She did it again!
It's not as if she hasn't taken every opportunity to slam the Catholic Church and religion. She has, but New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has added another affront to the Church she claims is the one she belongs to.
In this case, the insults are couched under the umbrella of "patriarchy and white supremacist culture." Add to that the sexism of men. She tried to cover all the woke culture bases.
Let me make it perfectly clear at this point: I find this woman to be reprehensible, in her socialist politics, in her radical Green New Deal proposal and in her attacks on the Catholic Church.
What set her off in this newest insult are the statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol. In an Instagram post, she wanted to know why there weren't more statues of women historical figures. She said that the statues are "virtually all men, all white, and mostly both," which, she said, "is a result of the influence of patriarchy and white supremacy"
The statues that are there were chosen by the 50 states that sent them to Congress for display. It's their history and their choices.
As reported by the Catholic News Agency, AOC said, "Even when we select figures to tell the stories of colonized places, it is the colonizers and settlers whose stories are told, and virtually no one else."
She zeroed in on a statue and portrait of Father Damien of Molokai, which was sent by the state of Hawaii. It stands along with a statue of King Kamehameha I.
Again, remember that these statues were chosen by the state of Hawaii, to honor these two people of their history.
But AOC isn't happy with that. According to her, it should have been a statue of Queen Lili'uokalani of Hawaii, the only queen regent of Hawaii. She implied it was an example of "colonizers" being honored instead of historical figures who are native to states.
So who was Father Damien, and why would Hawaii choose to honor him?
Father Damien – now Saint Damien of Molokai – was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. According to an interview In the Catholic News Agency with Dallas Carter, a native Hawaiian and catechist for the diocese of Honolulu, Damien was born Jozef De Veuster in Belgium in 1840. He entered the religious life and was sent to the mission in Hawaii in 1864 and ordained a priest that May.
Shortly afterward, the Hawaiian government and King Kamehameha V passed a law requiring that lepers be quarantined on the island of Molokai in the colony of Kalaupapa. No one knew how to deal with leprosy, which was very contagious, and it was decided to keep lepers separate. There was no treatment and no cure. Victims were rounded up and shipped to Molokai to die.
The bishop asked for volunteers to go to Molokai and minister to the people; Damien said yes, going there in 1873.
Carter said that Damiens' journals show he was afraid at first, but eventually, he fell in love with the people. Eventually, the bishop said he either had to return or decide to stay on Molokai permanently. Damien chose to stay, ministering to the people physically and spiritually.
Carter said Damien "loved the Hawaiian people, embraced the culture, spoke the language and was part of our kingdom. He was one of us."
In 1881, then-princess Lili'uokalani made Father Damien a knight commander of the royal Order of Kalakaua, for his "efforts in alleviating the distresses and mitigating the sorrows of the unfortunate." She visited him at the colony to present him with the honors from the Hawaiian government.
Father Damien stayed in the leper colony for the rest of his life. He contracted leprosy in 1884 but continued to minister to the people until his death at 49, in 1889.
He was canonized on Oct. 11, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI, who said that "his missionary activity, which gave him such joy, reached its peak in charity."
That same year, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle proclaimed Oct. 11 Saint Damien Day. At the time, she said, "In Hawaii, Damien remains a spiritual hero and an icon of love, compassion, courage, humility and humanitarian service."
Dallas Carter continued, "Any Hawaiian here who is aware of their history – which most Hawaiians are – would absolutely, Catholic or not, defend the legacy of Damien as a man who was embraced by the people, and who is a hero to us because of his love for the Hawaiian people.
"We did not judge him by the color of his skin. We judged him by the love he had for our people."
So AOC, who has done nothing in her life to gain any kind of respect, has the gall to denigrate a man who gave his life helping people society wanted to ignore.
She doesn't have the right to even touch the hem of his robe nor to criticize the fact that Hawaii honors Damien with a statue in Washington.
And yet, Democrats love her.
God help us!
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The post AOC's despicable attack on a Catholic hero appeared first on WND.
