As a response to the article posted this morning on Drudge Report, from the Times newspaper in the UK, in which Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory is quoted speaking about the potential for a black pope now that we have a (half) black president of the USA, I have sent the following letter to the editor of the Georgia Bulletin, Atlanta’s Diocesan newspaper.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, read my blog post from earlier today.

Dear Editor,

As a part of my standard morning reading regime, I read with some interest an article posted on the website of the Times newspaper from the U.K., in which Archbishop Gregory was quoted speaking about the possibilities of our next Pope being black.  In the article, Archbishop Gregory mentions the Holy Father’s statement that the election of a black Pope would “send a splendid signal to the world” about the Catholic Church.  This combined with the quote attributed to Archbishop Gregory later in the article regarding his election as head of the USCCB being an important signal, and that the same thing could happen with the papacy, seem a bit troubling at first.

As a member of Archbishop Gregory’s flock, and being well aware that the mainstream media has a penchant for misquoting and ignoring the context of statements made by Church leaders, I humbly call on him to clarify this and other statements attributed to him in this article.  Taken at face value, this statement might lead the laity and those outside the Church to believe that our cardinals do not consider experience, qualifications, or the guidance of the Holy Spirit when selecting popes and other Church leadrship, but rather consider the “signal” that will be sent through the selection of one or another cardinal as Pontiff (or head of the USCCB for that matter.)  I am quite hopeful that His Grace was simply quoted out of context with this statement by Times reporter Richard Owen.

Another statement attributed to Archbishop Gregory which is in what I believe to be dire need of clarification is this quote: “…that the election of Mr Obama was “a great step forward for humanity and a sign that in the United States the problem of racial discrimination has been overcome.”  Now I am quite sure it is extremely debatable whether the election of Senator Obama indicates anything about the state of race relations in our country, but I am even more sure that Archbishop Gregory confuses many faithful Catholics when he states that the election of Senator Obama could be thought of as “a great step forward for humanity.”  The reason I find it confusing is that under an Obama presidency, we have been promised, there will be less humanity – and not due to less reproduction, but due to more abortion.  The abortion industry’s own minions have told us that at least one million abortions are prevented every year because of various state restrictions on abortions (things like parental notification laws, waiting periods, mandatory ultrasounds, etc.)  Obama’s so-called Freedom of Choice Act does away with any such restrictions and will potentially even force crisis pregnancy centers that focus on abortion alternatives to offer abortion as an equally good alternative to an unplanned pregnancy.  Some have even said that hospitals or doctors that refuse to provided abortion services may be forced out of business due to FOCA – resulting in less accessibility to medical care, especially principled medical care, among those who need it.

In light of this, as I said, I am confused.  I need to know how one can possibly see an the promises of an Obama presidency as “a great step forward for humanity.”  Logically I believe our Archbishop was being quoted out of context, and I humbly request that he clarify his meaning in this statement.

Humbly in need of clarification,

Chris Lewis

Rome, GA