In 410 A.D., barbarians, discontent that they lacked full Roman enfranchisement, sacked Rome. The pagans blamed the Christians for this defeat on the grounds that Christian doctrine renounced the political and military necessities of this world.
Although the Empire was already Christian by this point and Christian soldiers proudly fought on the frontiers, the pagan criticism acquired some currency. Addressing these accusations, St. Augustine responded that Christians were not to blame and, laying the foundation for later just-war theory, argued that in a good state there are circumstances for the defense of one’s country. Barbarians, after all, lived on the borders and were intermittently invading, and a military presence is all that could protect Roman cities from political and moral chaos.
In more recent times, diametrically opposed to such practical wisdom, Cardinal Roger Mahony has suggested that the United States should do nothing in the defense of the Mexican-American border. Although such inaction weakens America’s internal security, places an enormous burden on public resources, and has resulted in cultural chaos, Cardinal Mahony nonetheless thinks it to be sound policy. How he could have reached such a conclusion baffles common sense, but given his previous politics such breaches of sanity surprise not the sober mind.
Cardinal Mahony has a long history of residing on the far Left of the political spectrum. Starting in the 1970s, he maintained close political ties to Governor Jerry Brown, Mexican labor activists, and has continued to prove himself a staunch ally of the Left on many issues – often at odds with Rome.
To begin, Cardinal Mahony not only has been unfriendly to Catholic tradition, but has actively sought to eradicate it. For example, he detests the Latin Mass, has used insidious tactics to block parishioners from instituting it, and has called for the removal of all “European elements” from the liturgy.
Regarding abortion, Cardinal Mahony usually remains silent. When many bishops recently denied communion to pro-abortion politicians, Cardinal Mahony openly welcomed John Kerry to receive communion in the Los Angeles archdiocese. He also has publicly aligned himself with many prominent pro-abortion figures (e.g. William M. Wardlaw, Antonio Villaraigosa, et al.).
Cardinal Mahony, furthermore, has proven to be the homosexual activist’s best friend. In 1986, he established the diocesan office of “ministry to lesbian and gay Catholics,” and has been praised for never “rebuking those gays and lesbians who are not celibate.” In 1997, ignoring Vatican protocol, Cardinal Mahony deilvered the Mass for The National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries. And to top it all off, as many of his critics maintain, he has sheltered known homosexual pedophiles in the clergy.
But Cardinal Mahony is not without his detractors. Over the past two decades, Cardinal Mahony’s abuses and disregard for basic Catholic teaching have been so egregious that at least a dozen Catholic groups have lobbied the Vatican for his removal. Perhaps the time is ripe for more groups to speak up so that the media no longer can portray Mahony’s radical views as typical beliefs of American Catholics.
It is therefore unsurprising that the left-wing media would give so much press to Cardinal Mahony. He not only agrees with their secular agenda, he has done much to promote it. During the past two decades, while the media have moved to the Left and the Church to the Right, Cardinal Mahony, the antithesis to St. Augustine’s traditionalism, remains a regular “Catholic” comrade-in-arms on whom the Left can rely. Perhaps MoveOn.org should put him on the payroll (if he is not on it already).
Matthew A. Roberts is an independent columnist whose recent publications appear at FrontPageMag.org, Reality Check, National Ledger, MichNews, et al. He also maintains a weblog at www.conservatoroccidentalis.com
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