 |
| NY's Mario Cuomo (by Kenneth Zirkel) |
With customary brilliance and thoughtfulness, Mario Cuomo stood before his Notre Dame colleagues and wrestled with angels in September 1984.
His stated theme was “Religious Belief and PublicMorality,” a theme complex enough to grapple with forever. Cuomo therefore made it clear that he did not wish to tackle the entire tangled web of “Church and State,” but would rather “try to stay contained.”
Cuomo could not, however, resist this one quick zinger before launching into the body of his speech: Certainly, although everybody
talks about a wall of separation between church and
state, I’ve seen religious leaders scale that wall
with all the dexterity of olympic athletes.
Cuomo also couldn’t resist naming some names. He made mention of an alleged prayer that “Fishhooks” McCarthy (no questions about the nickname, please) recited each morning on his way to Tammany Hall.
As “Fishhooks” quickly ducked into the recesses of St. James Church in lower (lowest?) Manhattan, he would whisper these words: Oh,
Lord, give me health and
strength. We’ll steal the rest.
Cuomo himself was far more devout. During this talk, he proclaimed to be “attached to the Church first by birth, then by choice, now by love.” He identified the Catholic Church as not only his “spiritual home,” but also his “hope.”
He very openly admitted that “applying religious beliefs to everyday life often
presents difficult challenges.” Cuomo, nevertheless, took on the most intense of
these challenges, and did so with courage, compassion, fairness and integrity.
presents difficult challenges.” Cuomo, nevertheless, took on the most intense of
these challenges, and did so with courage, compassion, fairness and integrity.
Quite a rare combination of virtues, especially for one who was “by training a lawyer
and by practice a politician…” He will be greatly missed.
and by practice a politician…” He will be greatly missed.
Resources
Copyright January 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment