Sharing love and joy at important events
Catholic Vote has just republished the assertion that Florida Senator Marco Rubio has returned to his Cuban Catholic roots. Just the other day he was reported to ‘crave the Blessed Sacrament.’
It’s not unusual for people to claim to be Catholics yet in reality be some form of Protestant, but Sen. Rubio seems really to be embracing a ‘big tent Christianity.’ His wife attends a Baptist megachurch, where he is a regular contributing member.
Can one be both Protestant and Catholic?
As an adult, from 2000 to 2004 Rubio took a detour from his Catholic roots to exclusively attend Miami’s Christ Fellowship, a Southern Baptist megachurch to which Rubio has given at least $50,000.
Now straddling both Christ Fellowship and the Catholic Church, Marco Rubio seems positioned to appeal both to conservative Catholics but also the anti-LGBT, demon-casting, creationist segment of the Protestant evangelical right.
Though he’s now primarily and “firmly” Catholic, Rubio has recently toldReligion News Service reporter Sarah Pulliam-Bailey that he has “maintained the relationship with Christ Fellowship” and often attends services at the church.
At CatholicVote they say Marco Rubio goes to Mass every Sunday and to the Baptist Megachurch too!
Why no reference to a Catholic parish?
Marco Rubio had perhaps the most fascinating journey of them all. He was born in Miami and his Catholic parents were both born in Communist Cuba. When he was about 8, his family moved to Las Vegas. And for awhile the Rubio family became Mormon. By the time Marco was in sixth grade, his family left the Mormon Church. He received Holy Communion on Christmas Day 1984. When the family returned to Miami a year later, he received the sacrament of Confirmation. His wife encouraged him to start attending an evangelical church in 2000 — and they exclusively for several years. “I felt called back to Catholicism around 2004,” he said. When Rubio ran for the Senate in 2010, there was confusion about whether he was evangelical or Catholic. I spoke with Rubio’s spokesman JR Sanchez in 2010. Sanchez told me that Rubio went to Mass every Sunday but that he also attended services at the evangelical church. As noted by religion writer Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Rubio himself later confirmed this in his memoir.
It’s not hard to see how many Catholics today can make no real distinction between the Mass and Protestant services. If they have no other exposure to the Faith, they’re fair game for all kinds of silly trendy ideas.
Today from Politico:
Marco Rubio says he would attend the wedding of a same-sex couple, even though the Republican Florida senator and newly minted presidential candidate has said he believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Fusion host Jorge Ramos pressed Rubio on Wednesday about whether he would go to the same-sex ceremony of someone in his family or someone on his staff who happens to be gay.
“Happens to be gay” You sure hear that a lot, as if it were all some casual accidental occurrence.
“If there’s somebody that I love that’s in my life, I don’t necessarily have to agree with their decisions or the decisions they’ve made to continue to love them and participate in important events,” he told Ramos.
Terrific. If it’s an ‘important event,’ then by all means participate. It’s all about love the Bible says.