{"id":95319,"date":"2012-10-09T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=95319"},"modified":"2012-10-09T14:22:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T18:22:35","slug":"mangling-that-archbishop-nienstedt-quote-on-conversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2012\/10\/mangling-that-archbishop-nienstedt-quote-on-conversion\/","title":{"rendered":"About that Archbishop Nienstedt conversion quote (updated)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s time for another update from the \u201cframing religion as politics\u201d beat, care of The Star Tribune<\/em>, up in Minnesota. <\/p>\n

This latest same-sex marriage story<\/a> is pretty standard fare \u2014 Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt keeps talking about doctrine, the newspaper frames everything as political ambition \u2014 except for two paragraphs that raise interesting questions. One of the questions is legal, in a church-state sense, and the other concerns a misquote that should be corrected (that is, if theology means anything to the newspaper\u2019s editors). As a bonus, there there is a pitch-perfect example of language that smacks readers in the face with the newsroom\u2019s views on this subject.<\/p>\n

First, there is the money question:<\/p>\n

Working aggressively behind the scenes, the 65-year-old Nienstedt has emerged as a key financial and political force for passage of the marriage amendment, which will be on the Nov. 6 ballot and is the most contentious issue in the state this election season. <\/p>\n

He has committed more than $650,000 in church money, stitched together a coalition of leaders from other faiths and exerted all his power within the church to press Minnesota\u2019s million-plus Catholics to back him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, churches and non-profits are allowed to get financially involved in issues<\/em> in the public square, as opposed to endorsing candidates<\/em>. I assume the Star Tribune<\/em> team knows that. It\u2019s one thing to tell members of your voluntary association where the group stands on a matter of doctrine. It\u2019s something else to urge them to support a particular candidate \u2014 whether that is an A.M.E. Zion pastor plugging President Barack Obama or a Mormon leader pinning an overt endorsement on Mitt Romney.<\/p>\n

What, precisely, is meant by \u201cmore than $650,000 in church money\u201d going to this campaign? Did the archbishop literally pull those funds from church accounts or did he seek donations from Catholic donors, charities, etc.? Readers deserve information there, not fog.<\/p>\n

Moving on.<\/p>\n

But Nienstedt\u2019s central role in the campaign has also brought blistering criticism from the faithful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just see that this is terrible. This is not how Christ would have spent this money,\u201d said Pauline Cahalan, 67, a lifelong Catholic from Roseville. \u201cIt\u2019s very concerning to me when someone says you have to think like I tell you to think.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So this one woman represents \u201cthe faithful\u201d on an issue linked to an ancient sacrament of the church? \u201cThe faithful\u201d \u2014 the implication is all or most Catholics in the region \u2014 oppose his actions? <\/p>\n

This language is simply too vague. It\u2019s clear, in this age in which American Catholicism is splintered on issues of moral theology, that many would oppose the archbishop and they deserve to be quoted, on the record. But all, or even most, of the \u201cfaithful,\u201d active Catholics? Come on, people. Back that claim up with some facts or, at the very least, a poll that digs into the specifics. \u201cSome\u201d of the faithful? Sure. \u201cThe faithful\u201d is another matter.<\/p>\n

And finally, there is this brief moment in which a Catholic leader is allowed to speak in Catholic, non-religious language. Note that this is a reference to a written statement from the archbishop.<\/p>\n

Undeterred by the criticism, Nienstedt has raised the stakes. To a mother who pleaded for acceptance for her gay child, he wrote: \u201cI urge you to reconsider the position that you expressed. \u2026 Your eternal salvation may well depend upon a conversation of heart on this topic.\u201d<\/p>\n

To clergy, he issued orders that no \u201copen dissension\u201d would be allowed. He wrote one outspoken priest, the Rev. Mike Tegeder, that if he persisted, \u201cI will \u2026 remove you from your ministerial assignments.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What, precisely, is \u201ca conversation of heart\u201d on this issue? That makes no sense, in terms of grammar or theology. Is there any chance that what the archbishop actually wrote was that, on this matter of fidelity to doctrine and sacrament, his woman needed to seek \u201ca conversion of heart\u201d?<\/p>\n

According to this Catholic source<\/a>, quoting what appears to the same Nienstedt letter, that is exactly what the archbishop wrote. Who altered this crucial quote and why? It just doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> A website called Truth Wins Out has posted what it says is the original letter from Nienstedt<\/a> and \u2014 while the \u201cconversion\u201d instead of \u201cconversation\u201d logic remains \u2014 it appears that this typo was made by the archbishop and\/or his staff. Thus, the copy desk merely passed along that language, while it appears that other Catholics who read it have corrected the wording.<\/p>\n

I think the editors still should have noticed that the original wording made zero sense and asked about it. However, it is not a journalistic sin to have no one on the copy desk who thinks theologically or thinks \u201cCatholic\u201d on such a matter. It\u2019s sad that no one caught it, but it appears that the mistake was not that of the newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for another update from the \u201cframing religion as politics\u201d beat, care of The Star Tribune, up in Minnesota. This latest same-sex marriage story is pretty standard fare \u2014 Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt keeps talking about doctrine, the newspaper frames everything as political ambition \u2014 except for two paragraphs that raise interesting questions. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,7,58,71,49,4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-journalism","category-marriage-family","category-same-sex-marriage","category-sex","category-social-issues","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout that Archbishop Nienstedt conversion quote (updated)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's time for another update from the "framing religion as politics" beat, care of The Star Tribune, up in Minnesota. 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