September 30, 2015

Bill Donohue comments on the reaction to Pope Francis\' meeting with Kim Davis:

The Catholic and secular Left are beside themselves. They thought they owned the pope, and now they are in a state of disbelief. If they don\'t get what they want at the Synod next month, watch for them to turn on him with a vengeance.

Charles P. Pierce at Esquire is calling the Holy Father\'s meeting with Kim Davis \"a sin against charity,\" and the \"dumbest thing this Pope has ever done.\" Nice to know he acknowledges the existence of sin. But to say that it was \"dumb\" of the pope to meet with this heroine, or to characterize it as a \"hamhanded blunder,\" is to seriously misread Pope Francis. He is, after all, a real Catholic, not a \"pretend Catholic\" (the pope used this term this week to describe the Mayor of Rome, a gay marriage enthusiast).

Pierce is so despondent with the pope that he said the Davis meeting \"undermines his pastoral message, and it diminishes his stature by involving him in a petty American political dispute. A secret meeting with a nutball?\" It would be more accurate to say that the meeting elevates the pope\'s stature with real Catholics. Not surprisingly, Pierce does not see calling Davis a \"nutball\" as \"a sin against charity.\"

Gay activist Michelangelo Signorile is ripping the pope as \"a more sinister kind of politician,\" one who \"secretly supports hate.\" Signorile has a reputation of being quite open about his brand of hate speech, so that may account for his aversion to secrets. It is driving him mad that the pope broke bread with this courageous woman, which is why he said the meeting \"is only encouraging the bigots.\" By \"bigots\" he means practically every man and woman who ever walked the face of the earth, up until the day before yesterday.

Bless the Holy Father for being so inclusive that he reached out to Kim Davis. If the \"pretend Catholics\" who consider themselves his base get nasty, they will be answered by the Catholic League.

Popeâ€™s Unscheduled Meetings Tell All

September 30, 2015

Bill Donohue comments on two unscheduled meetings by Pope Francis when he came to the United States:

The pope made several impromptu stops and visits while in the United States: he hugged disabled children on the street; he visited orphanages; and he stopped by St. Joseph\'s University. But beyond these pastoral gestures, he made two very important cultural statements: he visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and he greeted Kim Davis.

The Little Sisters of the Poor are suing the Obama administration for forcing them to sanction the distribution of abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plan. The pope\'s visit was a clear rebuke of the heavy-handed tactics of the administration\'s HHS mandate. Indeed, he encouraged the brave sisters to stand fast.

Now we have learned that the pope met privately with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused, on religious grounds, to issue a marriage license to a gay couple. \"Thank you for your courage. Stay strong.\" These words by the pope need no interpretation. Moreover, his invocation of conscience rights as a fundamental human right can only be read as a statement against the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

To read my defense of Kim Davis, click here (the article appears in the October edition of our monthly journal, Catalyst).

These two unscheduled meetings by Pope Francis should convince everyone that he is an ardent advocate of life, religious liberty, and marriage (properly understood). He didn\'t have to make himself available to the Little Sisters of the Poor or Kim Davis, but he did.

Is The Popeâ€™s Base Deserting Him?