‘Nice Catholic boys’ Tim Kaine, Mike Pence and two views of Jesus

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Last edited Sun Aug 14, 2016, 10:13 AM - Edit history (1)

AUGUST 13, 2016 6:00 PM
BY WILLIAM F. POWERS
William F. Powers, a retired professor of sociology, lives in Chapel Hill.

Two men with many similar characteristics were traveling along the same religious and political road. Their paths have diverged. Why?

This year’s vice presidential candidates – Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence – were born only a year apart, Kaine in 1958 and Pence the following year. Both were raised in working class Irish Catholic Democratic families. Both attended Catholic parochial schools. Both graduated from law school, Kaine from Harvard and Pence from the University of Indiana.

In addition, they married within a year of each other, and each has had three children. Both have served as governor – Kaine of Virginia (2006-2010), Pence of Indiana (2013-present).

Throughout their political lives, despite the diverse religious (and nonreligious) constituencies they represent, neither man has shied away from defining himself as a church-going Christian. Pence proudly says that he is “first, a Christian, second, a conservative, and third, a Republican.” For his part, Kaine frequently refers to the Jesuit influence on his life. He and his wife have attended the same church in Richmond for 30 years.

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article95366932.html

[MADem]

1. Pence left the Catholic church, so he's no longer one of those nice Catholic boys, I guess.

It is in this rather confusing context that Pence and Kaine have searched for a religious home. Paradoxically, for Mike Pence, the church of his upbringing is too liberal, and for Tim Kaine, it is too conservative. Pence doesn’t find in the Catholic Church the deep attachment to Jesus, the warm embrace of fellow believers and the rich love for the Bible that he encounters in an evangelical congregation. On the other hand, while Tim Kaine continues to love the church of his childhood and to worship faithfully in a Catholic parish, he has been criticized publicly by several Catholic bishops for his positions on abortion and homosexual marriage.

As the journey to Election Day continues, two men who attended parochial schools, attended Mass regularly, prayed the Rosary, went to confession and were confirmed as Catholics look across not only a substantial political divide, but a religious gulf as well.


Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article95366932.html#storylink=cpy

I have a funny feeling that the "Who are we to judge?" Pope likes Kaine a helluva lot better than he likes those critical bishops....

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2. The nun who taught him still has hope.

Bierman is not disclosing who she will vote for in November. Her former student will get her blessing, but for now it appears uncertain whether he will get her vote because of the man who is at the top of the Republican ticket.

She says she was "sorely disappointed" by Trump's acceptance speech, which she describes as "that hour and a half of yelling."

http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/benedictine-sister-recalls-her-former-student-vp-nominee-mike-pence