The following comes from an August 14 story on WPRI.com.
Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin revealed Tuesday night that he recently became a registered Republican, but he also emphasized that the church and its mission shouldn’t be viewed through a narrowly partisan lens.
“The a-ha moment for me was the 2012 Democratic National Convention. It was just awful,” Tobin, 65, told the Rhody Young Republicans during an event at the Holy Rosary Band Society Hall in Providence. The leader of Rhode Island’s roughly 621,000 Catholics said he had been a registered Democrat since 1969.
“I just said I can’t be associated structurally with that group, in terms of abortion and NARAL [Pro-Choice America] and Planned Parenthood and [the] same-sex marriage agenda and cultural destruction I saw going on,” Tobin said. “I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Tobin switched his affiliation to the Republican Party effective Jan. 5, according to voter records reviewed by WPRI.com. He is registered to vote from a house on the 140-acre grounds of the diocese’s Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Providence.
“I’ve changed my party registration now, but the fact is that the registration itself doesn’t mean a whole lot to me,” Tobin said.
About 60 people who attended Tobin’s nearly two-hour discussion on faith and politics gave him a standing ovation before and after he spoke. He made the disclosure about his affiliation by holding up two pieces of paper – his letter from the East Providence Board of Canvassers confirming his Republican affiliation, and his baptismal certificate.
“My thesis tonight is that the two of these are related, and can be related very comfortably, and frankly if I had to choose between the two – between my party affiliation and my baptismal record – this is the one that will bring me to eternal life,” Tobin said, pointing to his certificate of baptism.
“Would Jesus be a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative?” Tobin asked. “I’m going to punt on that question and say: all of the above and none of the above. Labeling Jesus or labeling the church or labeling me depends on the particular issue.”
Pope John Paul II appointed Tobin as the eighth Bishop of Providence just three days before the late pontiff’s death in April 2005. He could be a part of Rhode Island public life for many years to come: bishops are not required to submit their resignations to the pope until they turn 75, which for Tobin will not happen until 2023….
To read the entire report, click here.
There is just SO MUCH to Tobin’s words for all vou veteran Cal-Cath commenters to take note.
First, the article says that Tobin “also emphasized that the church and its mission shouldn’t be viewed through a narrowly partisan lens.” BINGO! How’s that for Anonymous’ wrong assertion (in the article on immigration) that the Bishops’ teaching is “leftist jargon.” Tobin takes care of that! People, the bishops’ priority is the Gospel, not in “baptizing” and “validating” your political views. OK?
Who cares!!!
perhaps, the good bishop will now pay his share of income tax, sell his earthly goods give his money to the poor and follow the lord
You nailed it, jon. Issue-by-issue, the Democratic Party is officially distancing
itself from Christianity and embracing hedonism. But even a broken clock is
right twice every day. For values that match Christianity, though, the Republican
Party is right far more often. That, for me, says it all. No side is 100% right or
wrong. We have to learn what the respective positions are and vote according to
principles, not party.
Amen! Ted.
jon, you should write a book and make a youtube prezo on how to properly view the Church … all 1.2 or so billion members of Her. Be sure to include your living whatever it was … oh yes, your living magisterium, and your living Gospel, and your living high … don’t forget that, jon.
You mean that the Bishops are supposed to make teaching the Gospel as their first priority, jon.
That does not mean that they all do so.
Headline Nov 22, 2009:
Rep. Patrick Kennedy Banned From Receiving Communion By Bishop Thomas Tobin
We need more bishops like him! Anyone taking on the Kennedy Mafia is a hero to me!
PS: The issue was Rep. Kennedy’s obstinate support of abortion… Surprised?
Anton,
So what, the Kennedys still get to be speakers at the annual dissent fest, the Archcdiocese of Lost Angels Religious Dis-Education Congress. Virtually all of the U.S. Bishops who now side with Planned Barenhood have been speakers at that mess.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
I agree with you, Mr. Fisher. The Kennedys are still considered gods in the modern Catholic pantheon. They symbolize everything that is wrong with the post-Vatican 2 American Church. I recently received a nice little booklet from the Knights of Columbus, featuring important saints and other inspiring articles, and then I bumped into a length paean about John F. Kennedy and his lofty status as a fourth-degree knight. It appears the folks back at headquarters had never heard of how he turned the White House into a brothel, and how American Catholicism collapsed under his leadership when he stated that he would never let his faith get in the way of his duty as a statesman.
