Clinton campaign email author complains he is ‘falsely accused as an anti-Catholic bigot’
October 14, 2016
One of the Clinton campaign supporters whose negative email comments on conservative Catholics were made public by Wikileaks has complained that he is “being falsely accused as an anti-Catholic bigot.”
“I’m Catholic,” wrote John Halpin of the Center for American Progress, in a response to the Wilkileaks stories. “I went to a Catholic university. My kids were baptized by their Jesuit uncle and went to Catholic school when they were young.”
In the leaked email messages, Halpin had speculated about prominent conservative figures who are Catholic, saying that they are engaged in “an amazing bastardization of the faith.” He wrote: “They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy.”
Halpin now insists, however, that he was not criticizing the Catholic faith, but merely the way in which some conservatives ignore different teachings of the Church. He wrote of media magnate Rudolph Murdoch, whose children are being raised as Catholics but whose media empire (Halpin said) “routinely assaults the values of the poor, sows racial discord, and attacks immigrants.”
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
Oct. 17, 2016 9:19 PM ET USA
In Mr. Halpin's proofs of his impeccable Catholic credentials, something's missing — something like: "…and I adhere without reservation to all that the Church teaches, including about abortion, contraception, and euthanasia, even if it gets me fired from my job or ostracized by my colleagues."
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Posted by: k_cusick1963 -
Oct. 15, 2016 12:57 PM ET USA
Catholic in name only. I would rather listen to an honest ex-Catholic who admits he or she no longer considers themselves Catholic. Those who espouse pro choice, pro same-sex marriage, pro anything that is politically popular as opposed to what the Church teaches and what Jesus taught are not Catholic. The Church as a democracy! Only if you consider Jesus just another man whose opinions change with the times. The Church has never been nor can it ever be a democracy.
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Posted by: eft945309797 -
Oct. 15, 2016 9:18 AM ET USA
He forgot to say "I was an altar boy".
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Oct. 14, 2016 10:24 PM ET USA
"'I went to a Catholic university. My kids were baptized by their Jesuit uncle and went to Catholic school when they were young.'" In my experience as an apologist, this is exactly the right recipe for becoming an ex-Catholic. I can't remember the number of times I was told by proud ex-Catholics how well-schooled they were by their Catholic school and university education. My daughter was educated in Catholic schools and fully understands from firsthand experience the makings of ex-Catholics.
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Posted by: bernie4871 -
Oct. 14, 2016 9:16 PM ET USA
"I'm Catholic. I went to a Catholic University and my kids went to a Catholic school and their Jesuit Uncle baptized them". Wow! What powerful credentials.
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Posted by: Louise01 -
Oct. 14, 2016 7:18 PM ET USA
Another Democrat faux Catholic
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Posted by: ElizabethD -
Oct. 14, 2016 4:59 PM ET USA
At least he didn't deny making the comments in which he is obviously criticizing the Church.
