In this report you will see hacked emails regarding
the Catholic Church. One of the most troubling things to me was John Podesta’s
relationship with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and Catholics
United. Two organizations he helped create. The stated purpose of these two
groups is to change the direction of the Catholic Church to make its Doctrine
more liberal. Especially in regards to abortion, same sex marriage and contraceptives.
In the interest of full disclosure I am not Catholic.
I am Southern Baptist. That being said, this working behind the scenes by a
political campaign, to try and influence Church Doctrine should be of grave
concern to every Christian no matter the Denomination.
Re: opening for
a Catholic Spring? just musing . . .
From:john.podesta@gmail.com
To: sandynewman@gmail.com
Date: 2012-02-11 11:45
Subject: Re: opening for a Catholic Spring? just
musing . . .
We created
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a
moment like
this. But I think it lacks the leadership to do so now.
Likewise
Catholics United. Like most Spring movements, I think this
one will have
to be bottom up. I'll discuss with Tara. Kathleen
Kennedy
Townsend is the other person to consult.
On 2/10/12, Sandy Newman <sandynewman@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi, John,
This whole controversy with the bishops opposing
contraceptive coverage even
> hough 98% of Catholic women (and their conjugal
partners) have used
> contraception has me thinking . . . There needs
to be a Catholic Spring, in
> which Catholics themselves demand the end of a
middle ages dictatorship and
> the beginning of a little democracy and respect
for gender equality in the
> Catholic church. Is contraceptive coverage an
issue around which that could
> happen. The Bishops will undoubtedly continue the
fight. Does the Catholic
> Hospital Association support of the
Administration's new policy, together
> with "the 98%" create an opportunity?
>
> Of course, this idea may just reveal my total
lack of understanding of the
> Catholic church, the economic power it can bring
to bear against nuns and
> priests who count on it for their maintenance,
etc. Even if the idea isn't
> crazy, I don't qualify to be involved and I have
not thought at all about
> how one would "plant the seeds of the
revolution," or who would plant them.
> Just wondering . . .
>
> Hoping you're well, and getting to focus your
time in the ways you want.
>
> Sandy
>
> Sandy Newman, President
> Voices for Progress
> 202.669.8754
>
voicesforprogress.org
Catholics in
Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) was founded by Tom Periello in 2005. Its
chairman is Fred Rotondaro. Both Rotondaro and Periello are senior fellows at
the Centre for American Progress, founded by Podesta.
Rotondaro has
called for the ordination of women, saying: “I have never seen any rational
reason why a woman could not be a priest.” In the same article he says that
“Gay sex comes from God”, and asks whether “any practicing Catholic under age
80” agrees with the Church’s teaching on contraception.
Critics have
described CACG as a “Trojan Horse” for those who would undermine Church
teaching. But its connections to senior figures in the Democrat party, and its
intent to change the Church, have not previously been so clear.
Catholics
United was also founded in 2005, by Democrat activists Chris Korzen and James
Salt.
Catholics
United has condemned bishops who deny Communion to politicians who support
legal abortion. It describes this as “a shameful attempt to use the Catholic
sacrament of Communion as a political weapon.
This
next email was in my first article but I felt it was important to include it in
this one as well.
Re: Conservative Catholicism
From:jhalpin@americanprogress.org
To: JPalmieri@americanprogress.org,
john.podesta@gmail.com
Date: 2011-04-11 21:10
Subject: Re: Conservative Catholicism
Excellent point. They can throw around "Thomistic" thought and
"subsidiarity" and sound sophisticated because no one knows what the
hell they're talking about.
Jennifer Palmieri <JPalmieri@americanprogress.org>
wrote:
I imagine they
think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion.
Their rich friends wouldn't understand if they became evangelicals.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Halpin
To: John Podesta <john.podesta@gmail.com>;
Jennifer Palmieri
Sent: Mon Apr 11 18:55:59 2011
Subject: Conservative Catholicism
Ken Auletta's latest piece on Murdoch in the New
Yorker starts off with the aside that both Murdoch and Robert Thompson,
managing editor of the WSJ, are raising their kids Catholic. Friggin' Murdoch baptized his
kids in Jordan where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
Many of the most powerful elements of the conservative
movement are all Catholic (many converts) from the SC and think tanks to the
media and social groups.
