O'Reilly's amazing surprise
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 07, 2012
Bill O’Reilly of Fox News is “stunned” and “flabbergasted” and “shocked” that during a speech at the Democratic convention, Caroline Kennedy identified herself as a Catholic and went on to praise President Obama for protecting legal abortion.
What’s surprising here?
- That a Catholic woman supported abortion? Consider Nancy Pelosi.
- That a Kennedy supported abortion? Consider the late Senator Ted.
- That a Catholic flouted Church teaching, or a Democrat supported abortion? Sorry, we don’t have enough room for all the examples.
For someone who comments on the news, O’Reilly seems remarkably unacquainted with developments of the past 30 years or so. Frankly I’m stunned that he’s stunned.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: aclune9083 -
Sep. 05, 2018 11:24 AM ET USA
This recalls how Michael S. Rose, (Good-bye, Good Men) documents the role many diocesan vocations directors post-VII played in setting the stage for wholesale rejection of Magisterial teachings in an effort to reverse a vocations shortage. The bishop's attempts to recruit more priests/religious in many dioceses opened the door to widespread disregard of Christ's teachings on the proper roles of priest and married and the gift of human sexuality. The wind is sown; the whirlwind is upon us.
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Posted by: rghatt6599 -
Aug. 30, 2018 9:14 PM ET USA
On a related point CC news has a link to Bishop Steven Lopes saying that he doesn’t believe his fellow-bishops who profess ignorance of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s wrongdoing. Bishop Lopes was a priest secretary to Cardinal Levada beginning in 2005. According to Archbishop Vigano’s testimony in April 2008 information was passed on by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Levada to the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone that perhaps should have resulted in an intervention in the McCarrick affair at that time. Has anyone asked bishop Lopes if he can provide more clarity about that sequence of events?
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Posted by: shrink -
Aug. 30, 2018 8:31 PM ET USA
Phil, you are way too modest. I was not think of the Reformation, but rather the Arian heresy. At least the papacy remained doctrinally solid during the era of Luther--who is a favorite theologian for our big man in Rome.
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Posted by: rbrenz1841 -
Sep. 10, 2012 6:54 PM ET USA
Pelosi and Kennedy are CINO's and O'Reilly is a pinhead.
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Posted by: AgnesDay -
Sep. 10, 2012 1:24 PM ET USA
Bill O'Reilly has publicly decried Church teaching on contraception as "traditions of men" on the air. That was before the HHS ruling. Now he's "shocked" over Caroline Kennedy? Give me a break, Bill!
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Posted by: the.dymeks9646 -
Sep. 10, 2012 11:34 AM ET USA
It is a shame that we have to act "stunned" by such things. If only our leaders could stop playing a game of chess with the issues and act on faith and restore our sense of being stunned.
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Posted by: koinonia -
Sep. 07, 2012 5:23 PM ET USA
The world of pretend. In pretend land nothing is stunning. However, when and if those with the authority to put an end to pretend decide to do so, people will be "stunned, shocked, and flabbergasted." And for those on the outs there will be justification for their shock, but in a very real sense their shock will be suffered unjustly. Reality must be faced, and those charged with reinforcing reality do a great disservice to the pretenders when they fail to administer a good dose of...reality.