The Bishop should have followed up his denial of Communion to PKennedy by kicking him in the seat of his pants, out the doors and down the steps.
i met president kennedy how dare you tarnish the memory of our murdered president
JFK tarnished his own image with his obscene behavior. Nobody forced him to cheat on his wife with Marilyn Monroe and the
untold number of bimbettes he chased naked through the corridors of the White House. The man was mentally ill, with an
advanced case of satyriasis, an affliction shared by other Kennedys of the male gender. Sorry, Thomas, Catholic gentlemen
do not degrade themselves to such an outrageous extent.
Will God forgive him?! The Democrat are not much better! !!
TEM alot of your comments I find to be offensive and especially when you use the name of God to make a point….that is so offensive and twisted of you. No one has to guess what your agenda is……it’s very offensive to my faith.
Why is it big news that a Catholic Bishop registered as a Republican (which he immediately apologized for)? It is news because it is a desertion from the religious arm of the Democratic party… the name of that arm is the USCCB.
Go back and read the USCCB statement on the economy from 20 years ago. It reads like a blueprint for Barack Obama’s attack on our nation and its institutions. So yes this is big news.
Yes, and it all came from that stupid and isidious statement of theirs, that began with Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago and continued by other Cardinals, about the “Seamless Garment”. (all issues being equal) However, that statement could have been misunderstood at the time, but was never corrected by any of the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. Even after Blessed John Paul II absolutely said that it was not correct to equate abortion and homosexuality with any other issues. The Americans twisted Blessed John Paul II’s insturction to be unrecognizable. Blessed John Paul II asked the Bishops to make it clear to the politicians and the faithful that if you vote for a politican ,with the voting history of abortion and promoting same-sex marriage, you are directily and indirectly co-operating with Evil. Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI were very straight forward with their statements and were never ambiguous.The America culture has fallen to the lowest point of Dante’s Inferno. Abortion on demand (full-term) and the Redefinition of Marriage is proof of that; all done on the Tax payers dime and time.Your dime and time will also now demand that the curriculim will include to teach in the Public School students from K-12 about homosexuality. The most recent Bill that just passed in California is SB 1266 and signed by a so called Catholic, Governor Jerry Brown, will demand that the teachers and the school allow the children to pick what ‘Gender’ they want to be at school.
Intellectone,
Correction, my good friend, the late Bishop Austin Vaughn switched his Party affiliation early on, and he never apologized for it. He also told his brother bishops at a USCCB meeting that “bishops who go to Hell, don’t go so much for sins of commission, but sins of omission! God bless his eternal soul.
I believe his friend, the late Bishop Walsh also followed his example.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
If you want to buy a house you preferably get a fixer-upper, not a tearer-downer.
The Democrat Party is most definitely the latter.
The Democrat Party has gone over to the dark side (just check its platform), and has been there quite a long time now. Most of the bishops for some bizarre reason are still Democrats, although I cannot imagine what is in the Republican platform that a faithful Catholic would need to reject.
Roberta you are correct, if they became in good will and joined the Republican party…..just think how much we can improve the Republican Party and how much more we can enforce it’s platform. We just need to join up….there is power in numbers. Why do you think the Democrats are gaining more power, its because they join forces on certain agenda’s that they truly believe it to be their worthy cause and fool the ones who are supposedly to follow Christ by selling them a package that looks appealing and deceitful. If our fellow men would vote morally, instead of their personal views like being for the poor, but we all know that the Democrats are not really for the poor, if they voted and trusted God more on life issues, then they would trust that if they voted morally right to protect the unborn, our seniors, to keep the real definition of marriage etc etc…then many would see who really are the culprits who are destroying this country and our moral values. If we vote morally, then the poor would be taken care of better, there would be less abortions, perhaps it may end abortion laws in place etc etc…the list goes on…
As an appointee of Blessed John Paul II it is more than disappointing to hear Bishop Tobin say, ” that the church and its mission shouldn’t be viewed through a narrowly partisan lens,.” Bishiop Tobin even emphasized it?
Even after the Democrats put ‘Abortion on demand (full-term) and have voted for homosexuality “liberation” (to redefine marrage) towards same-sex marriage over a period of at least (30) Thirty years, Bishop Tobin remained a Democrat?? Bishop Tobin, did you miss that part where Jesus said that the “Path to Heaven is Narrow”. ” Pick-up Your Cross and Follow Me.” By co-operating with the Political Party directly (by not admonish the politicians ‘Publicly’ and indirectly by not alerting the faithful, in the pews ,dirctly and correctly, by exposing these Evils) that votes, promotes and supports ‘Intrinsically Evil’ has no other qualities. There is no reason in the United States of America to belong to a Political Party that embedded into their Platform, which they follow as a religion: Abortion on demand (full-term) and the ‘Redefinition’ of Marriage, when God had long since defined that He is Our Father (Life is precious) and defined Marriage between one man and one woman.