It's an amazing
bastardization of the faith. They must be attracted to the systematic thought
and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of
Christian democracy.
You
can see from these next few emails how closely the Clinton Campaign works with
these 2 organizations who are trying to change the Catholic Church.
From:jsalt@catholics-united.org
To: bigcampaign@googlegroups.com
Date: 2008-06-12 12:49
Subject: [big campaignCatholics United Condemns Political Attacks by
"Pro-Life" Groups at Meeting of Catholic Bishops
For Immediate Release Contact:
June 12, 2008 James Salt
<mailto:jsalt@catholics-united.org> 305-978-1056
<mailto:jsalt@catholics-united.org>
jsalt@catholics-united.org
Catholics United Condemns Political Attacks by
"Pro-Life" Groups
Urges "Society for Truth and Justice" and
"Operation Rescue" to Abandon
Divisive Campaign and Join Growing Movement for Real
Solutions to Abortion
Washington, D.C. - Catholics United today expressed grave concerns over an
ad campaign
from the group Society for Truth and Justice and Operation
Rescue founder
Randall Terry, which urges the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB)
to deny communion to "pro-abortion politicians," and to
condemn
Catholics who vote for those same politicians. Catholics United
believes the campaign and an affiliated protest -
scheduled for Friday, June
13 at the USCCB's meeting in Orlando - constitute both a shameful
attempt to
use the
Catholic sacrament of Communion as a political weapon, and a means
of perpetuating decades of the acrimony and division
that have prevented
real progress toward ending abortions in the U.S.
Catholics United further called on the Society for
Truth and Justice and
Operation Rescue to work with leaders from across the
ideological and
political spectrum to craft real solutions to the
abortion issue. A growing
body of evidence - including a Catholics United study
using data from Kansas
and an upcoming 50-state study by Catholics in
Alliance for the Common Good
- suggests that providing economic and social supports
for pregnant women
and families are the most effective ways to prevent
abortions.
"Many of these organizations' supporters are undoubtedly
motivated by a
profound and commendable desire to preserve and
protect human life at all
stages," said Chris Korzen, executive director of
Catholics United and
co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision
of the Common Good
Can Save America from the Politics of Division.
"Unfortunately, the leaders
of these organizations are pursing strategies that are
counterproductive to
their stated objectives. This type of political
rhetoric and campaign
intervention is directly responsible for many of the
failed policies of the
last decade that have proved to be a disaster - by all
reasonable measures -
for human life and dignity."
The ad campaign and USCCB protest are eerily
reminiscent of a 2004 concerted
effort by the Republican Party and far right Catholic
political
organizations to convince Catholics that Senator John
Kerry's position on
abortion rendered him unfit for their vote. Although theologically
inaccurate,
this well-funded and well-organized campaign may have been the
decisive factor in securing President Bush's win in
Ohio.
"It's time to move beyond the failed policies of
the past and address the
real threats to the common good: war, poverty, and
lack of health care and
education, the environment, and our dire economic situation,"
said Korzen.
"It's also time to stop using the abortion issue
to divide voters and to
start bringing Americans together around common ground
solutions. The
Society for Truth and Justice and Operation Rescue's
action are bad for
Catholics, bad for the
unborn, and bad for America."
HRC, Contraceptives, Supreme Court
From:brentbbi@webtv.net
To: john.podesta@gmail.com, roy.spence@gsdm.com
Date: 2015-11-08 17:47
Subject: HRC, Contraceptives, Supreme Court
I would suggest
HRC level a political nuclear blast, ASAP, against a
SupremeCourt
decision that could come in June that would end the contraceptive
mandate in
ObamaCare. Case is now pending. This is going to be explosive
with women voters as they understand what could
happen, with a huge
majority of women strongly supporting contraceptives.
