Laurie Goodstein gets some more details regarding the Rev. John Hagee's recent lunch with some Catholic leaders and how the letter came about.
“Republican activists have been working with [Hagee] over the last several weeks, giving him books and articles and getting him up to speed and away from the black legends about the Catholic Church," [Bill Donohue said.] "I have to assume he’s acting sincerely, and now understands” that he has been recycling conspiracy theories.
At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon in North Bend, Wash., outside Seattle, Mr. McCain praised Mr. Hagee’s letter. “The fact that he has made an apology I think is very helpful,” Mr. McCain said. “Whenever someone apologizes for something they did wrong, then I think that that’s a laudable thing.”
Asked if he or his campaign were involved in the apology, Mr. McCain replied, “I certainly wasn’t.” Mr. Hagee and his wife held a meeting on Friday to mend fences with about 12 Catholic political conservatives over lunch at a restaurant in Washington, said several attendees.
Deal W. Hudson, a member of Catholics for McCain and the director of the Web site InsideCatholic.com, said he had helped broker the meeting.
Mr. Hudson said that at the lunch Mr. Hagee explained that in his eschatology of the end times the Catholic Church could not possibly be the “whore” mentioned in Revelation and that he had been misunderstood. Mr. Hudson said the lunch ended on a positive note.
Not exactly your average lunchtime chit-chat, no? Anyway, the report yesterday said that Hagee met with 22 Catholic leaders. This report says that he met with about 12 Catholic political conservatives. I'd be interested in knowing who attended the lunch. And I'd be especially interested in hearing reactions to Hagee's letter from a wider range of Catholics.
P.S. After I wrote the last line in the post, it hit me. Why should other Catholics respond to a letter that was addressed only to Bill Donohue? I certainly would understand if other Catholics are waiting for Hagee to reach out to them. Indeed, why did Hagee address the letter to Dononue only rather than to Catholic leaders of all theological and political stripes? Yes, Donohue was the one who raised the hue and cry about Hagee's comments, but if Hagee truly believes he has made mistakes that affect all Catholics, then why didn't he make some attempt to address all Catholics? And, if he did lunch only with Catholic political conservatives, why did he limit the group in this way, or allow it to be so limited? It seems to me that, if this move is to be understood as more spiritual than partisan, Hagee needs to reach out to a wider cross-section of Catholics for meaningful dialogue, and he needs to do so quickly.
What about Hagee's million dollar ministry scandal? How come that is never mentioned in the media? For more info, google search "open letter to pastor hagee"
Posted by: Bernie of FreeGoodNews.com | May 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM