Christian leaders demand apology from Clinton campaign for mocking Catholics
Catholic and Evangelical leaders are circulating a letter asking for an apology from Hillary Clinton for the statements made by her campaign staffers in the emails released by Wikileaks last Tuesday.
"As Christian leaders, Catholic and Evangelical, we collectively express our outrage at the demeaning and troubling rhetoric used by those within Clinton campaign – and those associated with the campaign – to describe our communities," the letter reads.
"Recently released emails clearly ridicule, demean and smear Roman Catholics and Evangelicals," it continued.
In a 2011 email exchange, Center for American Progress (CAP) president John Halpin mocked News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch and Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thompson for raising their children as Catholics.
He characterized the involvement of Catholics in the conservative movement as "an amazing bastardization of the faith" and described its teachings on gender relations as backwards.
One of the recipients of the email was Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri who replied, "I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion," referring to Murdoch and Thompson.
Clinton campaign chairperson John Podesta was also included as a recipient but he did not participate in the exchange. However, Catholic and evangelical leaders are still holding him accountable for not raising objections against the statements by Halpin and Palmieri.
The statement noted that Catholics and Evangelicals are working together to demand an apology from the Clinton campaign despite the theological differences between the two denominations.
"The WikiLeaks emails reveal a contempt for all conservative Christians, and we are – Catholic and Evangelical – united in our outrage and united in our call for Mrs. Clinton to immediately apologize for the Christophobic behavior of her associates," the leaders stated in the letter.
Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon commented that the accusations of anti-Catholicism against Palmieri is a "faux controversy" because she is a Catholic herself.
In an emailed statement to Time, Clinton spokesperson Glen Caplin condemned the hacking and accused Wikileaks of promoting the political agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin to help elect Donald Trump.