The line is
that the current court could put contraceptives under siege, or
if
contraceptives prevail in the pending case 5-4 a Republican president
would name one
of more justices, if they have a vacancy or two, who would
go after
contraceptives.
This is different than the abortion issue. Women
overwhelmingly support
contraceptives emotionally and in large majorities,
and men also support
contraceptives, and this includes a large majority of
Catholic women and
men and moderate evangelicals.
My advice is
HRC raise this issue soon, aggressively and visibly. If possible
before the
coming Republican debate. This is a powerful, powerful issue.
The real
religious issue is that the right wants to impose its sectarian view
of religion on
all Americans on contraceptives. A huge and emotional majority
would agree
with HRC on contraceptives and the sooner and stronger she
raises this
issue, the better, IMO. Brent.
I
understand most women in America favor contraceptives. This really is not about
contraceptives. It is about forcing Religious organizations to PAY for them. It
is also about the Clinton Campaign trying to use this as another wedge against
the Catholic Church to make the Church more like they think it should be.
[big campaign] You have got to see this
From:jsalt@catholics-united.org
To: bigcampaign@googlegroups.com
Date: 2010-03-24 16:38
Subject: [big campaign] You have got to see this
Below is a
video report for the flash vigil that Catholics United organized
to support
members as they walked into the chamber to vote on Friday.
I
want to give a special shout out to Cliff Frazier and
Mary Kay Henry for
joining us.
<http://www.catholics-united.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=777&qid=94705523>
<http://www.catholics-united.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=782&qid=94705523>
Video of Catholics United members supporting members
of Congress as they
walk into the Capitol building
Dear James,
When we got the word Saturday that the Tea Party
activists were hurling
racial and homophobic slurs at members of Congress as
they walked into the
House chamber, Catholics United sprang into action. In
just 12 hours, we
were able to mobilize 150 people of faith to join in a
prayerful peaceful
counter presence outside the Capitol building.
When Speaker Pelosi linked arms with Congressman John
Lewis to march into
the Capitol, Catholics United was at their side
cheering them on.
And the members of Congress were grateful. As they
walked into the chamber
to make their historic vote, many of them stopped to
thank us for our
positive and life affirming witness. The highpoint came when a number
of
Catholic
members of Congress heard about our witness and asked for some of
our signs. A
few minutes later, these members of Congress were on the
balcony of the
House chamber with our signs, cheering us on.
Our vigil was coverd by CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the Wall
Street Journal and many
more news outlets. This was a great day for the
American people and I'm
proud that Catholics United was right there helping
make it happen. Click
here to see a video compilation from
Sunday.<http://www.catholics-united.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=782&qid=94705523>
Sincerely,
James Salt
Catholics United organizing director
In
the following email you can see the banter over taking credit for pushing same
sex marriage.
Re: Washington Blade Op-Ed: O’Malley’s amnesia on
marriage
From:jpalmieri@hillaryclinton.com
To: jferguson@hillaryclinton.com
Date: 2015-04-20 18:11
Subject: Re: Washington Blade Op-Ed: O’Malley’s
amnesia on marriage
It's great
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 20, 2015, at 4:08 PM, Jesse Ferguson
<jferguson@hillaryclinton.com>
wrote:
This makes me happy.
*From:* hrcrapid@googlegroups.com
[mailto:hrcrapid@googlegroups.com] *On
Behalf Of *Jesse Lehrich
*Sent:* Monday, April 20, 2015 3:58 PM
*To:* hrcrapid
*Subject:* Washington Blade Op-Ed: O’Malley’s amnesia
on marriage
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/04/20/omalleys-amnesia-on-marriage/
O’Malley’s amnesia on marriage
There he goes again. Former Maryland Gov. Martin
O’Malley, who once
extolled the virtues of centrism, now wants us to
believe — in an
unintentionally hilarious rewriting of history — that
he’s more liberal
than Hillary Clinton and a “profile in courage” when
it comes to fighting
for marriage equality.
