So it should have surprised exactly no one when he admonished faculty at his parish's affiliated school for posting messages
that extolled the apparent election of
"You are not to celebrate the fact that this pro-abortionist is close to being elected president," he declared during a weekday mass for faculty and students. "You can do that in your own realm."
He was specifically condemning reported violations of a diocesan policy against expressions of partisanship — a policy that cuts both ways.
But that context was almost immediately lost when Gigliotti's comments went viral. Video of him referring to Biden as "not a good Catholic at all" and Harris as "grossly anti-Catholic" drew praise and criticism and even made the local evening news.
But the message itself, Olson told me, was correct.
Biden would expand abortion access. Harris is grossly anti-Catholic.
Abortion is barbaric.
All of these are demonstrable facts.
There is nothing controversial about saying so.
"All other rights are based on the preeminent right to life," Olson said, identifying life issues as the most important of our day.
Gigliotti — a beloved priest with an irrefutable devotion to the most vulnerable members of society — was affirming that, albeit a bit more passionately.
Of course, the church's strenuous opposition to abortion isn't new.
But when one of its self-described members, who happens to be a prominent political leader, openly rejects the most fundamental of church teachings, things get complicated.
Biden is clearly aware of the influence he can wield over
It is no doubt why he quoted so liberally from
While some lay Catholics have heralded Biden's election as a win for the church, many religious leaders recognize the perils that his Catholic "identity" poses to the church in America.
The head of the
Olson noted that Biden has called abortion "a medical necessity." The president-elect has vowed to take the
"That is not Catholic," Olson said, but "Biden makes a point of his Catholicism." He is clearly "saying this is Catholic and OK."
That has grave implications for the church but also for outsiders who see it as a moral authority.
It imposes a kind of secular relativism. It threatens schism. And as Olson worried, it suggests that Biden is trying to take
the role of the bishop in the
Faithful Catholics — those who accept the Church's teachings, however difficult they may be — do not fit neatly into either of the two major political parties. That's probably a good thing.
Olson has himself come under fire from the political right for his criticism of
But Trump isn't Catholic and never pretended to be.
"We will continue to pray for (Biden) and work with him where we can work with him," Olson said.
I doubt the feeling is mutual.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Cynthia M. Allen
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(TNS)
Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Previously:
• 11/16/20 If kids are not superspreaders, why do we keep treating them like they are?
• 09/27/20
• 09/15/20 News on COVID-19 is not all terrible, especially compared to warnings of 6 months ago
• 07/28/20 A Biden childcare proposal that even conservative could embrace
• 06/30/20 Black lives matter. As we address racism, we must talk about the unborn ones, too
• 06/23/20 Good news: You can be a mask skeptic and still wear one to prevent COVID-19 spread
• 06/16/20 After George Floyd, we must all challenge our assumptions about racism in America
• 06/09/20 George Floyd, good and bad police officers, and the things on which we can all agree
• 06/02/20 A post-coronavirus baby boom seems unlikely. Here's why that's a problem
• 05/26/20 How public health officials created cognitive dissonance, culture war
• 05/18/20 As states start to reopen, be a good neighbor, not a tattletale
• 04/15/20 Abortion is not health care, and amid global coronavirus crisis, it's not 'essential'