By contrast, Reagan is going out of his way to show that with him there is no separation of church and state.

He wants it known that there is a direct line between him and the Pope, that he seeks counsel from the Vatican City.

Reagan took the extraordinary step of inviting the Pope's ambassador, Pio Laghi, to his Santa Barbara ranch for consultation on delicate foreign policy questions....."


From ................. AMERICAN DEMOCRACY & THE VATICAN:

By Dr. [Phd.] Stephen Mumford

[TABLE 1 at bottom]

from page 168-170

Few Americans realize that the Vatican and Reagan agendas are, despite minor disagreement, virtually identical. Let us look at the record.

Table I shows the Vatican and Reagan Administration positions on twenty-four of the most controversial issues of the past three years. It is difficult to find a single example of disagreement between them.

The president has made no secret of the fact that he calls on the pope for guidance in the governing of America. In chapter four, I have quoted his incredible statement before the National Catholic Education Association in April 1982:

After this one-hour private meeting at the Vatican on June 7, he said that the [Roman] Catholic Church

Reagan added that he wanted the U.S. governrnent

He also invited the pope to visit the United States again, saying,

In May, they met in Alaska. In his March 8, 1983, speech before the National Association of Evangelicals, Reagan expressed himself in terms normally reserved for use by Catholic clergy:

During a speech to a group of conservatives on February 18, 1983, Reagan made the statement that the attempted assassination of the pope was "an assault on God." Can it be that the president receives the words of the pope as if they were actually words or instructions direct from God?

On August 6, 1984, columnist Mary McGrory offered that Mr. Reagan comes on as more Catholic than the Pope:

In a prepared address to an ecumenical prayer breakfast attended by twelve thousand religious leaders and delegates to the Republican National Convention, Mr. Reagan challenged the constitutional premise of separation of church and state.

A report on this speech stated that "his remarks put him squarely in the camp of the fundamentalist religious right," implying that this is not consistent with the Vatican camp. However, the Reverend Virgil C. Blum, president and founder of the Milwaukee-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, endorsed Reagan's church and state sentiments.5

The truth is that Mr. Reagan is just giving his blessing to a reality. The Vatican has for decades ignored the constitutional premise of separation of church and state though this situation has worsened since the publication of the Pastoral Plan for Prolife Activities in 1975.

Columnist Mary McGrory, in an article on the unprecedented challenge to the archbishop of New York by Governor Mario Cuomo, frankly stated that for a Catholic politician to publicly oppose the wishes of an archbishop is political suicide. She pointed out that Cuomo is the first Catholic politician to pick a fight with a prelate and that "it is the conventional wisdom that no politician wins in a fight with the Catholic church." 6

The Major Difference Between the United States and Latin American Countries

The vast disparities between Latin America and the United States should not exist. Both were settled by Europeans at about the same time. Both are rich in resources. But where a democratic form of government grew out of the British experience, and among its North American possessions the principle of separation of church and state........ [end page 170]


page 169

TABLE 1

The Vatican and Reagan Administration Positions on Selected Issues _______________________________________________________

l. Abortion ............................................anti .................................................anti

2. Equal Rights Amendment ....anti ..................................................anti

3. School prayer ..............................pro ...................................................pro

4. Domestic family planning ....anti ................................................anti

5. lnternational population

6. Constitutional convention ...pro .................................................pro

7. Tuition tax credits (parochiaid) pro .......................................pro

8. Global 2000 Report .................anti..................................................anti

9. Kahn/Simon Report ..................pro ...................................................pro

lO. Environment ...............................anti ..................................................anti

11. Communism ........................ rabidly anti ........................... rabidly anti

12. Sex education ........................ anti ..................................................anti

13. Family planning

14. Grenada invasion ....................pro ..................................................pro

15. U.S. military support for El Salvador and other Central

16. U.S. military involvement

17. American hard line against

18. United Nations and its

19. Support of repressive governments

20. Population growth as a national

21. Gay civil rights .................anti ......................................................anti

22. Federal aid

23. Illegal immigration ...........pro .......................................... given the

24. Strict separation

[end page 169] -END QUOTE-

By Dr. [Phd.] Stephen Mumford

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 84-72500

Pub.by- Humanist Press PO Box 146 Amherst, NY

Availible [about $10] from-

Center for Research on Population and Security

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