Great Catholics in Liberalism (Help me with this list)

[Nikki Stone1]

1. Ted Kennedy
2. JFK
3. RFK
4. Michael Moore
5. Mario Cuomo
6. Andrew Cuomo
7. John Kerry
8. Dorothy Day
9. Martin Sheen

Edited....

[mdmc]

1. I've always like Mario and Andrew Cuomo

[Taverner]

2. Dorothy Day

[Brickbat]

3. Dorothy Day.

[Joe Chi Minh]

101. Lord Acton.

[avaistheone1]

4. John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi.

[Ian David]

7. I'd take Pelosi off the table. n/t

[pnwmom]

52. Pelosi, as a Catholic liberal and the first female Speaker of the House,

clearly qualifies.

[cadmium]

65. agree n/t

[Ian David]

55. Note to "Ignored": If I cared what you said, you wouldn't be "Ignored."

Why do you even bother replying to me?

[pnwmom]

59. Funny, I don't feel ignored.

How would I know I was being ignored unless you went to the trouble of telling me?

[LeftishBrit]

63. You're replying to your own post! Mind you, there are times when I feel like putting myself on iggy!

[Ian David]

66. I know I'm replying to myself, because I can't reply directly to "Ignored." n/t

[YOY]

72. and ignored is agreeing with you FWIW.

n.t.

[Ian David]

78. Even an ignored watch is correct twice a day. n/t

[pnwmom]

85. Testing, testing! Am I the one you're ignoring?

I'm not quite sure.

[pnwmom]

87. Not really -- I think Pelosi qualifies. But maybe I'm not "ignored" after all. n/t

[Ian David]

64. It's so CUTE when you do that! Thanks again, "Ignored." n/t

[Dorian Gray]

131. How would that person know that they are ignored?

[foxfeet]

5. Torquemada.

Ooopsie.

[Nikki Stone1]

9. Not necessary.

...

[foxfeet]

109. Lighten up. It was a joke.

[jonnyblitz]

134. yeah it is to keep things in perspective nt

[YOY]

6. My grandfather Nicola. (on edit...and Francis of Assisi)

RIP old man. I miss you.

[The Straight Story]

8. Shhh you won't make the religion bashers happy by posting something positive about christians

What were you thinking ;)

[Nikki Stone1]

12. We can't cede Christianity to the nutjobs

"Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me."

[The Straight Story]

21. I agree with you - it is like some say about America

Love it or leave it - which is dumb, you stay and work for change for the country you love and don't let the nuts take it over and run it, or you can leave it.

Over the centuries there have been some bad folks using the faith for their own needs - but there have also been even more who used it to help the poor, sick, imprisoned, etc. They don't get the press.

The same people complaining that some labeled all of acorn for the few do the same thing themselves when it comes to people of faith.

Look for the bad, you find it. Which says a lot about a person's bias. I try to look for the good and the bad, because I believe the core is good but we can grow and do better.

[Nikki Stone1]

28. A religion of love and charity is horrendously twisted into a religion of war and selfishness

We need to take it back.

[The Straight Story]

37. Here is one attempt:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/091209dnmetbillboard.3c6ee6a.html

Churches' billboards about gays drawing attention

11:45 PM CDT on Friday, September 11, 2009

By MARK NORRIS / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]

Billboards along Interstate 30 are raising eyebrows by using Bible passages to say Jesus would not have discriminated against gay people.

That's exactly the goal, according to the senior pastor of the Promise Metropolitan Community Church, the group sponsoring the boards.

[Nikki Stone1]

40. Excellent. You know that Jesus would be with the poor, the homeless and the oppressed

and those of us who think he still is need to get out there and make that clear.

[YOY]

60. Thank you.

For reminding me that what I left and still have the courage to stick up for isn't as bad as some here would believe.

[Nikki Stone1]

75. If you start with the idea that we all have souls, you can't go too far wrong

That's where I try to start. Even with some who seem soulless.

[Bluenorthwest]

146. Of course, MCC is a GLBT denomination

So in general, the pastors and members are in fact GLBT. So it is not just 'a church' that did those billboards, it was gay people through their own church that did them.

