Obama is our most Catholic President????????

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough made what has to be one of the most laughable - and ignorant - comments about President Obama and Catholicism.

Speaking on David Axelrod's podcast The Axe Files on Wednesday, McDonough declared,  “Look, I say to him, Axe, and I think I’ve said this to him in your presence and I’ve said this publicly before, I think this is our most Catholic of presidents And I mean that by capital ‘C’ Catholic in what I see and what he does everyday.”

He then went on to say, “It’s not to say that he does everything entirely consistent with Catholic teaching.

Umm, yeah.

He strays from Catholic teachings - or seeks to undermine the Church - on some big issues.

On abortion.
On contraception.
On forcing people to provide and pay for abortion and contraception.
On religious liberty.
On homosexual so-called marriage.
On just war tactics.

Oh, and his administration sued nuns. And it duped various Catholic individuals and groups. And his party acknowledged trying to create groups to undermine Catholic teachings.

McDonough said Obama's “view of the person and our role and the view of us as adding to the common good is an undeniably Catholic set of premises, and that’s why I say that to him a lot.”

In other words, Obama promotes the "be nice" mentality.

Now to be fair, there are some of Obama's beliefs and actions that do intersect with Catholic teachings. The concern for the poor, for example, or for the environment, come to mind. And consider what he seems to consider his major "achievement" - the Affordable Health Care Act. As flawed as it is on a practical level and, in fact, it is in parts of this act that he comes in direct conflict with Catholic beliefs, the desire to provide health care for all, including the poor, does fit with Catholic beliefs. It is these social ministry concerns where I think McDonough sees the links. But he - and Obama - misunderstand the depth and fullness of Catholic doctrine.

What these remarks really reveal is the ignorance of the Obama administration about what Catholicism really is.

Capital "C" Catholicism.

Pax et bonum