Oct 23, 2024 2 min read

The Observer-Reporter published the AP version of Donald Trump’s appearance at the Al Smith dinner. The fundraiser for Catholic Charities honors Al Smith, who, in 1928, became the first Catholic to receive a major party’s nomination for President.

What wasn’t mentioned was how The National Catholic Recorder responded. Here are excerpts from their editorial. Catholics, listen up:

“Trump’s (record is) besmirched by actions such as inciting an insurrection, paying off a porn star for her silence and placing children in cages at the border and separating them from their parents.

The real scandal is that the good Catholic cardinal of the great city of New York would not have the courage to say, this year, that the current Republican candidate is a walking example of so much the Catholic Church finds repugnant in today’s politics that he would suspend the normal invitations.

The real controversy is that an event that touts its history of raising funds for society’s most needy is going to host someone who is one of the culture’s greatest threats to that kind of caring. The real outrage is that Trump, given the public nature and extent of his repulsive record, should be invited to a fundraiser for an organization, Catholic Charities, that has long worked in the trenches to save and transform lives on society’s farthest margins. It is tragic that the guest of honor this year will be someone whose personal example and policy wishes are in a collision course with the principles of Catholic social teaching.”

Dorothy Tecklenburg

Amity