[Brickbat]

10. Susan Sarandon.

[Nikki Stone1]

13. I didn't know that.

Thanks!

[avaistheone1]

27. ...

[avaistheone1]

31. .

[ourbluenation]

11. Joe Biden. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

14. Mother Jones.

[Drunken Irishman]

15. Martin Sheen.

[Nikki Stone1]

16. Ah, yes.

:)

[Drunken Irishman]

17. Sargent Shriver.

[Octafish]

18. Thomas Merton

The Merton Center

[willing dwarf]

77. Assasinated by the CIA in Asia

A friend of mine had a friend who was over there and connected to CIA and becamse a peace activist swore up and down that Merton was purposely electrocuted to silence him on opposition to the war in Vietnam.

[Drunken Irishman]

19. Eugene McCarthy.

[Drunken Irishman]

20. Jerry Brown.

[Beer on a stick]

22. Meister Eckhardt, Hildegaard von Bingen, Mechtild von Magedburg, St. Teresa of Avila...

etc....

[Octafish]

23. James Douglass

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters

[Johonny]

24. Pope John Paul II ?

Generally LOVED by conservatives for his views on contraception and abortion. He spent vast amounts of his time and basically all his time in the US preaching about debt forgiveness and social justice. John Paul II apologized to Jews, Galileo, women, victims of the Inquisition, Muslims slaughtered by the Crusaders. He also stood up for labor unions in Poland. He was very anti-war and anti-capital punishment. I imagine Scalia's head would explode if he ever actually follow the Popes teachings...

[YOY]

29. I liked him so much more than Joey Ratz.

JP II seemed somewhat huggable...Joey? Not so much. He looks like the Evil Emperor.

[Nikki Stone1]

42. He was against the war in Iraq

For that, I thank him. But he was against the liberation theologians in South America who were working against the murderous right wing thug governments. Some good, some bad.

[Johonny]

110. Yeah but he was for America forgivening debt of South America

It was always interesting what he stressed when he came to America. It was almost always economic issues, not social issues. My FDR loving grandmother loved the guy. I don't think the "liberal" Catholics would have survived as long as they did if not for him. It's not clear how many will survive Pope Benedict XVI.

[troubledamerican]

122. Pope John Paul 2 LOVED Pinochet, the mass-murderer. HATED Liberation Theology.

?v=0

John Paul Pled For Pinochet's Release From Arrest On Human Rights Violations Charges
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/feb/20/pinochet.chile

Human rights activists reacted with shock and incredulity yesterday after the Vatican confirmed it had asked for General Augusto Pinochet to be sent home to Chile.

In a statement, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls indicated that as well as humanitarian concerns, the Holy See had taken up the Chilean government's arguments about the possible impact of the former dictator's detention on Chile's national reconciliation process, and the importance of respecting Chilean sovereignty.

However, the Pope's spokesman appeared to contradict the Foreign Office on the timing of the Vatican's move, saying it had been made a month ago and not in November as the FO said.

Pinochet remains under armed guard at a house in Surrey while he awaits the House of Lords judgment, due soon, on whether he is immune from arrest and extradition to Spain to face allegations of human rights crimes during his 1973-90 rule.

The Vatican's appeal for clemency is likely to have taken the form of a letter from the Secretariat of State, which acts as the Holy See's foreign ministry. Such an initiative would rank quite low on the scale of the Vatican's concerns. Top-level interventions come from the Pope himself in the regular messages he delivers from the window of his apartment in the Vatican.

In his statement yesterday, Dr Navarro-Valls declared: 'The Holy See supports national reconciliation everywhere, including Chile.'

Carlos Reyes, president of the London-based anti-Pinochet campaigning group Chile Democratico, yesterday said he was 'amazed' at the Vatican's stance. 'We are shocked that the Pope is supporting Pinochet, especially when the Pope himself said in a homily in December that blood has stained the hands of those responsible for genocide and they have to be arrested,' he said.

In an open letter to Pope John Paul II towards the end of last month, several campaigning groups, including Chile Democratico and the Chilean-based Families of the Disappeared, made the case for Pinochet to be put on trial.

