t you agree? Take a look at the video if I haven’t been clear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jxx0Oyg21s
Should Pelosi have been interpreting Catholic Doctrine for the viewers in that manner? Would Brennan have done that? Pelosi could have answere the question differently and said “my personal views”. Or she could have simply declined to answer saying that theology is up to theologians, and she has to restrict her role to that of a legislator.
She didn’t. Hence, the inquisition. Hopefully, she won’t be excommunicated. But a good dressing down seems appropriate, don’t you think? I certainly haven’t heard the Archbishop comment on Pelosi’s voting record.
2 stacyb // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:21 pm
No, I don’t think Pelosi should hold herself out as the interpreter of Catholic Doctrine, although I think she certainly has a right to state those views, even if some believe them to be incorrect, and of course she should be able to discuss how she feels it applies to her or how she balances her personal views with her public life.
That said, as you know, I’m a fan of a very clear line between a politicians religious views and his or her legislative duties and quite frankly, I wish they’d just stick to politics and leave their personal religious views to themselves. I’m not anti-religion at all and I would advocate for anyone’s right to believe whatever they want to believe and to express that belief- but I get very nervous when politicians hit us over the head with their religious views b/c I find it irrelevant to their duty in public office. So, I do tend to believe that your last option that you stated above for Pelosi is preferable-that she respond that as a legislator, her theological views aren’t pertinent to policy discourse and then decline to go into the wisdom (or not) of the changes that accompanied Vatican II.
I do think one thing about the upcoming meeting between Pelosi and the Archbishop is strange- on one level the Archbishop can call anyone in for a meeting to discuss who has the final say in Catholic teachings, but on another level, part of me says, so what if Pelosi disagrees with the Church on this or that issue? She’s not the first or the last to do so. If the Archbishop met with every well or quasi well-known person who disagreed publicly, his calender would be pretty full, so I guess part of me is wondering if he has another agenda other than simply reminding Pelosi that it’s not her role to interpret official Church doctrine. We may never know.
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