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Readers Write: The Bishop, the Cardinal and the Catholic vote

In less than two weeks, we will vote in the most consequential election of our lifetime.

Every four years, the Diocese of Rockville Centre sends out a letter around presidential election time with a veiled endorsement for the Right-To-Life candidate.

This year was no exception with Bishop John Barres also telling Catholics they “must vote NO against Proposal One,” also known as the Equal Rights Amendment.

The letter contained falsehoods and was a mechanism to spread fear and hate about the already vulnerable LGBTQ+ community.

Should Catholics take voting advice from a bishop who has fired a beloved schoolteacher for his sexual orientation, presided over two dioceses’ coverup of clergy’s sexual abuse of children, and is soon to hand over $323 million, partially funded by individual parishes, to pay for these abuses?

Respectfully, Bishop Barres should let Catholic voters decide for themselves instead of imposing a short-sighted and unwelcome view.

About half the Catholics, including Barres and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, arguably the most prominent Catholic in the nation, oppose abortion with no exceptions such as rape, incest, or harm to the mother.

This group sadly believes they have control over a woman’s uterus. They fail to see that our moral responsibilities do not stop at the moment of birth, and that Right-to-Life issues must also include supporting sensible gun control, quality of life for the sick, elderly, poor and homeless, and the humane treatment of immigrants.

Do either Barres or Dolan ever consider Catholic values that are also shared with religions of all denominations? These values include charity, compassion, honesty, humility, love, kindness, and respect for others.

Have they not heard the cacophony of contempt that has come out of former President Donald Trump’s mouth, day after day, year after year and decade after decade?

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Do they think about the fear spread through the Haitian communities because of Trump’s recent “eating the dogs” refrain?  Or do they think calling Haiti a sh*thole appropriate? Do they chuckle with his crude comments about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia?

The questions could go on ad infinitum.

Yet Barres and Dolan have unwavering support for the former president.  I get it.

Clergy measure success by the number of seats in the pews. Sadly, it is dollars and cents rather than following the tenets of Catholicism.

At the recent Al Smith dinner, Trump was flanked by the Cardinal, who did not even flinch when Trump called Harris “stupid, nasty and mentally impaired,” none of which is true as evidenced during the recent Harris-Trump debate.

A couple of questions come to mind when thinking of the WWJD cliché.  Would Christ be yukking it up with Donald Trump, as did Dolan with Trump at the Al Smith dinner?

Or would Christ be favoring a positive, enthusiastic, Ted Lasso-like Harris/Walz ticket?

I remain positive and believe Harris will win by wider margins than polls predict, allowing us to distance ourselves from negativity and build a more united America.

Jim Hickey

Westbury

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