In their letter, they said: 'The Catholic Church cannot teach future generations in Chile - our children and grandchildren - that to kill, to make disappear and to torture thousands of political opponents can or should be left unpunished under the pretext of a false reconciliation or forgiveness.

'Such conduct would make the Church an accomplice of the same crimes against humankind and responsible for their repetition in the future.'

[Octafish]

25. James Carroll

House of War: James Carroll on the Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power

[cadmium]

57. Great choice and a very interesting book. I thought

It was fascinating until he started covering the time period after his dad left the Pentagon. The narrative seemed to lose a lot of spark and insight after that.

Should be mandatory reading for anyone to understand what presidents are up against when they have to take on the Pentagon

[Drunken Irishman]

26. Michael Collins.

[Nikki Stone1]

34. Standing up against the British Empire

A quick blurb?

[Drunken Irishman]

39. A quick blurb about?

[Nikki Stone1]

44. A little info post

:)

[Joe Chi Minh]

88. There's one who's a DU hero (Autorank), and one who's an Irish Nationalist hero,

though I believe he was shot by the IRA for a compromise he made at the instance of the British PM of the day, in the full knowledge that he was signing his death warrant. Sound confusing. Must look him up in Wiki.

Saw members of his family at a Carmelite monastery once, though I only knew of him by name at the time, i.e. next to nothing about him, or indeed the history of our countries.

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Michael_Collins_(Irish_leader)

Interesting about his father being the seventh son of a seventh son and making those predictions.

[Jackeens]

115. Not sure if he was a liberal - don't think they existed in Ireland in the early 1900s! - but....

...he's one of my favourite historical figures.

He was killed in the Irish Civil War by the pro-Treaty side, ie the people who agreed to the partition of Ireland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29#Death

[Joe Chi Minh]

123. Thanks for that Jackeen. I take your point. Just liberal in the sense of

wanting his country to be free. There was actually an IRA character used to post to Guardian Talk who was a libertarian.

[theHandpuppet]

130. Are you certain about your facts?

I believe Collins was killed by a member of the Anti-Treaty IRA.

[Jackeens]

136. You are completely right theHandpuppet!

I can't believe I was stupid enough to confuse Collins (pro-Treaty) with Eamon de Valera (anti-Treaty) - seriously, I spent about 150 years studying this stuff :blush:

[theHandpuppet]

140. No problem

We learn so little of our own history here in the U.S. it seems whatever else we learn about others must be done on our own. I've always loved history but there are such gaps in my own knowledge... am just catching up on my own family history and an era about which I knew so little.

As far as Collins goes, I might consider him a great Irish Nationalist hero in the same vein I might consider William Wallace or Robert the Bruce heroes of Scottish Nationalism, but not as an example of liberalism. Of course, the term "liberalism" might be defined quite differently by folks and there are a number of names on the list here that I would question.

[provis99]

30. Pope John XII.

Gotta love a Pope who was liberal enough to have massive sex orgies in the Vatican!

[Octafish]

32. Frida Berrigan

She works for peace, non-stop.

[Nikki Stone1]

38. Arms Trade Resource Center?

?

[Octafish]

105. She's working to get rid of nukes.

One report in PDF:

Complex 2030: The Costs and Consequences of the Plan to Build a New Generation of Nuclear Weapons, a World Policy Special Report by William D. Hartung and Frida Berrigan, April 2007

More reports:

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports.html

[Drunken Irishman]

33. James Connolly.

[AspenRose]

35. The Berrigan brothers

Daniel and Philip

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Berrigan


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan


Jesuits rock. :-)

[GoCubsGo]

96. Yup. I would include most Jesuits on this list.

They DO rock, for sure! I went to a Jesuit college as an undergrad. They were the ones who taught me to think for myself, after years of being brain-washed in parochial schools. That's pretty ironic, considering that lead me to realizing what a steaming pile of bullshit religion is. Hmmmm...

[Nikki Stone1]

148. The Jesuits are excellent

Thanks for the reminder

[avaistheone1]

36. Don Siegelman, Anna Georges Eshoo, Christopher John Dodd, Joseph Biden, Patrick Joseph Leahy

[proteus_lives]

41. John Paul II

He was flawed but I believe he brought the Papacy forward.

