Cuomo Wins Decisively

This article first appeared in The Post-Journal on September 23, 2018

You have to give the Governor credit, he won the Democratic Primary in a big way. I thought that with the “Me-Too” movement and the “Progressives”dominating the news that Cynthia Nixon would have run a closer race. It helped that the Governor outspent her by about 8-1 but, that being said, you cannot detract from his very decisive victory.

In the other races, Letitia James was elected as the Democratic candidate for Attorney General and Kathy Hochul was elected to be the candidate for Lieutenant Governor. They won these races despite the fact that they were not endorsed by the New York Times. That, in itself, is an accomplishment. Often, the Times’ endorsement in New York City virtually assures election. However, this time, the voters in New York split their votes. For example, though Kathy Hochul lost in Brooklyn and Manhattan–she carried the day in the Bronx, Queens and Long Island. Not a bad outcome for a person from Buffalo running against a New York City Councilman.

Now, we repivot for the General Election. By most accounts, Andrew Cuomo will be re-elected Governor. The Republican candidate, Marc Molinaro, who is the County Executive of Dutchess County, is a well-liked and articulate person. However, so far, he has been unable to raise significant amounts of money for the race. In a state like New York, it is very expensive to go on television and communicate your message unless you are either rich or can raise money. Unless Andrew Cuomo stumbles badly or an investment “angel” arrives to finance the Molinaro campaign…it is hard to see the Republicans taking back the Governor’s mansion.

We who live upstate and are a minority in the State, will lose a strong, counter-balancing voice in Albany.

What is more concerning to me as an “upstater” is that it is likely this year that the Democrats will win a majority in the State Senate. Once that happens, I doubt that the State Senate will ever return again to Republican hands. Thus, we who live upstate and are a minority in the State, will lose a strong, counter-balancing voice in Albany.

I remember the days when stalwart, mainstream Republicans like Jacob Javits and Louis Lefkowitz could win statewide. Then there was Nelson Rockefeller and later, George Pataki, who found a way to be elected Governor. However, New York is starting to look a lot more like California in its politics. The Republican Party in California is now so marginalized that the State has gone to a system of having the top two “vote-getters” in the Primary run against each other so at least there is a choice in the General Election. Often the top two are Democrats. Could or should New York move in this direction so that voters in the General Election will continue to have a choice?

California has gone to a system of having the top two “vote-getters” in the Primary run against each other so at least there is a choice in the General Election.

This year there were double the number of Democrats voting in the New York Primary as compared to 2014. There is another New Yorker from Queens who can take credit for that and his name is Donald Trump. Though President Trump is still strong in some upstate counties (like Chautauqua County,) he is very much disliked in New York City and other urban and suburban areas around the state. It was interesting that Governor Cuomo ran more against Donald Trump than he did his actual opponent, Cynthia Nixon. I am sure the same will be true in his General Election campaign against Molinaro.

Yet, probably the most interesting political development in this election season will not take place in New York. Instead, the Nation is focused on seeing if Democrats will be able to gain a majority in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. That continues to be the main story-line in the elections of 2018.

Rolland Kidder

The Catholic Church Needs Married Clergy

This article originally appeared in The Post-Journal on September 16, 2018

I am not a Catholic but I do have a post-college seminary degree. Going back to those “old” days, I recall having conversations with my Catholic counterparts who were also in seminary, who wanted to be married but could not under the celibacy rules of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now, nearly every day when I pick up the newspaper there is a story about sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church. There are accompanying articles with apologies from Catholic leaders including the Pope. Catholic lay people are “turned off” by all of this and young people raised as Catholics find it a reason to leave the Church. Something significant has to change.

Something significant has to change.

This is not to say that a married clergy is a total answer. I also read recently of the pastor of a Protestant Mega Church in the Cleveland area who is under investigation for being a pedophile. Sexual harassment is a human problem, not confined to any particular religious persuasion.

However, fewer priests are being recruited for the ministry because of the celibacy rule, and a celibate priesthood can also be a magnet for those who may have sexual aberrations in their own character. If you compound this with the authority of priests to administer Church sacraments, you can see how a person with these difficulties could become a real problem in a Church where the priesthood has such a prominent role in the lives of the faithful.

I believe that being a minister or priest is one of the toughest jobs in the world. You are dealing daily with the fallen, people with deep problems, families that are being pulled apart, yet in a community that needs love and healing. No better way to face these problems as a minister or priest than having a family of your own to provide moral and spiritual support. A person should not be denied the rite of ministry because they are married. Marriage brings them closer to the human side of life, to a better understanding of what other families are going through.

Marriage can bring priests closer to the human side of life, to a better understanding of what other families are going through.

As I understand it, there is a “backdoor” way to be married and become a Roman Catholic priest. You can first get married and become an Anglican priest… and then transfer into the Roman Catholic Church. (The Anglican Church also holds to the view of “apostolic succession” where all priests have been ordained with the “laying on of hands” going back to Saint Peter.) But using such an arcane maneuver to address a church-wide problem is like trying to fix a large wound with a band aid.

There would be a great outcry from some in the Catholic Church if the rule on celibacy were changed. But, something deep and institution-changing is needed to ensure the continued viability of the Roman Catholic Church in Christendom. It is time for married individuals to be ordained to the priesthood.

Rolland Kidder