Last night, Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel to dispel myths and misstatements about his role as Bishop in dealing with Church Scandal — that is, the misrepresentation of Church Teaching by one who claims to be of the Faithful. In this case, that someone is a public and powerful person, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) (see Yahoo! News), who publicly claims it is fine to be pro-abortion-on-demand and be a Catholic in good standing.
Something new to me in watching the interview is that Bishop Tobin is the author of the new book, Effective Faith. I hope to have more on this in the near future. The interview itself was excellent. Bill O’Reilly was thorough in his questions and effectively took the opposing angle. Bishop Tobin’s responses regardig why Rep. Kennedy should not receive Holy Communion were grounded in the Truth, so it was no surprise he was unruffled, firm and unapologetic, while laying out the Church’s teachings cogently, logically and theologically precise.
In addition to the interview, below, here is a link to its coverage on WPRI-TV/12 in Rhode Island. Also, Bishop Tobin was a recent guest on Hardball With Chris Matthews on MSNBC. Matthews was utterly offensive and disrespectful and Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online calls for his firing.
Here’s the interview. Let me know what you think of it.
Bishop Thomas Tobin honesty and steadfastness for the Truth was a natural on the “no spin zone” last night.
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[...] About RealCatholic.com/Ave Maria Sacred Art-Gifts-Books Rhode Island Governor Defends Bishop Tobin! Posted in Catholicism In Culture, Catholicism In Media, Catholicism In Public Policy And Law, Issues, Sacraments by Brother Stephen Dec 10 2009 TrackBack Address. Ever since U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) (see A Catholic View) made public the private discourse between he and Bishop Thomas Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., the mainstream media has had a field day, snidely belittling the Bishop and any clergy, for that matter, who stands up against abortion, especially the abortion-on-demand and conscious clause removals from the current health care “reform” legislation now in Congress. One rare fair interview was with Bill O’Reilly on the Fox News Channel (see previous post and …). [...]
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[...] And Law, Church News, Issues by Brother Stephen Jan 15 2010 TrackBack Address. It looks like U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) is in a bit of a bind. In an attempt to embarrass his bishop last fall — His Excellency Thomas [...]
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