[blm]

43. Dennis Kucinich.....

.

[janet118]

93. good one . . . n/t

[Critters2]

45. Rene Girard. nt

[Nikki Stone1]

48. YES!

I forgot about him.

[Critters2]

51. He's my hero.

First, Jesus...then Girard, who helps me understand Jesus.

Glad to know someone else here has heard of him. I often speak of him and get blank looks, even among clergy. Which is disappointing.

[LeftishBrit]

46. Most members of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland...

notably Gerry Fitt and John Hume.

Charles Kennedy, former leader of the LibDems. No doubt plenty more in the UK (though NOT the noted convert Tony Blair); but we often don't know the religion of British politicians!

Pierre Trudeau, and many less well-known Canadian politicians.

Tip O'Neill - and also Nancy Pelosi, I think?

[Kingofalldems]

47. John Sweeney (labor leader)

[rmp yellow]

49. Oscar Romero

Assassinated by wingnuts in El Salvador for fighting for the poor. Canonization process is stalled by the Vatican as we speak. Latin American icon. He condemned both Marxism and Capitalism, but was a progressive if you look at his work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oscar_Romero.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero#Church_persecution

[cadmium]

50. Robert Drinan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Drinan

[YOY]

53. Kevin Smith

and Dogma was made for all us lapsed CAtholics who question our faith. Sorry folks who don't quite get it.

[DesertRat]

54. Fr. Andrew Greeley n/t

[Nikki Stone1]

56. Who?

?

[quiller4]

62. Rev. Andrew Greeley is a columnist, author and novelist

and is very much a Catholic liberal and strong supporter spokesperson for social justice issues.

[DesertRat]

67. Bestselling author , sociologist and liberal activist

[DesertRat]

58. Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking author and activist) n/t

[southernyankeebelle]

61. Mother Theresa Chris Matthews

[Selatius]

68. I can't believe any of you guys have yet to mention Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa

He, Nelson Mandela, and many others led the struggle against South African Apartheid.

[willing dwarf]

73. Well he's not Catholic, he's Anglican....

similar but very different church tradition!

[willing dwarf]

69. Stephen Colbert!

[Nikki Stone1]

76. GOOD ONE!

I gotta redo this list now. So many names...

[willing dwarf]

70. Daniel Berrigan and Phillip Berrigan

Peace Activists/Anti war protestors
Also
Dick Taylor -- Peace Activist
Eileen Smith -- started a human service organization in Philadedelphia
Brother Al Smith housing activist
Sister Mary Scullion--activist for the homeless
Eileen DiFranco -- ordained Catholic Priest crusader for women's rights
...hundreds of parishioners in parishes across the country, staffing soup kitchens, food pantried, free health clinics, after school programs, homeless shelter....

[cadmium]

71. Peter DeFazio D- Oregon n/t

[YOY]

74. Arthur Fonzarelli...even if he is a nice Jewish boy in reality.

n.t.

[eilen]

79. Frida's father and uncle, the Berrigan Brothers.

Philip Francis Berrigan was born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, a Midwestern working class town, the younger brother of Daniel Berrigan. Their father, Tom Berrigan, was second-generation Irish-Catholic and proud union man.
In 1943, after a single semester of college, Berrigan was drafted into combat duty in World War II. He served in the artillery during the Battle of the Bulge (1945) and later became a Second Lieutenant in the infantry. He was deeply affected by his exposure to the violence of war and the racism of boot camp in the Deep South. Philip soon entered a Josephite seminary and became active in the Civil Rights movement. He marched for desegregation and participated in sit-ins and bus boycotts. He was ordained in 1955, but left the priesthood 18 years later, in 1973. He would marry later in life to Elizabeth McAlister of Jonah House <1>, in Baltimore, which they founded as a community to support resistance. Their three children--Frida, Jerry, and Kate—all grew up to be anti-war activists.


I remember fondly of the 1980's and his fearless protests against nuclear war in the Plowshares movement. (1st paragraph lifted from Wiki)

[powergirl]

80. James Carville ?

n/t

[YOY]

86. No, he's a follower of the church of fugly.

and if he's your definition of "liberal" I recommend Poli-sci 101.

