Spare us, O Lord: a shepherd misleading the flock - again!

The October 16th Al Smith dinner, sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York, is slated to feature co-guest speakers John McCain and Barack Obama. Hosted by Cardinal Edward Egan, the dinner gives the politicians the "opportunity to show how well they speak when they aren't on a political stage" according to Catholic News Agency. The Alfred E. Smith Foundation website says the organization was "founded by His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman in 1946, to honor the memory of Alfred Emanuel Smith, New York's renowned Governor and patron of the 'Little People'. The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation supports and aids the poor, sick, and underprivileged of the Archdiocese of New York, regardless of race, creed, or color."

Okay, so this is clearly a Catholic organization. Now let's get this straight: a Catholic group is holding a Catholic event hosted by a prince of the Church that will give a position of honor and prominence to 1) the most pro-abortion, pro-infanticide politician ever to walk the halls of Congress and 2) a politician who supports embryonic stem cell research. Neither of these gentlemen is allowed under the bishops' own guidelines to speak at this event, particularly Obama who holds the most radically pro-abortion position of almost any politician in the country. How many have refused to help babies born alive after a failed abortion? Obama is an icon for the culture of death.

In 2004 the bishops approved a document at their General meeting called "Catholics in Political Life." It states, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions. (my emphasis) Obviously the Al Smith dinner gives both Obama and McCain positions of prominence. It is confusing and likely to make people assume that their positions are equal and that Obama's abortion extremism is perfectly fine with the Cardinal as he appears in media photographs laughing and chatting up the the abortion extremist.

During the 2000 presidential campaign George Bush and Al Gore spoke at the dinner, but in 2004 presidential candidates George Bush and John Kerry were passed over for Bush senior and former New York Governor Hugh Carey. It is not a tradition set in stone to feature the presidential candidates and this is one year someone else should have received the invite. To bring a man whose policies are so evil he is the soulmate of the worst mass murdering tyrants in history is scandalous.

Please protest this scandalous event!

Contact Cardinal Egan's office at
1011 First Ave
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-371-1000
Fax: 212-308-2674

If anyone has the Cardinal's email, please leave it in the comments section.