WASHINGTON (AP) - John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized to Catholics Tuesday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews."
Hagee's support for McCain has drawn cries of outrage from some Catholic leaders who have called on McCain to reject Hagee's endorsement. The likely Republican nominee has said he does not agree with some of Hagee's past comments, but did not reject his support.
In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."
Donohue, one of Hagee's sharpest critics, said he accepted the apology and planned to meet with Hagee Thursday in New York.
"I got what I wanted," Donohue said in an interview. "He's seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it's over."
The controversy had threatened to pursue McCain throughout the campaign, potentially hurting his standing with Catholic voters. A narrow majority of Roman Catholics voted for President Bush in 2004 and for Al Gore in 2000, critical votes in close elections.
The letter came after Hagee met Friday for lunch in a French restaurant in downtown Washington with 22 influential religious activists, virtually all of them Catholics.
Hagee has cited the Inquisition and the Crusades as evidence of anti-Semitism within the Catholic church and has suggested that Catholic anti-Semitism shaped Adolf Hitler's views of Jews.
"In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholics and Protestant relations with the Jews," Hagee wrote. "In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not."
Hagee has often made references to "the apostate church" and the "great whore," terms that Catholics say are slurs aimed at the Roman Catholic Church. In his letter, Hagee said he now better understood that his use of those descriptions, taken from the Book of Revelations, are "a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary."
He stressed that in his use, "neither of these phrases can be synonymous with the Catholic Church."
The remarkable 2 1/2-page letter was no doubt inspired by the political storm Hagee's endorsement caused. Hagee leads a San Antonio, Texas, megachurch with a congregation in the tens of thousands. He has an even wider television audience.
When he endorsed McCain in late February, Donohue and other Catholic leaders demanded that McCain repudiate him. The Democratic National Committee also weighed in, highlighting Hagee's remarks over the years.
Some commentators even likened Hagee's affect on McCain to the controversy Democrat Barack Obama faced as a result of the views expressed by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
McCain initially embraced Hagee's endorsement, eager to reach out to religious voters by securing the support of a prominent Christian conservative. But he was soon forced to put some distance with Hagee.
"Any comments that he made about the Catholic Church I strongly condemn, of course," he said during an April appearance on ABC's "This Week."
Campaigning in North Bend, Wash., McCain on Tuesday said Hagee's apology was "very helpful."
"Whenever somebody apologizes for something they did wrong, then I think that that's a laudable thing to do," he said.
Asked if he or his campaign played a role in brokering Hagee's letter, McCain simply said: "I certainly wasn't."
During the early primaries, McCain won strong support from Catholic voters. But Hagee threatened to become an issue heading into the general election.
Hagee is no stranger to provocative remarks. On National Public Radio in 2006, he said Hurricane Katrina was God's judgment because "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God." He has written that the feminist movement represents "a rebellion against God's pattern for the family." On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee said that considering those and other comments McCain still should renounce Hagee's endorsement.
But Donohue said Hagee, by offering his apology now, may have defused a potential problem from the Arizona senator.
"Had this happened after Labor Day I think it would have been an insurmountable problem for McCain to reach out to Catholics," Donohue said. "Now, with this behind him, I think the raised eyebrows in the Catholic community will begin to normalize."
In a statement posted in the Catholic League's Web site, Donohue added: "What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments
Tallguy1000
What commands Jesus spoke to the disciples when He appeared before them after He rose from the dead applies to all believers.
Jesus said in John 20:23, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them: and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
If someone sins against me personally I have the power to forgive them of their sin without them asking me for it or I have the power to hold it against them until they do.
Oh Justme984, you know where it is in the bible.... In John 20:23, Jesus told the disciples, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." You stated that it is clear that Jesus gave them power to forgive. This verse has always been a clear statement to me.
Try it sometime. Go to a Catholic Confession and confess your sins to a priest. Meet him face to face. Discuss your sins with him, tell him all about it. When he speaks "your sins are forgiven" you will feel such a weight taken off your shoulders you'll then understand the benefit of confession...
Where in the Bible do priests have the right to forgive sins??
chris70, when I have the opportunity to preach I often tell the congregation that those words are the only thing I long for when I get to heaven, not the crowns, not the rewards, but to hear from Christ that my life mattered for the cause of Christ that God used me to make a difference for Him and I remind them that Christ will say not perfectly done, but well done. I look so forward to that day!! As a song we sing in many of our churches says, "When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory!!!!"
Both Believer and MSN,
You both just put on Christ in the last few posts. We need to build each other up, and you both after all your bickering just showed everyone how we should pray for each other and love one another.
May we all take these last few posts as the Holy Spirit guiding both their hearts for reconcilliation. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would be so proud of both of you.
MSN and Believer just taught us all so much in the last few posts. May God be glorified!
Believer,
We have butted heads quite a bit.
IN the end, it won't be denominations like you said. We will all be just Christians as one body in Christ and it will be as simple as; "Do you accept me as your savior and did you love me with all your heart and did you love your neighbor as yourself?" Well done, good and faithful servant is what we should both want to hear.
I, like you, put all my Trust in Christ and by Grace we will be saved.
See you in Heaven my friend in Christ.
