Catholics engaging in personal attacks over politics, says archbishop

Published: 2004-09-28

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- The "fusillade of personal attacks" in the current presidential campaign is infecting the debate over issues among Catholics, said Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis. "One wonders why the Christian values of charity toward one another and the American value of fair play have been abandoned," he wrote in a Sept. 23 column in The Catholic Spirit, his archdiocesan newspaper. "This uncharitable, biased and reckless substitute for what formerly was fair-minded commentary and fact-based dialogue has found its venomous way into our Catholic family," he wrote. Archbishop Flynn specifically criticized Barbara Kralis, who writes for The Wanderer, an independent national Catholic weekly newspaper based in St. Paul, and who posts columns on various Web sites. She had previously criticized the archbishop, saying he has left the door open to giving Communion to Catholic politicians who favor keeping abortion legal.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .