TO THE EDITOR:
In his 1/20/2011 column (“The President’s Speech; Why I Wasn’t Impressed”), Bishop Tobin explains why he was one of the few in this country unmoved by President Obama’s speech in the aftermath of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona.
Indeed, the president’s words left the bishop “cold, unimpressed and unmoved.”
Admittedly, the bishop’s hang-up is abortion. “Abortion policy” writes the bishop, “is the prism through which I view everything this president says and does. The problem is that President Obama’s …promotion of abortion renders his compassionate gestures and soaring rhetoric completely disingenuous.” Not shaded, “completely disingenuous,” a lie.
I respectfully suggest Bishop Tobin re-read the speech Pope John Paul II gave at the United Nations in 1995. At that time, the Clinton administration was actively promoting abortion worldwide through the UN with some success and John Paul was doing everything in his power to stop it. Yet, never once in his speech did Pope John Paul mention the word abortion. Instead, he sought common ground.
“The Holy See, in virtue of its specifically spiritual mission, which makes it concerned for the integral good of every human being, has supported the ideals and goals of the United Nations Organization from the very beginning. Although their respective purposes and operative approaches are obviously different, the church and the UN constantly find wide areas of cooperation on the basis of their common concern for the human family.”
Pope John Paul’s ability to connect with the peoples of the world and the Holy See’s relevance under his leadership are underscored in that speech.
“There is a moral logic which is built into human life which makes possible dialogue between individuals and peoples. If we want a century of violent coercion to be succeeded by a century of persuasion, we must find a way to discuss the human future intelligibly.”
Bishop Tobin’s stance doesn’t measure up.
Jack O’Rourke
Narragansett