As a Bishop, you should be aware of the difference between degrees of Sin.
Abortion and Redefining marriage (homosexualality) are both ‘Intrinsically Evil’ and at no time or reason, should an Authentic Roman Catholic be registered or vote with a Party that promotes, votes, and supports these Inctrinsically Evil acts.
God Bless you and keep you safe!
Intellectone: Your observation is absolutely correct. We all should ask WHY did Bishop Tobin wait all these years to jump ship? It must have been a difficult decision to break with the majority in the USCCB. A more poignant question is why are so many of our shepherds still so firmly attached to a political party dedicated to the principles of the anti-Christ? When all other rational explanations fail, I must cynically fall back on the primacy of money. Money seems to be the perennial obsession of the Catholic church at all levels, from the parish on up the ladder. The bishops are in charge of what is the biggest money-raising enterprise in the country, all for the purpose of providing welfare benefits. In this endeavor, they rely on the federal government for infusions of massive taxpayer funds. That is the only plausible explanation why they are so totally committed to the Democrats and turn a blind eye to the abominations they thereby support and foster. An unkind description would be that our bishops have become hustlers.
The democrats are for the “little guy” – at least that is what they USE as a line to hook the uninformed. Fact it, their agenda is cursed. It stands for all things abnormal, sinful and repulsive to those with moral integrity and Christian values. I detest all they represent. Abortion on demand, “gay” marriage, legalizing drug use, euthanasia – ask yourself: Can you really be Catholic, Christian, and SUPPORT such an accursed agenda?? Get real. Get off the fence, don’t be “luke warm” – you CAN’T be a true believer of God and the Gospel and be a democrat. Maybe, at one time you could – NOT any more.
DEMONcrat may be the correct spelling?
Well said Jon…hope he maintains his bearings…good choice the republicans. Some of the most interesting stuff I have yet read comes from “buddhaislaughing”…a.k.a. Buddha Is laughing on the Jonathan Turley blog. Check out all of buddha’s previous post’s…many are prescient, if not profound.
Interesting thing about Turley…many say he wanted an appointment by the big “chief”, he may have gotten one… but he bad mouthed Holder and other key member’s of this brilliant staff… a profound political think tank assembled by our president….
That it took Bishop Tobin, a holy and faithful shepherd, so long to switch, suggests to me that 99% of the USCCB must be registered Democratic. Maybe more.
yes juergensen that is the most heartbreaking detail…it is discouraging to say the least. How can we even begin to explain it to our kids….
He could on “take it for 44 years” — pro-abortion, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, same sex marriage… Well, God bless him. I would be the last person to cast stones. Let’s hope more Catholics start seeing the light. (A little help from the pulpit might help; seeing some Roman collars praying in front of abortion centers might help).
correction: He could only…
Great article…keep up the great work
I have great respect for Bishop Tobin and am pleased that he left the Democratic party. Though I wonder how he could he have waited so long and why he is still affiliated with any political party? Having read the entire article, I have my disappointments. At least it’s a step forward for him.
Fredi: I agree. What took him so long to get out of the party of Death? However, it takes a lot of courage to take on the Kennedys. This clan is so firmly embedded with the Catholic hierarchy it still amazes me that a lowly bishop like Tobin slew the dragon and got away with it. I am waiting for someone to take on Nancy Pelosi and knock that witch off her broomstick. I had high hopes when Abp. Cordileoni took over SF, but I am not so sure anymore. Meanwhile, let’s hope the stranglehold the democrat party has on our bishops will slowly yield. If not, the Obama regime will be replaced by the Clinton regime, version 2. The “Catholic” vote will again be 60-40 pro-abort and pro-gay marriage.
What took Bp Tobin so long is a good question: modern education tends to tends to teach students what others have thought ought, but does not tend to teach students to think out from scratch. There are many ways that reason can be introduced organically; the one I received was when my father told me to figure out how to attach the nut to the bolt that held the seat on the bicycle. Very simple lesson, but I find many many college educated people have never learned it; instead they simply take it to a shop: In like manner, many or most modern educated students, whether Catholic or public education recipients, take their questions to the shop for the fix. The bishops are supposed to repair and not to fix the situations, but typically they put the fix on every money situation their bureaucracies can dream up. They would not be able to succeed at this if the Catholic education system taught students how to reason based on fact; and so they orchestrate an education system that trains kids to think based on tenuous bases, which Jesus calls foundations of sand, which shift around constantly. This is fine for training fighters or merchants, but not for seeking Heaven or Truth. And for a bishop to become holy, as commanded by Popes, requires they give up their money machine and work out their salvation on the Rock which does not shift, and which is unlike their sandy turf.
