With all due respect to the Bishop, this was a poor decision. I'd like to know how much she was paid to speak. This is the kind of stuff that needs to stop.
Catholic News Service
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gave a speech at Jesuit-run Canisius College Jan. 31 despite protests by abortion opponents and the withdrawal of sponsorship of the event by agencies of the Buffalo Diocese. Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo cited the U.S. bishops' statement on "Catholics in Political Life" in a Jan. 28 announcement that he would "reluctantly" allow the event to take place despite Clinton's strong support for keeping abortion legal.John J. Hurley, Canisius' vice president for college relations, told Catholic News Service that the college "will not give ... awards or honors" to public officials who espouse positions in conflict with fundamental church teachings, "but they can be invited to speak on campus so long as they do not use that as a forum to disagree with church teachings."Clinton's talk was on the government's role in health care. About 500 people attended the event, held in the college's Montante Cultural Center. It was part of a lecture series at the college on "The Governmental Role in Effectuating the Corporal Works of Mercy."As first lady during President Bill Clinton's two terms in office, Hillary Clinton led a task force on national health care reform. Since her election to the U.S. Senate in 2000, she has introduced legislation to expand health care coverage for children and has supported legislation to improve coverage for the elderly and those in managed care.In her talk she said, "The idea of talking about government and mercy may seem like a non sequitur, but it is through government -- our collective mutual action -- that we do or fail to do corporal acts of mercy."Clinton invoked her spirituality, the Bible, faith organizations and religious figures during her speech on the Catholic campus. She also cited the role of faith-based organizations and the government working together to face the challenges of today."There is no contradiction between encouraging such charitable works and respecting the constitutional principles that protect people's rights to worship or not, as they choose," she said. "Our national interests are served by allowing people of every faith to carry out their beliefs in the public square. Some of America's greatest advances were inspired by people motivated by faith.""It has never been thought in our country that only religious organizations -- only people of faith -- are responsible for caring for the sick. I see this as a moral responsibility, as individuals, people of faith and religious organizations, but also for our government. The role of government is a way of organizing ourselves to collectively address the challenges we cannot surmount as individuals," she said.Before Clinton's appearance in the lecture series was announced, two Buffalo diocesan agencies -- Catholic Charities and the Office of Church Ministry -- were co-sponsors of the series.Bishop Kmiec said the agencies withdrew sponsorship after learning that Clinton would be among the speakers. "We have communicated our displeasure and have discussed the situation with Canisius College officials," he said.He said the diocese subscribes to the U.S. bishops' policy that "the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles with awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."He said the bishops also expressed a commitment, however, "to maintaining communications with public officials who make decisions every day that touch issues of human life and dignity.""It is for this reason, despite calls for the cancellation of the event, that it was thought best to allow it to proceed, though reluctantly, in order to maintain channels of communication with Sen. Clinton and others who hold her views," he said.American Life League president Judie Brown sharply criticized the college's decision to host a Clinton speech and called on Bishop Kmiec to repudiate that decision. "A known abortion advocate is being given a public platform at a Catholic institution -- a situation that is at best confusing and at worst scandalous," she said.Clinton, who was suffering from a stomach virus, fainted shortly before her Canisius College appearance. About five minutes into a noontime speech on Social Security at Buffalo's Saturn Club, she stopped to sit down, saying she was feeling weak. As she returned to the podium she fainted briefly, but recovered, drank some liquids and insisted on going on to the Canisius event.She started her Canisius talk, scheduled for 1:15 p.m., about 20 minutes late.She told the audience her fainting spell "wasn't as dramatic as it sounds." "I will be fine," she said. "What better place to come to talk about healing the sick?"She called for a national health care policy, noting that the country leads the world in health care spending yet has millions without access to adequate health care."We now face the dilemma of having 45 million Americans currently uninsured, and that number is growing larger every year. This isn't just about numbers, even though they are big numbers. This is about real families, people who through no fault of their own find themselves in difficult medical and financial dilemmas," she said."The richest nation in the history of the world should be able to find some way to provide every citizen with quality, affordable health care coverage," she said.
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