Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who heads the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will give the closing prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, CNN reports.
A spokesman for Dolan emphasized that the prayer is not political, via CNN:
A spokesman for Dolan said convention protocol calls for the local bishop to deliver such a prayer, meaning the slot would have normally gone to a Florida bishop, but that the Republican convention’s organizers insisted on Dolan’s participation.
“The Cardinal made it clear to the RNC (and to the Democratic National Committee as well) that he was only there to offer a prayer, not to engage in any partisan politics,” the spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, said in an e-mail, “and that he would be willing to accept a similar invitation from the DNC if they were to invite him to pray at their Convention as well.”
The USCCB opposed the health care reform law, particularly its mandate that all insurance plans cover contraception. Earlier this year, Republicans argued the contraception coverage rule amounted to a “war on religion” and the Catholic Church in particular. But the bishops have also been critical of Paul Ryan’s budget plan for cutting domestic spending that helps the poor.
