Cardinal McElroy! Walk Back That Statement NOW!

On January 29, the Catholic Standard published on its website the following screed; one of the signers is Cardinal McElroy.  Since the Standard did not publish any qualifying statements, we must conclude that McElroy assents to this statement in its entirety.  I have reproduced it here in case it "mysteriously disappears" (ahem!) from the Standard website.

Now the article from the Standard:

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, has joined with seven Washington-area leaders of other faith traditions in issuing a Jan. 29 statement regarding recent immigration enforcement actions.

Here is the complete statement:

The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti – two U.S. citizens devoted to civic engagement and to caring for their immigrant neighbors – have left communities in Minneapolis and across the nation grieving, shaken, and rightly outraged. Their deaths are a profound moral failure, and they demand our collective attention and response.

As faith leaders in the greater Washington, D.C. region, we affirm the sacred worth of every human life. That commitment includes – and compels us to stand with – immigrants and others who are especially vulnerable in this moment. We condemn without reservation the use of indiscriminate and lethal force against civilians. The actions we have witnessed in recent days represent a grave departure from our nation’s deepest moral commitments and from the values of human dignity, restraint, and accountability that our faith traditions uphold. When the power of the state is exercised without regard for life, justice, or the common good, the foundations of democracy itself are put at risk. We speak out now from a place of deep love for our nation and a growing concern that our own local communities will potentially experience the same loss of life and turmoil we are seeing in Minneapolis.

Renee and Alex were killed while seeking justice for their community. We honor their lives by refusing to look away and by calling, together, for accountability from those entrusted with authority. At this pivotal moment in our nation’s life, we are faced with a choice: whether to allow fear, cruelty, and disorder to define us, or to respond with courage, conscience, and moral resolve. We stand with our neighbors, fellow clergy, and state and local leaders who have called on national authorities to end practices that place people in harm’s way.

Throughout history, people of faith have been called to speak when human dignity is threatened. We believe that call is before us now. Communities in the greater Washington region have already experienced the fear and disruption caused by aggressive enforcement tactics, including incidents near schools and houses of worship – places that should remain sanctuaries, not sites of intimidation. We will not accept the tearing apart of our neighborhoods or the normalization of dehumanization. We urge government officials at every level to recommit themselves to policies that uphold life, dignity, and the rule of law. And we call on all people of conscience to work together for a society in which every person can walk their streets without fear, and with the knowledge that they are seen, valued, and protected.

Robert Cardinal McElroy,

Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

Rabbi Abbi Sharofsky,

Director of Intergroup Relations & Rabbi-in-Residence, JCRC of Greater Washington

Romi Sawhney, Executive Director,

Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF)

Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt,

President of the Unitarian Universalist Association

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

Behram Panthaki,

Head Priest, The Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington Inc (ZAMWI)

Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling,

Resident Bishop, The Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula Delaware Area, The United Methodist Church

Dr. Sousan Abadian,

Executive Director, Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington

The complete statement can also be found on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s website at https://jcouncil.org/page/dc-area-faith-leaders-statement-immigration-enforcement-actions

Now ends the article.  My remarks and some videos will appear after the jump break.

Look at the second word of the screed.  "Murders"?  When did a judge and jury adjudicate that murders have occurred?  In order for murders to have occurred there must be people who have been adjudicated as murderers.  That has not yet happened.  Right at the very second word in this "statement" we have mortal sins of rash judgment and most likely libel and slander.  Now this would be no big deal coming from the other signers who are, by definition, heretics and pagans.  But Cardinal McElroy is a prince of the One True Church - a Church that he has disgraced by this impudent statement.  On that account, he bears more culpability than do those others.

Then in the second paragraph they state that "we affirm the sacred worth of every human life".  That lie is almost laughable.  Most of these other "religions" support the "right" to murder an unborn child in his/her mother's womb.  Many Reform and Conservative Jews do.  The Unitarians, Methodists, and Episcopalians do.

"Renee and Alex were killed while seeking justice for their community."  Well, here's how Alex "sought justice".  Note: please make sure this video starts at the very beginning.

I suppose one could say that Pretti's actions were "mostly peaceful", according to progressive standards.  Not only does he damage that vehicle during his snit-fit, but he is clearly seen carrying a gun to a protest.

In light of that last sentence, I present the following video.

Having gone through that training myself, I can attest to the truth of what Mr. Hudson said.  If he had the training, Pretti understood exactly what he was doing when he chose to bring his gun to an extremely volatile situation.

Finally the signers pay lip service to the rule of law in the final paragraph.  That is precisely what they are flouting when they urge for open borders, when they assist border-crashers in profiting from their law-breaking.  They, including Cardinal McElroy, display blatant hypocrisy.

Fellow Catholics, please join us as we call upon Cardinal McElroy to immediately and publicly walk back this statement.  If he himself did not issue that statement, but an underling on his staff did so in his name, that should be made known, and the culprits should be exposed and dismissed from their positions.  

At the very least, wait until official investigations are complete.  The sins listed above are indeed mortal, especially in the light of the obvious forethought behind them and their public nature.  Let the cardinal know that you will cease all archdiocesan donations until he walks back that statement.