On Colbert Roasting Cardinal Dolan

Al Smith (D-NY)  was a New York politian from the early 20th Century who was the four time Governor of the Empire State as well as the first Roman Catholic nominee for President of the United States in 1928 .  The Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is an annual charity white tie fundraiser which dates back to 1945 and has raised millions of dollars for healthcare causes in New York, including $3 million in 2013.

2012 Al Smith Dinner

The Al Smith Dinner is always held on the third Thursday in October.  As Stephen Colbert quipped about its calendary cycle, it is like Catholic thanksgiving.  In 1960, Theodore White remarked that the Al Smith dinner was "a ritual of American politics. as candidates from both parties would share the dais and show a humorous or even self-effacing side.   For example, last year both President Obama and  former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) both attended the fete hosted by New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

The keynote speaker for the 2013 Al Smith Dinner was the Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert.  While Colbert took some shots at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and failed Democrat mayoral candidate and NYC Council President Christine Quinn  and even Pope Francis, much of Colberts quips seemed reserved for Cardinal Dolan.  So much so, it seemed like a Cardinal Roast.

Cardinal Dolan and Stephen Colbert may have an chummy chemistry that was shown at a faith forum  last year at Fordham University entitled "The Cardinal and Colbert: On Humor, Joy and the Spiritual Life". But one should not discount how both the comedian and the Cardinal share  a passion for the Catholic faith as well as a  jovial jocularity. 

Some may frown upon Cardinal Dolan's ebullient embrace of "Laughter and the Lord".  Others voice disapproval of the New York Archbishop sharing the stage with politicians at their conventions and then "yucking it up" at the Al Smith Dinner.  

I have to agree with designated chaplain of the Colbert Report, Fr. James Martin, S.J. and his chiding of the "frozen chosen" approach to theology as being both antithetical to theology and evicerating evangelization opportunities.  It is commendable that Cardinal Dolan was able to speak truth to power by offering pointed benedictions at the Republican and Democrat conventions yet inviting faithfulness and fellowship at the Al Smith Dinner. 

Cardinal Dolan echoes this convivial approach to faith.  Dolan has observed: "Being Catholic is not a heavy burden, snuffing the joy out of life; rather our faith in Jesus and His Church gives meaning, purpose and joy to life. I love being a Catholic...".

Besides, the Holy Spirit expresses itself in different ways, especially through pastors.   Pope Francis has impressed many both inside and outside the Catholic community with his earnest aestheticism.  But Dolan touches people with his joyful sensibility combined with his fervent faith.

For Colbert's part, his humor was gentle and charitable.  I will forever think of the title  "Your Eminence" with a subtle smile yet appreciating the implication of the honorific.  While Timothy Cardinal Dolan remains in New York after the Sweet Sistine 2013 Conclave Championship, at least Dolan's beloved baseball St. Louis Cardinals have reached with World Series this year without the existential threat of competing  against the New York Yankees.

Fanfare for the Fortnight For Freedom 2013

NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Today is the start of the second Fortnight for Freedom as urged by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops.  It is a period of  prayer, fasting, education and action to preserve the fundamental natural right that is enshrined in the Bill of Rights–the Freedom of Religion.  This effort was started last year by USCCB President New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan






Appreciating the First Amendment is particularly poignant as there are so many challenges to religious liberty and the freedom of conscience, such as the HHS Qualified Health Plan Mandate (a.k.a. the Contraception, Sterilization and Abortifacient rider), the exclusion of non-compliant adoption organizations who will not service same-sex couples, states which have approved , states co-ercing traditional marriage believers to conform to same-sex so called marriage, the military labeling Catholics and Evangelicals as extremist groups for upholding their moral beliefs, military chaplains being forced out of service if they did not tow the new Politically Correct line on homosexuality.

When President Obama marked Religious Freedom Day in 2013, he framed religious liberty as the “freedom to worship as we choose.”  That might have been acceptable public policy shorthand, but such a charitable assessment is not borne out by the actions of the Obama Administration.   This is especially exemplified in the HHS contraception mandate.

 After the initial hue and cry when the Obama Administration aborted religious liberty with the Obamacare requiring free contraception, Mr. Obama supposedly backtracked by rescinding this reviled regulation.  But as it turned out, the Obama Administration was just obfuscating authority regarding religious liberty.  The rule for “free” contraception  supposedly would not be applied to objecting churches themselves but would be effectively passed along by the insurance companies who were forced to pick up the tab for the unconscionable inclusions.  However, this so called contraception compromise did not cover religiously affiliated groups, like religious orders, parochial schools etc...  Moreover many of these organizations self-insure, so it still passed along these contraception costs for them.  Furthermore,  the same day that President Obama gave the public remarks about the contraception compromise, the Federal Register published the final rule for the Qualified Health Plan mandate with language that was unchanged from August 11, 2011.  Mr. Obama’s contraception compromise did allow religious organizations to delay implementation for one year, or as Cardinal Dolan joked that: "We were given an extra year to change our morals."

Pope Francis

While some may dismiss the contraception controversy as it seems like a Catholic thing, those who care about religious liberty need to delve deeper.  These regulations are defining what qualifies as a church in a narrow and strangling manner To receive First Amendment protections, the Obama Administration believes that an entity serve only who hold the same creed and serve only those professing the same faith.  Aside from the absurdness of having a government bureaucrat defining what “Church” is, this understanding of freedom of worship misses the point.  As Baltimore Archbishop William Lori points out : "Religious freedom protects more than the freedom to worship on Sunday; it also  protects our ability to live out our faith the other six days of the week."  Pope Francis also extolled: “We are not called to be part-time Christians...[W]e’re called to live our faith at every moment of every day.”

Religiously affiliated adoption agencies in three states and DC- the District of Calamity (sic)  have been forced out of business because their organizations will not work with same-sex couples. Catholic charitable organizations have been criticized for withdrawing from immigrant programs which endorse Gay Marriage.   Religious hospitals who maintain their ethical values will either need to serve their own flock or close down if they do not accede to the abortion requirements of Obamacare.

But it is not just faithful Catholics who are under assault for upholding their faith in America.  The Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School had to go to the United States Supreme Court to receive approbation to fire a called minister.  Despite the 9-0 ruling from the nation’s high court in January 2012, the Obama Administration foisted the contraception clause on America the next week.

The assault on religious liberty is being waged by more than the Obama Administration.  New York City instituted a new policy which prevented the Bronx Household of Faith and other small religious groups from renting space in public schools on weekends even though other non-religious groups could do so. Christian groups on college campuses are being denied recognition (and funding) when they require their leaders to be Christians and strive to live a chaste life as being discriminatory.

Great Maryland Seal

Rhode Island 1st Gov. Seal

The Puritans were Englishmen who were self-exiled to Holland at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century so that they could have religious liberty.  They decided to come to America so that they could raise their children as Englishmen who could have religious liberty in the New World. Roger Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who founded what became “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” in 1636 which separated church authority from religious authority.  Maryland was settled by Cæcilius Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore and others as a refuge for English Catholics.  The Maryland Religious Tolerance Act of 1649 was  first law ever to guarantee the right to worship regardless of denomination.

Secular society has been championing a concept that America was founded on a separation of church and state and that religion was ancillary to education of the times.  While it is true that there is not a state religion, history shows the profound motivation of our founders to pursue religious liberty.   The Fortnight for Freedom should remind us of our proud history of religious liberty and point out how state incursions are strangling this fundamental freedom.  Part of this education about religious liberty should include how sweeping state regulation of secular values will end vital social services in adoption, immigration, adoption, feeding the destitute and health care by religious groups which are serious about their core beliefs.