[Joe Chi Minh]

81. Tony Blair. NOT. Right on the mark and a very funny article, imo:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/sep/15/blair-catholic-grandmother

[quiller4]

82. Msgr. George Higgens, the Labor Priest, John A Ryan, the

labor priest of the New Deal that Sweeney calls his mentor, John F. Henning a California Labor Leader, Caesar Chevez, Dolores Huerta, Martin Durkin, Patty Murray, Albert Rosellini (Washington governor who championed first minimum wage law in Washington), Edmund Muskie, Patrick Leahy, Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy (FDR appointee died in 1949), Patrick Whelan (current president Catholic Democrats),Kathleen Sebelius, Christine Gregoire (Washington state governor)...

[eilen]

83. Ammon Hennacy and a few more

Ammon Hennacy (1893–1970) wrote extensively on his work with the Catholic Workers, the IWW, and at the Joe Hill House of Hospitality. He was a practicing anarchist, draft dodger, vegetarian, and tax resister. He also tried to reduce his tax liability by taking up a lifestyle of simple living and bartering. His autobiography The Book of Ammon describes his work in nonviolent, anarchist, social action, and provides insight into the lives of Christian anarchists in the United States of the 20th century. His other books are One Man Revolution in America and The Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist.

Thomas J. Hagerty
Thomas J. Hagerty was a Catholic priest from New Mexico, USA, and one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Hagerty is credited with writing the IWW Preamble, assisting in the composition of the Industrial Union Manifesto and drawing up the first chart of industrial organization. He was ordained in 1892 but his formal association with the church ended when he was suspended by his archbishop for urging miners in Colorado to revolt during his tour of mining camps in 1903. Hagerty is not commonly regarded as a Christian anarchist in the Tolstoyan tradition but rather an anarcho-syndicalist. Christian anarchists like Dorothy Day and Ammon Hennacy have been members of the Industrial Workers of the World and found common cause with the axiom "an injury to one is an injury to all."

Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich was a libertarian-socialist social thinker, with roots in the Catholic Church, who wrote critiques of technology, energy use and compulsory education. In 1961 Illich founded the Centro Intercultural de Documentación (CIDOC) at Cuernavaca in Mexico, in order to "counterfoil" the Vatican's participation in the "modern development" of the so-called Third World. Illich's books Energy and Equity and Tools for Conviviality are considered classics for social ecologists interested in appropriate technology, while his book Deschooling Society is still revered by activists seeking alternatives to compulsory schooling. Ivan's view on Jesus as an anarchist is highlighted here.

Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky in many respects can be considered to have believed in Christian anarchism/autonomy. His greatest novel The Brothers Karamazov postulates the idea that all men should be monks and that everyone is responsible for everyone else. Also, that belief in God can only be found through the practice of active love.

directly lifted from wiki (search "christian anarchists")

[WildEyedLiberal]

84. Father Ray Bourgeois

A peace activist excommunicated for speaking out in favor of the ordination of women.

http://soaw.org/article.php?id=413

[madrchsod]

89. the nuns and priests that were murdered in central and south america

[Mrs. Overall]

145. Yes, the three nuns and lay worker raped and murdered in El Salvador in 1981--

Dorothy Kazel
Maura Clarke
Ita Ford
Jean Donovan

and the nun murdered in Brazil in 2005 for trying to protect the land rights of the indigenous population--
Dorothy Stang

[robinlynne]

90. The priests in the amazon who organized the farm cooperatives for the

landless to get land and cultivate their own food.

