May 13, 2008 2:53 PM
Hagee apologizes for anti-Catholic remarks
Breaking news:
Pastor apologizes for anti-Catholic remarksBy JIM KUHNHENN – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — John Hagee, an influential televangelist who endorsed John McCain, is apologizing to Catholics for referring to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and calling it "the apostate church."
Hagee's support for McCain has drawn criticism from some Catholic leaders. McCain has said he does not agree with some of Hagee's past comments.
In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."
Donohue, one of Hagee's critics, said, "To me, it's basically over." He planned to meet with Hagee.
[my emphasis in Hagee's quote] This is fresh on the heels of my post yesterday where Hagee had only positive things to say about Pope Benedict's visit - see Thank you, Pope Benedict.
I would have preferred if he had ended his sentence w/out the squirmy "that Catholics have found hurtful." I always teach my kids that's not a real apology.
But it still shows some humility.
I feel that the Holy Spirit is moving among God's people, causing them to surrender their prejudice and stand together - as Hagee said, "for the common good." People working in Christian communications have definitely shown less prejudice than the local church. One can only help that this kind of leadership eventually filters down to the local level.
I think Pope Benedict's visit went a long way toward promoting more understanding. And he certainly was a model of Christlike leadership.
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Comments
I just found out about this blog and I have been trying to "catch up", there is a lot to read. I'd like to share an experience my husband and I had while looking for a church to join when we both started dating. I grew up A/G, and he Catholic and we decided to visit all kinds of churches to see if we could find a place where we both felt comfortable. Secretly, I was hoping we'd end up at an A/G church. One of these churches that we visited was a Baptist one where the special speaker missionaries talked of the evil forces that they constantly fought against in Africa...namely the A/G church and the Catholic church nearby. At this moment, my husband loudly said something to me like, "that's you and that's me, so shall we leave?" and we walked out right then and there. We wrote a letter to the pastor telling him of the great offense and disunity that the missionaries were portraying. He wrote back that it's his job to warn his flock of evil, no apology. People that denounce other religions from the pulpit are number #1. Not sorry. They believe it's the right thing to do to denounce other religions. #2. They are doing Satan's bidding in creating disunity among believers. When we are fighting against each other, we are ignorant to real evil that is out there.
I do not think this evangelist is really sorry for saying what he said...as he stated, he is only sorry that he hurt Catholics, not that he said what he said.
By the way, my husband and I chose a Catholic church to join together, the only place where we never heard denouncing of other religions from the pulpit, by the way. There is no time for that in our church with the prayer and Bible reading and all... Seriously, we experienced offensive remarks are the majority of the Protestant churches we tried. I guess I never noticed how common it is for pastors to make remarks about Catholics from the pulpit...it became more noticeable when a Catholic was sitting right next to me.
Posted by: Lianna | June 21, 2008 10:38 PM
