"Of all the American princes of the Church, outside of that ridiculous popinjay Raymond Burke, Dolan is among the most insufferable. He plays the jocular, backslapping Irishman while his rap sheet on burying the ongoing sexual-abuse scandal is one of t...

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"Of all the American princes of the Church, outside of that ridiculous popinjay Raymond Burke, Dolan is among the most insufferable. He plays the jocular, backslapping Irishman while his rap sheet on burying the ongoing sexual-abuse scandal is one of the longest of all his fellow members of the Clan of the Red Hat."

~ Charles Pierce

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/1

It Was Gross to Watch Trump Yuck It Up with Cardinal Dolan at the Al Smith Dinner

He seemed to be the only one who considered his remarks comedy.

Esquire (www.esquire.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"As a parish priest at the Church of the Immaculata outside St, Louis, he shared a pulpit with Fr. LeRoy Valentine, who is alleged to have abused boys for years before the Church took any action at all, shining on survivors who came to it. According to survivors who came forward, Dolan claimed to know nothing about the man with whom he served at Immaculata. He climbed the greasy chain of command until he was archbishop of Milwaukee."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/2

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"When the scandal hit there, Dolan transferred $57 million worth of assets off the archdiocese’s books and into a cemetery trust fund where it would be sheltered from the lawsuits coming down the tracks. …

So it couldn’t have been a surprise when Dolan sat next to El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago, yucking it up as the adjudicated criminal dropped a multi-megaton bomb at the Al Smith Dinner in New York."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/3

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"And this on the same day that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse. As in all things, the most important element in all comedy is timing."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/4

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"His presence at the Al Smith dinner last night turned the event itself into kabuki theater, in which everyone participating pretended that the man who attempted a coup, says he wants to be a dictator, calls his opponents 'vermin' and 'the enemy within,' and has raised the possibility of using the military against American citizens is normal."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/5

Against Kabuki Normality

Trump weaponizes democracy's traditions against it.

(www.thebulwark.com)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"The people running the dinner thought they were using Trump to raise money for Catholic Charities. The reality is that he was using them to normalize his authoritarian project."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/6

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"The real outrage is that Trump, given the public nature and extent of his repulsive record, should be invited to a fundraiser for an organization, Catholic Charities, that has long worked in the trenches to save and transform lives on society's farthest margins."

~ National Catholic Reporter

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/7

Editorial: Cardinal Dolan's 'Al Smith dinner' disappointment is misdirected

Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he was "doubly disappointed" by the rejection from Kamala Harris of his invitation to the annual Al Smith dinner. But we are triply disappointed that Dolan did not have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump.

National Catholic Reporter (www.ncronline.org)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

"It is tragic that the guest of honor this year will be someone whose personal example and policy wishes are in a collision course with the principles of Catholic social teaching."

#Trump #CardinalDolan #Catholic #AlSmith
/8

[jenzi@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy I don't know of a group that helps migrants more than The Catholic Charities.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

And lest we be tempted to succumb to the very old and tired trope of anti-Catholicism that remains alive and well in some sectors of American (and British) culture, let's keep in mind PRRI's recent finding that this election cycle, 81% of white evangelicals and 60% of white mainline Protestants are poised to vote for Trump.

Trump and the fascism the GOP now peddles are brought to us by white US Christians.

#Trump #Christians #WhiteEvangelicals #MainlineProtestants
/9

Challenges to Democracy: The 2024 Election in Focus | PRRI

The 15th annual American Values Survey reveals deep political divisions and emerging challenges to democratic norms as well as Americans’ attitudes about the 2024 election, the overall direction of the country, the state of the economy, and the broader health of our democracy.

PRRI | At the intersection of religion, values, and public life. (www.prri.org)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@jenzi Yes, Catholic Charities has long done outstanding work to assist migrants. Not sure if you're responding to a particular statement in the thread, but I agree with your point.

[opalmirror@hachyderm.io]

@wdlindsy Another reason why I congratulate myself on being an ex-Catholic.

[jenzi@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy Just your specific point about the confluence of Trump and his rhetoric and the charities they are raising money for. What I saw was fairly gross, they kissed up to Trump more than God himself.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@opalmirror I'm sure you're in very good company there.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@jenzi That was actually Jonathan V. Last writing that sentence. He's a very conservative Catholic who is also a never-Trumper — and you perhaps knew all that, so I'm probably telling you things you knew. I agree wholeheartedly: totally gross, how they kissed up to Trump. And very much in line with Timothy Dolan's history and the behavior of many American Catholics, Vance included.

[davidpnice@mastodon.online]

@wdlindsy Look at that so-called man of God grinning. Normalisation like this is part of the USA's massive problem.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@davidpnice Yes, I agree. As Charles Pierce says, speaking as a lifelong Catholic himself, Dolan has long been a disgrace to many of us who see something very different in Catholic teaching and practice than Dolan does.

[luv_wins@mstdn.social]

@wdlindsy The Catholic Church FAILED to be what they pretend to be. It wasn't about charity; it was about supporting a facist!!!

[vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de]

@wdlindsy its interesting to note that Project 25 plus the behaviour of USA tradcaths appears to have quietly shifted ETWN to be more *liberal*, something I didn't expect would happen!

(They've even dumped Gab and Trump Social from their social media presence on the "yoof" site ChurchPop). Its not an overt "mea culpa", but they do appear to be regretting some choices..

[tafkak@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy Shocked that the Catholics would be open to authoritarianism. Has anyone alerted the Pope?