Religious Leaders Oppose Obama's Appearance at Catholic Charity Fundraiser
A prominent religious leader has issued a statement opposing an invitation extended to President Obama for a fundraiser hosted by New York Catholic Charities given the Presidents support for same-sex marriage and abortion.
Fr. Frank Pavone, of Priests for Life, issued the statement after it was confirmed that the President had accepted the invitation to appear at the Al Smith fundraiser for New York Catholic Charities in October.
"I'm all in favor of protocol and understand the difference between respecting the President's policies vs. respecting his office. But there comes a time when the polite putting aside of differences for a while amounts to scandal," according to LifeSiteNews.com.
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He added: "There comes a time when enough is enough and we can no longer afford to give people a reason to doubt our position as a Church."
The vocal opposition to the Presidents appearance comes just days after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, forcing religious employers and other faith-based organizations to cover contraceptives as well as abortifacient drugs through their own health insurance plans.
"On August 1, the unjust HHS mandate went into effect for Priests for Life and millions of other Americans, and I announced to our staff that we are disobeying the mandate. So no, I don't think the invitation is appropriate at this time," Pavone stated.
Others have insisted that the ACA is not just a way to cover millions of uninsured Americans, but it is an attack on religious freedom in this country, forcing them to defy their beliefs.
"Regardless of what they've done in the past, it is unthinkable for a Catholic charity to invite the man seeking the destruction of religious freedom in America to a fund raising event," Michael Hichborn of American Life League told LifeSiteNews.com.
Hichborn added: "This sends the wrong message to pew-sitting Catholics, who are anxiously looking to our bishops to stand up and fight against this clear enemy of the Church who will be joining them for dinner."
