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By JAMES SAUNDERS, UPP Editor—
Published 02/24/10
On Tuesday students, faculty and members of the Provo community filled the Marriott Center at BYU to hear Francis Cardinal George present a message entitled “Catholics and Latter-day Saints: Partners in the Defense of Religious Freedom.”
Photo by Mariangela Mazzei
Francis Cardinal George is President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and holds the highest position in the Catholic Church in the United States. He addressed three main points: the fight for religious freedom as defined by Catholic views, managing current threats in society, and ways in which Catholics and the LDS church have stood together.
“I thought it was really cool that someone from the Catholic Church would make these comments after something like prop 8 in defending morals and family,” said Connor Clark, BYU student from Minnesota. “It’s what we need in society; to come together and defend what’s right even with our religious differences.”
At the beginning of the meeting the audience stood to recite the Lord’s Prayer, a tradition in the Catholic faith. George then proceeded to talk about the history of religious freedom and the focus of the family.
“It was interesting to see the catholic position on defending religious freedom,” said Rachel Mahrt, BYU student from Phoenix Arizona.
He then addressed the current threats growing in our society: health-care with regards to abortion rights and human sexuality or gay and lesbian relations.
“Everyone should be cared for,” George said. “It’s very hard to just be a moral voice in the world we live but, we can’t give up.”
He mentioned the laws governing a woman’s right to choose and the moral implications of such a choice. He mentioned the common belief we share on the subject of sexual orientation in that everyone is made in the image of God and loved by him but that it is the relationship of these individuals in question not the individuals themselves.
“We and you are involved in a number of disputes,” George said.
His final point regarding the relationship between Catholics and the LDS Church as defenders of religious freedom was one of great hope and thanksgiving.
“I thank God for the harmony that has grown between us,” George said. “We can and should stand as one in defense of religious liberty.”
The defense of religious liberties affirms what is deepest in our beliefs. It’s going to take good people making good choices and commitments that will in turn benefit the good of society and make a kinder world.
“We become true blessings to one another,” George said. “Our collaborative efforts will, if we stay together, in the end bear much fruit.”
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That is a really cool article. I’m glad that we are finding common ground here and being friends. Its never good to see two groups of people that believe in God dislike each other.
His Eminence loves visiting Utah because his own Catholic flock knows too much about him to take him seriously when he starts talking about “morality” … The reason the Catholic hierarchy loves the LDS is because so few Mormons have read newspaper articles like this one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/national/25abuse.html?_r=2
The article begins: “A review board of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago advised Cardinal Francis George to remove a priest accused of molesting young boys three months before he was arrested and removed from ministry, according to the state’s top child welfare agency official.”
The article ends: “… we think that he’s knowingly, recklessly putting kids at risk and he can’t be trusted in that position.”
Francis George and the rest of the Catholic hierarchy are always eager to find any excuse to deflect attention away from their own failings. It’s why they’re so eager to create as many scary bogeymen as possible.
And apparently the Mormons are falling for it. Cardinal George is on the Lord’s side? Goodness, the Lord certainly moves in mysterious ways, doesn’t He? Can someone remind me again what the Restoration was for? Or what LDS teaching has been about the Catholic church? And now that’s all traded for a convenient political alliance between the LDS leadership and the Catholic hierarchy? Are Mormons seriously suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has been a net benefit to this world? Seriously? C’mon. If you’re not going to study or read the papers, at least trust your own Mormon prophets: the popes and cardinals and bishops have been a blight on humanity for centuries.
He was VERY smart. I sat there in the Marriott Center scratching my head at some points. He’s very knowledgeable regarding politics and social issues.
I personally have nothing against the Catholics. I went to Rome on a study abroad last summer, and I loved it there. They like any religion are just trying to find their way back to God.
Someone in my study abroad group said that Catholicism is just Mormonism after 2000 years of no proper authority. They are on the Lord’s side too.