Next week, he'll
Catholics angry as Huckabee woos Hagee
POSTED: Friday, December 21, 2007
FROM BLOG: FaithWorld - Reuters reporters follow religion around the world.
Hear stories behind the news and discuss trends in faith and ethics.

The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected
with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the
author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.

The Catholic League is angered at Republican presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee's scheduled appearance this Sunday at the Cornerstone "mega-church"
of fiery preacher John Hagee in San Antonio.

Hagee is better known for his staunch support of Israel and his reading of
Middle East events as unfolding Biblical prophecy. But the New York-based
Catholic League, which is America's largest Catholic civil rights group,
says the hefty pastor is also viciously anti-Catholic.

"He's one of the biggest anti-Catholic bigots in the U.S. and he commands a
huge audience. Hagee has reached out to the Jewish community quite well but
he does o almost always by bashing the Catholic Church," the League's
president Bill Donohue told Reuters.

"So I have no idea why someone like Huckabee or anyone running for president
would associate himself with somelike like Hagee," he said.

The Catholic League says Hagee has, among other things, compared the
Catholic Church to Hitler in its persecution of the Jews.

In response, Hagee reiterated in a brief statement that "We are not now nor
have we ever been anti-Catholic."

The stakes for Huckabee, himself a Baptist minister, could be high as the
evangelical base that he is trying to woo in the Republican Party has over
the past two decades found much common political ground -- theological
differences aside -- with Catholics on social issues such as abortion and
gay marriage.

The two groups have come a long way since John F. Kennedy felt compelled to
address his Catholic faith in 1960 in a speech to Southern Baptists in
Houston, assuring them among other things that he would not take policy
direction from the Pope.

But there are still evangelical pockets in the American south where
historical animosities toward the Catholic Church and Vatican remain.

Next week, he'll
Catholics angry as Huckabee woos Hagee
POSTED: Friday, December 21, 2007
FROM BLOG: FaithWorld - Reuters reporters follow religion around the
world. Hear stories behind the news and discuss trends in faith and
ethics.

The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected
with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of
the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.

The Catholic League is angered at Republican presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee's scheduled appearance this Sunday at the Cornerstone
"mega-church" of fiery preacher John Hagee in San Antonio.

Hagee is better known for his staunch support of Israel and his reading of
Middle East events as unfolding Biblical prophecy. But the New York-based
Catholic League, which is America's largest Catholic civil rights group,
says the hefty pastor is also viciously anti-Catholic.

"He's one of the biggest anti-Catholic bigots in the U.S. and he commands
a huge audience. Hagee has reached out to the Jewish community quite well
but he does o almost always by bashing the Catholic Church," the League's
president Bill Donohue told Reuters.

"So I have no idea why someone like Huckabee or anyone running for
president would associate himself with somelike like Hagee," he said.

The Catholic League says Hagee has, among other things, compared the
Catholic Church to Hitler in its persecution of the Jews.

In response, Hagee reiterated in a brief statement that "We are not now
nor have we ever been anti-Catholic."

The stakes for Huckabee, himself a Baptist minister, could be high as the
evangelical base that he is trying to woo in the Republican Party has over
the past two decades found much common political ground -- theological
differences aside -- with Catholics on social issues such as abortion and
gay marriage.

The two groups have come a long way since John F. Kennedy felt compelled
to address his Catholic faith in 1960 in a speech to Southern Baptists in
Houston, assuring them among other things that he would not take policy
direction from the Pope.

But there are still evangelical pockets in the American south where
historical animosities toward the Catholic Church and Vatican remain.