“Be kind to one another” the reading from the Letter to the Ephesians counsels, while Jesus suggests to his critics: “Stop murmuring among yourselves” and partake of the “living bread that came down from heaven.” New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is the target of criticism for having invited President Barack Obama to partake in the Al Smith Dinner, a white-tie charity banquet held in the weeks before Election Day and hosted by the archbishop of New York.

By tradition the dinner features speeches by the two presidential candidates on the condition that they lob nothing more than good-natured jibes. But the Catholic hierarchy’s fierce feud with Obama, abetted by the increasingly sharp tone of the 2012 elections, is threatening to overrun the traditional good-natured truce around the dinner.

Conservative anxiety about the possibility that Dolan would invite Obama has been building for months, and the invitation could herald a difficult stretch for the cardinal. Dolan wears several hats—he heads the Archdiocese of New York, which launched the charity gala in 1945 in memory of Al Smith, who in 1928 became the first Catholic to head a presidential ticket.

But Dolan is also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a leader in the hierarchy’s ongoing battle with the administration over new regulations that will require all employer health insurance policies to provide free contraception coverage and sterilization along with a range of women’s health services.

On the other hand, associates say the Al Smith Dinner would normally be a showcase for Dolan’s personality and approach to ministry. His natural inclination, say associates, is to maintain an open-door policy and to find common ground with opponents whenever possible.

Source: An article by David Gibson for Religion News Service