Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Scandal in Providence


From Get Religion-

This has been such a busy time for religious news that we’ve missed a fairly interesting story coming out of Rhode Island. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy got things going in a fiery Oct. 21 interview with Cybercast News Service. Here’s how The Providence Journal wrote up what happened:

Kennedy told an interviewer on Oct. 21, “I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social-justice issue of our time.” He said, “If the church is pro-life, then they ought to be for health-care reform because it’s going to provide health care that is going to keep people alive.”

Bishop Tobin shot back that Kennedy “is correct in stating that ‘he can’t understand. He got that part right.” He called Kennedy’s comments “irresponsible and ignorant of the facts” and asked for an apology. Later, the bishop followed up with a letter inviting Kennedy to meet for a discussion of the issue.

Without apologizing in so many words, Kennedy accepted the invitation in a letter last week and said his comments “were never intended to slight the church.” Kennedy acknowledged that “the church has always stood for health-care reform.” He added, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.”

More here-

http://www.getreligion.org/?p=21406

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