In a not-so-subtle jab at Clinton, O’Malley in a
February speech said,
“History celebrates profiles in courage, not profiles
in convenience. The
dignity of every person tells us that the right to
marry is not a state
right, it is a human right.”
A Clinton aide last week, responding to a Blade
inquiry, affirmed that the
2016 hopeful views same-sex marriage as a
constitutional right. That
statement marked a change from her earlier position,
articulated in an
infamous NPR interview last year, that she viewed
marriage as a state
issue.
Clinton, like President Obama and Martin O’Malley and
many others evolved
on the issue.
The problem with O’Malley is that he’s had more
positions on marriage than
all the 2016 hopefuls combined. And after pushing for
civil unions right up
until 2011, he now wants voters to believe that he’s a
pioneer on the
issue. What nerve!
Let’s revisit O’Malley’s actual record rather than
listen to his calculated
amnesia.
In 2004, O’Malley told a Baltimore TV station, “I’m
not opposed to civil
marriages.” Also that year, he emailed a plaintiff in
the state marriage
lawsuit that read, “I’m just supporting something I
strongly believe in,”
referring to marriage equality. But by 2006,
O’Malley’s position was
shifting and he said, “I was raised to believe that
marriage is between a
man and a woman. This is a fundamental issue of the
state’s public policy,
and a decision that ultimately should not be made by a
single trial court
judge.” When confronted by gay activists after issuing
that statement,
O’Malley disavowed any previous support of marriage
equality.
After a 2007 Maryland court ruling limiting marriage
to opposite-sex
couples, O’Malley issued the following statement as
heartbroken gay
residents were busy cancelling their weddings and
mourning the court’s
misguided decision: “I look forward to reading the
court’s full opinion,
but as we move forward, those of us with the
responsibility of passing and
enforcing laws have an obligation to protect the
rights of all individuals
equally, without telling any faith how to define its
sacraments. I respect
the court’s decision.”
Privately, O’Malley had assured gay rights activists
and plaintiffs in the
case that he supported marriage equality, only to
reverse course and
ultimately invoke his Catholic religious beliefs to
justify his support of
discrimination.
From 2008-2010, O’Malley publicly backed civil unions
as bills to legalize
marriage equality were defeated in committee. He was
even booed off the
stage at a private LGBT donor gathering after
advocating for civil unions
over full marriage rights.
In 2011, O’Malley finally said he would sign a
marriage bill if passed. “I
have concluded that discriminating against individuals
based on their
sexual orientation in the context of civil marital
rights is unjust.” That
bill ultimately failed.
It wasn’t until New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo embraced
the cause of marriage
equality as a civil rights issue — and well after
Maryland Attorney General
Doug Gansler did the same — that O’Malley evolved yet
again. Whereas Cuomo
made it clear even before he was elected that he
supported full marriage
rights and then lobbied for the needed votes to pass
it, O’Malley was —
until 2012 —the reluctant advocate, offering meek,
private assurances of
support but refusing to publicly embrace the cause,
even after winning a
second term in a landslide.
Though he eventually came around to full support and
was instrumental in
preserving the law after it went to referendum,
O’Malley was late to the
marriage party and certainly doesn’t deserve credit
for its success.
O’Malley has, for years, embodied the poll-driven
milquetoast politician
who checks the wind before staking out a position. Now
he wants us to
believe otherwise.
“We have the ability as a party to lead by our
principles or are we going
to conduct polls every time we try to determine where
the middle is on any
given day,” he told NPR this week.
We should welcome O’Malley’s more progressive
positions without forgetting
his disappointing record of saying one thing in
private and the opposite
when the cameras are rolling.
*Kevin Naff** is editor of the Washington Blade. Reach
him
at knaff@washblade.com <knaff@washblade.com>.*
- See more at:
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/04/20/omalleys-amnesia-on-marriage/#sthash.mrtqrOA3.dpuf
--
Jesse Lehrich
Rapid Response
Hillary For America
781-307-2254
@JesseLehrich
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