I don't have a problem with confessing our sins to one another in fact I do my best to encourage the pastors of my association of the importance of having an accountability partner. Howard Hendricks says we each need a Paul, someone to disciple us, a Barnabas, someone to encourage us as well as be honest with us to include accountability, and a Timothy, someone who we can disciple and invest our life in. I can almost guarantee that 99% of every pastor who has gotten caught up in a sinful discretion did not have an accountability partner, I praise God I have several men who willingly agreed to be my accountability partner they are blatantly honest with me and not afraid to ask me the tough questions. I know the release your talking about when you share your hurts, joys, and transgressions with a trusted brother in Christ who you know loves you as Christ loves you and doesn't judge you or hold your shortcomings over you. Where we differ is you believe that the priest has the ability to forgive your sins and I believe only God through Christ will forgive my sins. As far as you being a catholic that is a decision between you and God and I have no right to question that, but the bottom line is this when you and I appear before God He's not going to ask us what denomination we were, He's going to ask what we did with His Son, Jesus Christ, did we accept Him or reject Him, our answer to that will determine our eternal destiny, in heaven there won't be any Anglicans, Baptists, Charismatics, or Catholics, etc, only children of God who accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Needless to say we have butted heads on a number of issues, but in several of your blogs you shared that indeed you have asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, so in closing I don't hope to see you there I look forward to seeing you there.
Believer,
I will even give you kudos for what you wrote. I will say with all due respect to you as a fellow Christian, that going directly to ABBA or Daddy is always the first thing I do. Sometimes when and if my sins are great, sometimes I just need someone to talk to. Christ gave mankind a gift of the Priesthood to forgive sins. As a Protestant I didn't like the idea, but now as a Catholic I find great peace. Most all Priests have multiple PhD's and most not only in theology and Scripture but in Psychology and in life experience.
I honestly felt that Christ was speaking through my priest when I gave my confession. I cried so much, because I could honestly feel God's grace flowing back in to me after sinning against Him and my fellow man. To give your confession to a Priest truly creates a humble and contrite heart. It is a gift that you can choose to use if you want Believer. All I will say, it is a wonderful gift.
The Church does have a lot of complexities. If the complexities are too much then I thank God you found your relationship somewhere else. I actually find the complexities of Catholicism wonderful and rich. Their view of Christ is so deep and not very simple at all. I love my deeper relationship with Christ because of the Eucharist, the Liturgy which is all Scripture, confession, etc. I love all the feast days that remind me to be a Saint and immitate Christ as best I can. I love the seasons of worship where we can adore God more specifically.
I absolutely love being Catholic. I loved what you wrote in the last two paragraphs. It was simple and concise and revealed your heart. God will judge both our hearts and how we sought Him in our lives and I pray that one day I will see you in Heaven praising Him together.
Peace.
Kudos for believer!
Mat 18:2,3 "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
<Not a bunch of red tape, rules, if-this-then-that....just simple faith and contrition.>
believer,
Amen! Preach brother, preach!
Amen brother believer. You have hit the nail on the head!
I am going to flag all my previous blogs because these last two are I believe who and what God would have me be and becoming and be about the business of sharing with others.
Based on that why would I want or need to go through a priest or anyone else with my prayer concerns or to have my sins forgiven. If lets say I had a choice of bringing an issue directly to the President or going through a whole lot of red tape or his staff which would I pick, needless to say this is a no-brainer, Mr. President thank you for seeing me hear I am. With God it's even better I as His child have access to Him 24/7 and because He is God He's never to busy to see me and listen to me and even though He may have me wait for His answer it's not because He can't answer me immediately it's because He has a purpose for me waiting so He won't answer me immediately, the same is true when He says no. Christ no where in His Word tells me I have to go through anyone but Him to have access to my heavenly Father in fact He declares that He and the Father are one. So why would I want to go through a priest, bishop, pope, mary, or anyone else when as a child of the King I can go directly to Him. The catholic church much like the Jewish religious leaders of Christ's day have made worship of God both exclusive as well as complicated and other denominations have done the same as well. I don't agree with that, but I do respect their right to do it, but I will not be a part of it either. Because when I am either hurting or in trouble or just need a shoulder to lean on I'm going straight to my Daddy, Abba Father and no one else because I know He is always there for me and He will never leave me or forsake me. Man will let me down but God will never let me down and He's always there to pick me up! Praise the Lord and thank you Jesus!
One of Jesus biggest concerns with the Jewish religious leaders was that they had made the worship of God both exclusive and complicated to the point that only a small group of them controlled and dictated the worship of God. The book of Hebrews makes it clear that thanks to the work of Christ on Calvary not only were all the manmade rules for worship negated even some of the rules of worship established by God were no longer necessary because they had been fulfilled by Christ's death on the cross. One of the major ones was the need for any more animal sacrifices since they were a prophetic symbol of the sacrifice that Christ would fulfill as the perfect sacrifice which He did on Calvary. Another one was that the role of the High Priest was done away with since now we have Jesus Christ to be our High Priest and since by being washed in the shed blood of Christ on Calvary every truly born again believer has direct access to the Holy of Holies, the throne of God. We are told to bring all our prayer concerns directly to God through Christ our High Priest and to the throne of God. Christ declares Himself to be our Mediator before God and we no longer need to go through any religious heiarchy but Him alone. I am going to a second entry to ensure I don't run over.
IHS
It is God who gives you your call into the ministry (Pastorate). God will confirm your call to the ministry to your Pastor. God will give your Pastor the authority to set you apart for the ministry by the laying on of hands.
Acts 13:1-3
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.