[janet118]

91. Priests . . .

Father Robert Drinan
Father Daniel Berrigan
Father Philip Berrigan

[janet118]

92. Sister Corita Kent n/t

[janet118]

94. Máiread Corrigan-Maguire . . .

Northern Ireland Nobel Peace Prize awardee

[KamaAina]

95. Cesar Chavez.

Practically a patron saint out here, with a partial state holiday, and streets in both SF and LA, as well as the plaza here in downtown San Jose, named for him.

edit: spelling

[Are_grits_groceries]

97. Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh

C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame

Father Hesburgh has held 16 presidential appointments over the years – most recently to the Commission on Presidential Scholars – and they involved him in virtually all major social issues – civil rights, peaceful uses of atomic energy, campus unrest, treatment of Vietnam offenders, and Third World development and immigration reform, to name only a few. At the same time, he remained a national leader in the field of education, serving on many commissions and study groups. As recently as 1999, he made a fact-finding tour of refugee camps around Kosovo for the United Nations, and he was called on periodically as a member of the Anti-Incitement Committee established by the Wye Plantation Treaty to deal with Palestinian-Israeli tensions in the Middle East.
http://www.nd.edu/aboutnd/former-presidents/hesburgh/

[Princess Turandot]

144. Not to mention that fact...

that he sat unapologetically on the stage of ND's 2009 commencement when P. Obama spoke, despite the blatherings of a group of nut cases. He was also an enthusiastic supporter of MLK.

[Joe Chi Minh]

98. Franz Jaegerstetter, the Austrian labourer who was guillotined for

his very vocal and unrelenting criticism of Hitler and the Nazis during WWII.

He refused to recant or cease his admonitions. He had a dream of a train going up a mountain and tumblng with all the people falling out, which he interpreted as Nazism.

And the great Dom Helder Camara of Brazil, who famously mused: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9lder_C%C3%A2mara

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/page/heldercamara

[rvablue]

99. Supreme Court Justic William Brennan, Jr.

[rvablue]

100. Mia Farrow. n/t

[rvablue]

102. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. n/t

[rvablue]

103. Bruce Springsteen. n/t

[provis99]

106. I thought Springsteen was Jewish?

does Jewish count as a good Catholic?

[janet118]

112. Bruce Springsteen was raised in a fairly devout Catholic home

The influence of Springsteen's Catholic background on his music has been noted, and Catholic Social Justice teachings appear to have become a strong influence on his adult political beliefs and activism. However, Springsteen is not known to have been an active churchgoer as an adult. Various aspects of Springsteen's personal life as an adult do not reflect basic Catholic stands of personal morality. Springsteen is not evasive about his Catholic upbringing, but neither is he known to openly embrace a Catholic self-identity.

Occasional mis-identification of Springsteen as being Jewish or having Jewish ancestry is entirely erroneous and appears to be based purely on his surname.

[Nikki Stone1]

120. "Bruce Springsteen isn't Jewish but my mother thinks he is" (Adam Sandler)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanukah_Song

[Joe Chi Minh]

104. Francis Thompson, the Victorian mystic, poet, drug addict, drop-out and

general indigent, who wrote the wonderful poem, The Hound of Heaven.

[DBoon]

107. Caesar Chavez, Bono, Oscar Wilde, ...

Dario Fo

Antonio Villaragoso (?)

[Joe Chi Minh]

124. Bono? Are you serious? The investor in Forbes List? That demeans this thread.

[Jackeens]

108. Drunken Irishman and Me.

:yoiks:

[AspenRose]

114. I was going to say you, but I thought you were agnostic

;-)

That reminds me: William Rivers Pitt. :patriot:

[Jackeens]

116. No, no: I'm an atheist, agnostic Catholic!

In other words, I don't know what the **** I am! :blush:

But, yeah, I think agnostic is more accurate.

It's just when you're 'born' a Catholic you never quite shake off the label :-)

[janet118]

111. Jerry Brown

[Jackeens]

113. Fr Shay Cullen

People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance or Preda is a charitable organization that was founded in Olongapo City, Philippines in 1974. This small non-profit organization has a number of purposes which include the promotion and protection of the dignity and the Human Rights of the Filipino people, especially of women and children. The main focus is to assist the sexually-exploited and abused children.

