Richard Kimble

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has said he “cannot imagine” the Church continuing to exist if women remain excluded from ordained ministry. 🔗 ow.ly/p0oo50YxWOV

@OrthodoxHistory Fake. Catholicism is expecting record baptisms this year. Your own page admitted that Orthodoxy is not growing significantly in the US and I have shown it is shrinking globally as a percentage of Christianity.

Below is a statement that my brother bishop, @BishopBarron – a colleague on the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty –recently issued. His comments are characteristically clear, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Ferdinand Habsburg sat down with Brandon Scott and Michael Kelly to talk about his distinguished royal family, the hope he derives from the suffering Church and how Catholic immigrants are helping to grow the faith in Europe. youtu.be/TUDMKZIEXS0?si…

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has said he “cannot imagine” the Church continuing to exist if women remain excluded from ordained ministry. 🔗 ow.ly/p0oo50YxWOV

In recent days, @CarriePrejean1, a Catholic, was removed from the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty. She was not given notice as to why she was removed, but it is highly plausible that it was because of comments she made during a hearing. I wish to note both a question she asked and a statement she made. In essence, one of the questions she asked was whether a person who is not a Zionist is therefore antisemitic. The statement she made was that Catholics are not Zionists. Bishop Robert Barron posted on X that she was removed for “browbeating witnesses, aggressively asserting her point of view, hijacking the meeting for her own political purposes.” I must disagree with this statement, having viewed the meeting myself. The purpose of the meeting is to promote religious liberty and to speak out against discrimination and injustice against any person, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise. Defense of religious liberty under the First Amendment is the defense of all human life. Her comment was fitting for the meeting, and for the following reason. Carrie asked an important question, which was directed to Yitzchok Frankel. She asked whether one could reject antisemitism and at the same time condemn the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza, reject political Zionism, or not support the political state of Israel. Carrie was fulfilling her duty as a member of the board in speaking not only for the protection of Jews, but also for Palestinians. It is also a fair question to ask in light of the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed since October 7. As Catholics, we decry the killing of all innocent human life. Her comment and question were also fitting in helping the committee address the evil of antisemitism. In other words, her words can be interpreted as a caution that, in light of evil antisemitic actions, one must not resort to uncontrolled violence against Palestinians in Gaza. There is a fire that was lit, and she was simply pointing out that another fire has been lit, and one cannot put out fire with fire. She wished to hold all persons accountable for violence against innocent human life. Furthermore, defining terms is crucial in arriving at proper justice for all. In resolving the issue of antisemitism, it is important to define exactly what that constitutes. It is not foreign to public discussion to speak of Christian Zionism as it pertains to the present conflict in Iran. She, as a defender of all faiths, must be able to defend her own. That she did courageously in noting that Catholics are in fact not Zionists, and that this should not be remotely part of the definition of antisemitism. The reason this is important is that if rejection of Zionism is equated with antisemitism, it opens the door to the persecution of Catholics, or of people in general. Since this language is part of the current political context when speaking about Israel’s actions, it is just that Catholics, having their own religious liberty under the First Amendment, be able to disagree with religiously or politically motivated actions which do not reflect what it means to be Catholic. Otherwise, we run the risk, as a nation, of gaslighting Catholics as antisemitic, which would itself be a form of religious persecution. The committee cannot serve the purpose of defending religious liberty by denying it to another group, namely Catholics. Therefore, I support Carrie as a fellow Catholic and American for her bravery, and I am proud of her. In fact, she was recently awarded the Catholic Champion Award at the Catholics for Catholics Prayer for America Gala only a few days ago. Countless Catholics from all over the country viewed this moment, where Catholics came together in solidarity to pray for our nation and to support fellow Catholics in responding to our Lord’s command: “Let your light shine.”