John Hagee "deeply sorry" for calling the Catholic Church "The Great Whore." Hand me a tissue!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Pastor Hagee Apologizes for Anti-Catholic Remarks

by FOXNews.com

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/13/pastor-hagee-apologizes-for-anti-catholic-remarks/



Televangelist John Hagee, one of John McCain’s highest-profile supporters from the religious right, has apologized for calling the Roman Catholic Church “the great whore” and “the apostate church.”

In a letter Monday to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote, “I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful.”

Pastor Hagee, leader of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, had said his anti-Catholic remarks had been taken out of context, but in the letter he appeared to own up to them.

“Neither of these phrases can be synonymous with the Catholic Church,” he wrote.

Donohue, accepting the apology, said on FOX News Radio: “I’m absolutely delighted …
I haven’t seen such a quick turnaround in the 15 years that I have been president of the Catholic League.” He said he plans to meet with Hagee on Thursday.

Likening Hagee to two New York shock jocks who encouraged a pair of listeners to attempt to have sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 2002, Donohue added that he is receptive to honest apologies.

“We’re not in the business of rejecting apologies whether it’s from Opie and Anthony or Pastor Hagee so now when we meet we can understand that this issue is moot and behind us and I think it’s a great moment that we can have some degree of reconciliation.”

Hagee’s endorsement in February had been difficult for McCain, as Democrats, Donohue and others called on the presumptive GOP nominee to reject the pastor’s support.

McCain, who has taken pains to gain the trust of the religious right, rejected specific statements from Hagee — namely about the Catholic Church and blaming the sinful behavior of New Orleans residents for Hurricane Katrina — but would not denounce the pastor. Hagee apologized for the Katrina statements a couple weeks ago, saying it’s not his place to try to know the mind of God concerning the natural disaster.

Donohue, who in February said that Hagee “has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church,” said in a statement Tuesday that their feud is now history.

“The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it,” Donohue said, adding that Hagee has spent “weeks” meeting with Catholic leaders.

“Indeed, the Catholic League welcomes his apology,” he wrote. “What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns. But he has done just that. Now Catholics, along with Jews, can work with Pastor Hagee in making interfaith relations stronger than ever. Whatever problems we had before are now history. This case is closed.”

Hagee is firmly pro-Israel and has praised McCain for sharing his values to that end. But he has condemned Catholics for what he sees as efforts to persecute Jews. In his 2006 book “Jerusalem Countdown,” Hagee wrote that history proves Adolf Hitler and the Catholic Church were linked “in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.”

In his letter to Donohue, Hagee indicated he no longer believes in such historical links.

“In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews,” he wrote. “In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not. Likewise, I have not sufficiently expressed my deep appreciation for the efforts of Catholics who opposed the persecution of the Jewish people.”

McCain continues to accept Hagee’s endorsement, and his campaign rejects any attempts to draw comparisons between Hagee’s controversial remarks and those of Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

Donohue told FOX News Radio that both McCain and Obama “have both gotten some bad advice on how to handle certain people who are close to them.”

But he said “I don’t really have a stink with McCain per se.”

FOX News’ Mike Majchrowitz contributed to this report.

[wryter2000]

1. He's a sorry excuse, all right

He's sorry it's hurting his pal, is all.

[Bluebear]

2. He's sorry, alright. nt

[Goodnevil]

3. KRW (Keanu Reeves Whoa)

Whoa

[Renaissance Man]

4. Not Buying It

I'm not buying this apology, at all.

However, Adolf Hitler did consult the church to obtain baptismal records to murder people who were thought to have been Jewish. Whether or not it was exclusively the Catholic Church that did this is unknown. It was viewed as one of the only definitive ways to distinguish Jews from non-Jews in Nazi Germany.

I learned this is in a 19th Century European History class. There is factual information to back this up.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

5. well, the proof will be just how much the media pays attention to

this.

I'll believe it, if the this is the top story for say 2 to 3 weeks.

[AlinPA]

6. McCain is trying to clean it up for the election. Doesn't matter- religion crap is not going to do

it for the Rpigs this time.

[devilgrrl]

7. But but but what about Rev. Wright? But but but...

:eyes:

[AlinPA]

8. McCain is trying to clean it up for the election. Doesn't matter- religion crap

is not going to do it for the Rpigs this time. People (especially young people) are sick of the "Christian leaders" like Robertson, Hagee, Haggard, Myer, Osteen and the rest of those ugly bigots. They have turned a lot of people away from the Christian religion with their stupdity and hate.

[IntravenousDemilo]

9. "Great Whore"...

...or, "The Greatest Whore"?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. Is this McCain's pastor?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. No, just his fundie sponsor

McCain's defense against the Hagee backlash was "Well, at least I didn't spend 20 years in his church."

[KaryninMiami]

11. Tissue? How about a barf bucket?

There's a special place in the afterlife for so called "spiritual leaders" such as Hagee (and any other religious leaders who hate on behalf of their version of God). I just hope we can convince the media to pay as close attention to him as they paid to Wright.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. Great Whore vs a Mediocre Whore like himself

I would like to see him off the air or taxed like the
bullshit business he is.

[KamaAina]

13. "In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms,"

I have endorsed a candidate who voted against the Martin Luther King holiday and enjoys speaking to the Conservative Citizens Council.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/11/21/113031/28

Today, Senator John McCain is heading to Alabama to host a fundraiser for George Wallace Jr., who is running for Lieutenant Governor in a contested primary. Wallace has given four speeches in front of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist group that was created from the mailing list of the old White Citizens Councils and has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as growing more openly "radical and racist" in recent years. However, Wallace claims he sees "nothing hateful" in the group which opposes interracial marriage, hate crime legislation, and "Afrocentric" education in schools. In 2000, McCain took George Bush to task for speaking at Bob Jones University without condemning their policy against interracial dating.

:rofl:

[Rob H.]

14. That doesn't sound like an apology, imo

"I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

Saying you're sorry that what you said might have offended someone is not the same as apologizing for making those comments in the first place. It's like saying, "I'm sorry it hurt your feelings when I called you a fucking moron. Lighten up!"

ETA: And Bill Donahue getting bent out of shape about Hagee's remarks is a fucking joke, given some of the anti-Semitic and homophobic things he's said over the years.

[KansDem]

15. "...has spent “weeks” meeting with Catholic leaders."

“The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it,” Donohue said, adding that Hagee has spent “weeks” meeting with Catholic leaders.

Weeks? Sounds like he negotiated his apology. Doesn't sound very "sincere" or "conciliatory."

I mean, if he were truly sorry, why take weeks to apologize?

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

17. BS pure and simple.

Hagee is pandering to right wing Catholics who don't know or care that the man is still a bigot. Those people are goiing to vote for McCain anyway. The only thing they care about is abortion and the fact that gays are still persona non grata in the Catholic Church.

[panzerfaust]

18. Brother John is another 'ole Texas boy

Right now he is building Hisself a huge brand new multistory church down in San Antone - be a lot bigger'en the Big Box Church he's got there now.

Reckon it is going even to be bigger than the Morman Temple that went up a few years ago.

Ain't no end to doin' Good here in the Lone Star.

Damnedest thing though. When Christmas come of a Sunday recently, his Big Box Church was CLOSED for the day. At least the Original, Apostatic, Holy Mother Church of Rome had their places open.

[lpbk2713]

19. He wouldn't be sorry if he wasn't taken to task for what he said.

He thought he would get away with it when he spoke those words or he would not have spoken them. Now that he is being held accountable for what he said he is so profusely sorry, boo-fuggen-hoo. Damned hypocrite televangelist. "Just keep them cards and letters coming in folks -- filled with money."