The Preda Foundation is dedicated to the protection of children and working for social transformation and a just and corrupt free society. It has worked to prevent children being locked in small, cramped jails without basic rights. Preda has been actively involved in helping victims of the human trafficking and sex slave trade in the Angeles City. Preda has been involved in promoting and defending the Rights of Children and their Defenders.<11>

Fr. Shay Cullen is a Catholic Missionary priest from Ireland helped found the charity in 1974 along with Alex Corpus Hermoso and Merly Ramirez. Since then, Fr. Shay Cullen has been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize three times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PREDA_Foundation

[scheming daemons]

117. Joe Biden

[anonymous171]

118. Miguel Hidalgo. nt

[Kingofalldems]

119. The great Jimmy Cagney

[DesertRat]

121. Dennis Kucinich

and maybe Elizabeth too?

[Joe Chi Minh]

125. Benedict, the current pope. If this world is ever to get the blessing from God it

needs, in order to survive the confluence of so many man-made evils afflicting this planet, it will need to follow Benedict's blueprint, as laid out in his most recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. In it, as well as calling for a return to personal morality, he advocates a more just, simultaneous sharing of the wealth both within the richest countries and in favour the poorer countries; a process not to be administered via subsidiarity. He may be the most significant pope since the Apostle, Peter.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

[theHandpuppet]

126. I thought the subject was "Great Catholics in Liberalism"

Some of the names I've seen posted here don't exactly reflect liberalism, but suggesting Benedict qualifies really takes the cake.

[Joe Chi Minh]

127. Well. Many of us interperet liberalism in economic terms; not in terms of personal morality.

[theHandpuppet]

128. Hmmm...

I take it you define "liberalism" strictly within parameter "c"?

Liberalism, the definition according to Webster's
Main Entry: lib·er·al·ism
Pronunciation: \?li-b(?-)r?-?li-z?m\
Function: noun
Date: 1819
1 : the quality or state of being liberal
2 a often capitalized : a movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianity b : a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard c : a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically : such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (as those involving race, gender, or class) d capitalized : the principles and policies of a Liberal party

[Joe Chi Minh]

137. I mean a loosening of the communal purse-strings in favour of those who,

together with their ancestors, created the nation's wealth, i.e. the poorer folk.

Definitely not c) in the sense of "the essential goodness of the human race"... Of course, one can argue about the meaning of "essential" here, but it is not the meaning imputed to it by the liberal atheist, who does not believe in orignal sin. We believe that we must rely on divine, supernatural grace. But otherwise, much of c).

I would not favour protecting the political liberties of Nazis, for example. Or the homosexual or any other atheist agenda hostile to the heterosexual nuclear family as a norm every bit as desirable as mankind's historic one, and most notably, here, the official Roman Catholic one.

In terms of personal morality, the Church's position is and always has been that what atheists deem liberality is, in fact, licence.

[theHandpuppet]

138. I think you answered my questions

And just why I suspected this thread would unravel because the term "liberalism" was not adequately defined in the OP.

[Joe Chi Minh]

139. Most, of the posts on here put forward champions in the world-wide fight for economic

justice as "great Catholics of liberalism", although some are just known for being beacons of outstanding sanctity, such as Padre Pio, whose day it is today.

I expect they don't meet many modern-day the dictionary definitions of the term, "liberalism", but the Catholic position is that freedom implies responsibiity. After all, Lucifer could and would be designated as the ultimate champion of liberalism in terms of shaking off the "shackles" of God's express will.

[theHandpuppet]

141. As I said, I think you answered my questions

...and I will bow out from this exchange and bid a good day to you in order to avoid becoming a rude liberal.

[Joe Chi Minh]

143. Thank you. I appreciate your civility and good sense. Nor do I mean the latter

in a patronising way. These issues are so vital to us all that highly-charged emotions and irrationality soon become the rule, rather than the exception in such exchanges.

I expanded my answer for the sake of those who might not have felt your questions were answered.

[Arugula Latte]

156. Uh, yeah -- Benedict can take a flying leap.

I'm a second class citizen in his eyes. Why? I'm a women.

F%@# him and the cardinal he rode in on.

[vaberella]

129. My mum and daddy. n/t

[jenniferj]

132. Stephen Colbert....

Nicole Kidman

[melm00se]

133. Fr. John A Ryan

His doctoral dissertation, eventually published under the title The Living Wage, called for a reform of capitalism in line with Christian teachings of brotherhood and community and influenced the debate on establishing a minimum wage.

