Cardinal George criticizes Chicago mayor’s comments on Chick-fil-A
July 31, 2012
Cardinal Francis George has criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent comments on Chick-fil-A, a restaurant chain whose president said recently that he believes marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
“Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values,” Emanuel said in response. “They’re not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values.”
Emanuel is also co-chair of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.
Cardinal George responded:
Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the “values” that must be held by citizens of Chicago. I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city? Is the City Council going to set up a “Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities” and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it? I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, “un-Chicagoan.”
“The value in question is espousal of ‘gender-free marriage,’” he continued. “Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry; and espousing the understanding of marriage that has prevailed among all peoples throughout human history is now, supposedly, outside the American consensus.”
“Was Jesus a bigot?” Cardinal George added. “Could Jesus be accepted as a Chicagoan? Would Jesus be more ‘enlightened’ if he had the privilege of living in our society? One is welcome to believe that, of course; but it should not become the official state religion, at least not in a land that still fancies itself free. Surely there must be a way to properly respect people who are gay or lesbian without using civil law to undermine the nature of marriage.”
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Further information:
- Cardinal George: Reflections on “Chicago values” (Catholic Chicago Blog)
- Rahm Emanuel: No regrets on my Chick fil-A comments (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Posted by: rdennehy8049 -
Aug. 02, 2012 8:06 AM ET USA
If the Cardinals and Archbishops had taken stands like this in other matters, i.e.politicians stands on abortion, the United States may have been on a different path.
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Posted by: -
Aug. 01, 2012 12:13 AM ET USA
Congratulations to Cardinal George for taking a firm Catholic stand against the hypocrisy and bullying tactics of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent comments on Chick-fil-A. The Church is finally realizing that there is a war going on in America against the Church and other religious denominations to effectively muzzle all religious expression in the public arena. The Catholic Church must continue to forcefully counter these secular attacks whenever and wherever they occur, and they should not be hesitant to name names when necessary. In today’s upside down and morally neutered society the flock desperately needs to hear more from their Bishops - to be able to clearly separate right from wrong, and friend from foe.
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Posted by: John J Plick -
Jul. 31, 2012 5:32 PM ET USA
This is certainly no game... The adversaries intend to impale us on the spike of "intolerance..." and they seem willing to use "values" as the excuse to condemn us. The hard part is not so much seeing the hypocrisy as it is getting the courage to speak out. The Cardinal definitely stood in the gap...
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Jul. 31, 2012 5:25 PM ET USA
Tomorrow (Wed) is the "eat-in" to support Chick-Fil-A, so my wife and I decided to get some food there today. The eatery was packed at 11:30 but they were churning out the chicken. We all have an opportunity to stand up for natural marriage and get some decent food at the same time. (Not all of it is fried)
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Posted by: normnuke -
Jul. 31, 2012 12:25 PM ET USA
Amen Cardinal George! Well said! Hear! Hear! The beaty of this affair (there is only one) is that it has the liberals stepping forward without hesitation to display their true colors. If there were a Chick-fil-A out here I would patronize immediately. No matter what Jerry Brown said.