Quote from Bishop Tobin:
“As I watched Mr. Obama, though, and later reflected on his speech, I sensed there was something missing; there was something that left me cold, unimpressed and unmoved.
And suddenly it became clear. The problem, at least for me, is that President Obama’s persistent and willful promotion of abortion renders his compassionate gestures and soaring rhetoric completely disingenuous. “O come on, Bishop Tobin,” I hear you say. “Abortion’s not the only moral issue in the world.” Correct, I respond. Abortion’s not the only moral issue in the world but it is the most important. And, I confess, abortion policy is the prism through which I view everything this president says and does.
Is there any longer any doubt that Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president we’ve ever had?”
— continue reading at my blog: fjdalessio dot wordpress dot com; search word: “tobin”
Beautiful website, Mr. D’ Alessio. I hope to return to it more often.
Based on the fact that anyone that supports abortion, infanticide, and euthanaia cannot be Catholic and the democratic party eagerly supports all of these it follows that no one can be associated with the democratic party in any form.
Robert: From your lips to our bishops’ ears. We must all pray for their conversion. But we must not obey their “voter guides” that back-handedly support the welfare state, using pious but entirely false rhetoric. There is no compromise with evil. Period.
“Smaller, holier Church” (Pope Emeritus): This cuts out at least two thirds of the bishops and half the laity from the Church that Pope Emeritus is talking about. (This, YFC, on beer and popcorn, so eat your heart out, dude”.)
The Democratic Party of Death can only win by dividing Americans –
dividing the rich from the poor, black from white, etc. They instigate and love to see people fighting amongst themselves.
Wait a minute Dottie. You say “The Democratic Party of Death can only win by dividing Americans –
dividing the rich from the poor, black from white, etc. They instigate and love to see people fighting amongst themselves.”. So in that case, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison must not be Democratic or give to Dem causes. Blacks must be fleeing the Dem party as they feel the heat from the party. Women must feal alienated, and Latinos spurned.
In contrast, the Republican big tent must a huge diverse equal mix of every race, gender, ethnicity, class, geography etc etc, because Republicans welcome everyone equally.
Try telling that to the 47% !
Does anyone else get fed up with this website glitch where sometimes the name window is blank and other times it has your name in it? Year after year, and the webmaster hasn’t yet figured out how to fix this problem … modernist education, I guess.
I haven’t seen that glitch yet. I have seen different ones, though.
I can only speak for myself, guys, but whenever I clean the cookies from my computer (and it’s also done automatically by my system cleaner once a week) it eliminates my automatic sign ins. I just have to remember to put them in and then they automatically fill in til the next file purging. (sounds like something they do out there on the Left Coast for fun) haha Also, I wanted to share with everyone in case they’ve not seen it, there’s a really good video featuring Elbert Guillery from LA, a black senator, called “Why I Chose to Become a Republican”…here’s a semi-link in keeping the rule:realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/06/18/elbert_guillory_why_i_chose_to_become_a_republican.html
Short and sweet.
I haven’t been cleaning my cookies. I guess I shall be punished for that.
WOW! I am amazed he stayed with taht “nazi” type party for so long!!! I left years ago. I wandered to the Republican party, but frankly they are so ineffective as to being a party to the leftists. Catholics, most especially religious should (if they haven’t already) leave the Dem party IN DROVES! This may send a message…do ya think? None of the blaspheming would be here if it were not for the vote of the so called Catholics, They have much blood on their hands.
DearWannabe: Catholic democrats have indeed blood on their hands. By voting liberal they perpetuate the slaughter of the
innocents. They are more culpable than they think, because as Catholics they should know better.
Michael Voris of Church Militant TV Responded to the ‘change’ by the Bishop (s) – in some of the strongest and most direct language I have ever heard, even from this venerable Veritas Source.
Can’t recommend it strongly enough – He Directly Responds to the above article about a Bishop leaving the Demicrat party – better than any words I can add:
Blindness about Obama 08-23
Why are so many bishops blind to Obama’s evil?
https://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-08-23