Pope Leo XIII - specifically his encyclical Rerum Novarum(http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13rerum.htm) which has been interpreted as the Catholic Churches response to the exploitation of workers.

Pope Pius XI - read his encyclical Quadragesimo anno (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno_en.html)

[jenniferj]

135. Pierce Brosnan...

J R R Tolkin
Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga

[Princess Turandot]

142. Jon Bon Jovi..

who did campaign tours for Sen. Kerry. Supported Hillary but shifted/fundraised for P. Obama when he became our candidate. Funds/participates in Habitat for Humanity, going so far as to film the video for a successful rock-country crossover song at one of his funded house building projects.

[Bluenorthwest]

147. Father Ellwood (Bud) Kieser

The founder of Paulist Productions, and producer of Insight, a lovely dramatic series with lessons on our own humanity.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

149. The priest at my parish in Maryland.

He actually did work with the DNC before becoming a priest, and even after a priest he remained highly critical of the Republicans' "me first" ideology of greed and selfishness.

One of the best sermons I ever heard was when he stood up before the congregation and told them flat out that health care for all was a basic human right. And this was over 10 years ago.

Catholics and Catholic clergy may be the continuing target of criticism at this site, but I can say one thing first hand as a practicing Catholic. The only sermon I ever personally heard at a Catholic church regarding the issue of gays was a sermon from my parish priest in Maryland where he made the bold statement that gay people in this day and age are too often unfairly treated like the lepers of Jesus's age.

[conflictgirl]

150. Patrick Fitzgerald. nt

x

[conflictgirl]

153. Also Cynthia McKinney, Gavin Newsom, Barbara Mikulski, John Murtha.

[Kalyke]

151. Me!!

Just kidding. ;)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

152. Father Pierre-Marie Benoit saved thousands of Jews during WWII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Marie-Beno%C3%AEt

and received the Medal of the Righteous Among the Nations. The Catholic monk helped smuggle thousands of Jews out of southern France under the noses of the Gestapo at great risk to his own life. When the Gestapo began closing in on his underground organization, he had to flee to Italy where he continued his struggle. He's been called the "Father of the Jews" for his work. A biography of his life entitled "The Impossible Mission" would make a great flic.

[cap]

154. father john deere nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

for anti-war work (Iraq War)

[DailyGrind51]

155. Rev. Michael Pfleger, Pres. Obama's pal from Chicago

[ddeclue]

157. An exercise in antecdotalism. Catholicism is hardly "liberal" - it is hierarchical and authoritarian

and just now getting into the 19th Century.

[conflictgirl]

158. Funny thing about that - it is, and it isn't

The organizational structure of the Catholic church is definitely hierarchical and authoritarian (and I would include the birth control teachings and views against ordination of women in with this). However much of the church's actual teachings are very progressive and in line with liberal beliefs: social justice, taking care of the poor, anti-death penalty, etc. It is much more service oriented and community oriented than many other religions.

I realize that if you are against all organized religions, or are only focused on the most negative aspects of Catholicism, that's all you're going to see. But the actual teachings of the Catholic church are very social justice focused and not at all the fire-and-brimstone kind of thing you'd hear from the religious right.

[ddeclue]

159. Please don't lecture me on being Catholic - I grew up Catholic and gave it up when I got sick of

do as I say and not as I do leadership got old.

I already have a Catholic mom to guilt me - I don't need a church that does it too.

:eyes:

[JNelson6563]

160. I was lucky I guess.

Growing up Catholic, going to Catholic school, etc. I always felt pretty good about deciding for myself which rules were good. Always though birth control was a good idea for instance.

I was also fortunate though in that our clergy (nuns teaching school and the parish priests) were pretty liberal. A kinder, gentler Catholicism I guess. I was taught hell was a terrible place because it was a place where God was not. No talk of fire and other horrors, just lack of God.

Julie--now an atheist but not because of bad experience with the Church

[DailyGrind51]

161. "Catholicism" may not be "liberal", but many Catholics are!

Archbishop Oscar Romero, for one, was murdered, along with many other Jesuits and nuns, by El Salvadoran RW death squads for opposing the fascist government.