Fr. Marcel Guarnizo hits back.
Once reprimanded for refusing communion to a lesbian at her mom's funeral, Fr. Guarnizo is back in the news again. An ax to grind? Disgruntled? Or is his a legitimate public rebuke of a Cardinal?
I'm told he's an excellent priest, and golly - he writes for CNS - but I wonder if he may have consigned himself to sacerdotal oblivion after his recent slam against Cardinal Dolan - who slammed Donald Trump's politics.
As a Catholic priest, I can only say it is embarrassing to have a Cardinal so blatantly and unfairly trying to associate Mr. Trump with the worst kinds of racism imaginable. I offer an apology on behalf of so many Catholics who are outraged by the dirty politics of Cardinal Dolan.
Ever so “cleverly,” Dolan makes clear that in his opinion Trump is the revival of nativism, “an organized, white, Protestant antagonism towards the Catholic immigrant,” which for Dolan is just a more recent incarnation of the KKK and other racist organizations–an absurd claim–and perhaps one of the most ignorant statements and mean-spirited remarks I have ever seen a bishop state publicly. The more than clear implication by Dolan that Trump is a white supremacist reaches levels of defamation that even the most liberal media has not dare trod. - Finish reading here.
Fr. G. makes some points I don't disagree with, but I doubt his correction will be well received. The article is four days old now; while all is calm, I can't help wonder what kind of response he's getting? Where does he go from here?
When the uproar over the 'restoration' at the church of Our Savior in NYC was firing up, many people hoped a well known priest-blogger would step in and do something - add his voice to the protest. He has yet to respond, and I suspect there is a reason for that.
Will Fr. Guarnizo be put on a leash too?
I'm guessing an apology may be forthcoming, and that may be the last we hear from him. Just a guess, mind you.
Who? He said what?
Song for this post here.
I've got a feeling you don't want to be on Dolan's bad side.
ReplyDeletePlaying devil's advocate, there are those who would say of Cardinal Dolan that he should worry more about not being on God's bad side! All kidding aside, since I find it hard to be charitable regarding the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, I think I'll say nothing further.
DeleteI know! And, I know! ;)
DeleteContrast Fr. Guarnizo's op-ed with anything written by the saint of the day, the Cure of Ars. Then make your own judgment as to what the Church needs right now (and always).
ReplyDeleteI will walk on over to Saint John Vianney's side 100%. As I read this "critical piece" from Fr. G, I thought, where is the call to pray for our shepherds rather than tear them up in some op-ed piece that is a disservice to the Church and her people?
DeleteJust driving another stake into an already fractured Catholic community.
Yeah - I was pretty surprised Fr. G wrote that.
DeleteWell, no matter how it ends up, I tend to sit on Fr. Guarnizo's side of the fence. I was once an early true believer of Card. Dolan much like I was a true believer of Barak Obama back in the day before he was a senator. Then he ran for president in 2008 and I started paying attention. I cast my vote in the other direction BOTH elections. Card. Dolan will be with us until his superior says otherwise, but as with Obama, I started to become disenchanted. It just took longer. The enchantment is now well and truly GONE.
ReplyDeletePoor Cardinal Dolan. ;)
Delete