Not content to have embarrassed their archbishop into a pointless confrontation with their mayor, two Boston area Republican surrogates have upped the ante by demanding the resignation of the director of Catholic Charities and the revocation of an invitation to Mayor Thomas Menino to speak at a fund raising dinner next week for Boston's poor.

In a letter to Archbishop Sean O'Malley, the two activists falsely accuse Mayor Menino of being "pro-abortion," although neither the mayor's words nor his actions have ever demonstrably led to a single abortion in Massachusetts. Joseph Doyle, leader of a group sponsored by the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus, and Carol McKinley, co-founder of an organization opposing the lay group Voice of the Faithful, patronizingly wrote, "We request that you avoid further scandal and confusion to the faithful by insisting Catholic Charities disinvite Mayor Menino and find a suitable candidate to honor in his place on December 9."

They obtained the co-signatures of some 100 Catholic friends to a document that reads, "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." Ms. McKinley's website, which lavishly praises President Bush, makes no mention of his defiance of the Catholic Bishops' renunciation of the death penalty and the war in Iraq. As governor of Texas, Mr. Bush oversaw the killing of more people (152) than any other governor in US history, and his actions in Iraq have led to the deaths of more than 100,000 people since his invasion of 2003. None of the involved parties have offered any criticism of the honor bestowed on Mr. Bush last spring when he was the featured speaker at the "National Catholic Prayer Breakfast" in Washington DC, which was attended by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and five other bishops.

Not satisfied with having cornered Archbishop O'Malley into withdrawing his attendance from the event, Ms. McKinley further insulted the Archbishop in remarks she made that were publicly quoted this week, "The diocese is still not in compliance with the directive (of the national bishops' conference to exclude pro-feminist speakers from Catholic events) and it's a classic example of how pro-abort politicians use their 'honors' to trample mothers and fathers attempting to hold the Bishop accountable to the promises he makes."

In other words, unless a Catholic public figure's stance on abortion matchs the empty Republican rhetoric on the issue, these individuals feel perfectly comfortable dictating to Church authorities who should and who should not be included in Catholic events. Curiously, the national Republican figure who started the ball rolling on this issue is Dr. Deal Hudson, a former Baptist minister turned Catholic philosophy professor who was fired from his faculty position at a Catholic university for sexually assaulting one of his students.

One must wonder if these radicals really think that Boston's mayor and the director of Boston's Catholic Charities, an internationally known Catholic priest and scholar, are sinners of such notoriety that members of the Church should shun them. The whole effort has the flavor of one party's efforts to label the other party as the party of sinners, rather than any effort to observe the Gospel. Even were it true that the Mayor is a formidable sinner, it's worth recalling that Jesus sought out dinner companions who bore that label.

"The healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do. I have not come to invite the self-righteous to a change of heart, but sinners (Lk 5:32)." It's clear in this story who the self-righteous are, how far they are willing to go in humiliating our Archdiocese and defunding our Catholic Charities, and how hypocritical their efforts are in light of the orchestration from national Republican activists who have never held themselves to similar standards.