Bishop Tobin confesses: Kennedy was right - he barred him
Obwon
Bishop Tobin confesses:
Kennedy was right - he barred him
November 24, 5:29 PM
During the war of words between Patrick
Kennedy and Bishop Thomas Tobin, the
Rhode Island bishop who Kennedy said
barred him from receiving communion,
Tobin had made statements denying
Kennedy's allegation.
http://patrickhenrypress.info/?q=node/91330
Now Tobin admits Kennedy was right, that
he did in fact bar him from receiving communion
because Kennedy challenged the church's
position opposing health care reform unless
it had anti-abortion language that the church
approved.
It raises the question as to whether Bishop
Tobin was dishonest in his initial denials
and then finally admitted the truth, confesses
if you will, when his actions met with the
approval of many conservative commentators.
In further retaliation against the church,
Kennedy's 90 year old grandmother has
said she will stop donating to the church.
The issue brings to the forefront the hypocrisy
of the church and their disregard for the
establishment clause of the First Amendment
when it suits them and invoking it when it suits
them for their own benefit.
The bishop, trying to use Kennedy's religion
against him and weild it like a bludgeon to try
to force him to do the church's bidding as a
public servant re-enforces the wisdom of
Jefferson and the Founders who wanted to
insure that the church would never have an
official voice in the affairs of state.
But the church also maintains a staff of 350
in Washington who are there to lobby legislators
to influence legislation. There is no question that
the church's lobbying group is unconstitutional
and many are urging the Dept. of Justice to
investigate and for steps to be taken to insure
the wall between church and state is re-enforced.