We wouldn’t expect Frances Kissling, recently retired president of the anti-Catholic front group Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC), to have any kind words to say about the likes of the Catholic League. Indeed, we would be concerned if she did. So we weren’t surprised to read an interview in the March 9 National Catholic Reporter in which Kissling whined, “The viciousness of the Donohues, the Deal Hudsons, the George Weigels and the
What was interesting, however, was to see Kissling lash out at the those so-called “Catholic” groups that, like CFFC, often work against the teachings of the Church. According to the National Catholic Reporter:
She dismisses the 30,000-plus Catholics Voice of the Faithful claims as members, calling it a “paltry number” driven by those “who have clicked on their Web site.”
“And then,” she continued, “you look at all the rest of us, Call to Action, ARCC [the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church], Dignity, the Women’s Ordination Conference.” So small in number and influence, Kissling said, that “the movement doesn’t exist….”
Meanwhile, Kissling said, the progressive religious community’s efforts to ingratiate itself with the Democratic party works against the efforts of church reformers, especially feminists. “It is threatening because what the Democratic Party wants from religion is respectability and credibility. They want a rabbi with a yarmulke on his head, a minister who wears a collar or some religious garb. They want a mainstream respectable image of religion….
The result, Kissling said, is “two patriarchal forces, politics and religion, converging on the progressive side, in which women and so-called marginal issues are excluded.”
Now if only Frances would tell us what she really thinks…
The article in National Catholic Reporter, titled “Kissling leaves, with barbs for the left,” is available only to subscribers. Click here to read some excerpts provided by Catholic World News.
