Archbishop Dolan To Pray At RNC

Archbishop Timothy Dolan will give the closing prayer at the Republican convention in Tampa, an interesting choice because the national coalition of Catholic bishops that he heads recently issued a blistering denouncement of the Ryan Plan to eviscerate services for the poor. Obviously, this is meant to sway Florida's Hispanic vote.

A spokesman for Dolan said convention protocol calls for the local bishop to deliver such a prayer, meaning the slot would have normally gone to a Florida bishop, but that the Republican convention’s organizers insisted on Dolan’s participation. “The Cardinal made it clear to the RNC (and to the Democratic National Committee as well) that he was only there to offer a prayer, not to engage in any partisan politics,” the spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, said in an e-mail, “and that he would be willing to accept a similar invitation from the DNC if they were to invite him to pray at their Convention as well.” Catholics are considered the quintessential swing vote, and no presidential candidate has won the White House without winning that bloc since at least the early 1990s.

(Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)