Nun Takes Cornerstone to Task for 'Misrepresenting' Obama Visit

CONCORD, N.H. – Sister Mary Agnes Dombroski is disappointed in Shannon McGinley, the acting director of Cornerstone Action, for "misrepresenting the big picture" when President Obama had a , N.H., on Saturday.

The Sister, with the Daughters of Mary Mother of Healing Love and the St. Charles Children's Home in Rochester, took issue with an Op/Ed McGinley posted today on Cornerstone's website (and briefly posted on Bedford Patch.)

McGinley's commentary, "Religious Liberty is Literally Under Attack," features a photo of Sister Mary Agnes and begins thus:

"When President Obama visited Rochester, N.H., last week, he asked the Sisters of the St. Charles Children Home to sit behind him; an offer they declined. And when the president's staffers said they'd be using the home as a backdrop for the president's rally, Sister Mary Agnes covered the organization's sign with a new message: 'Pray for Religious Freedom.'"

However, that first paragraph is out of context, and "make assumptions about motives on both sides that are not necessarily true," Sister Mary Agnes said in a Facebook response on the Cornerstone website.

Patch left a voicemail for Sister Mary Agnes this afternoon to learn more about the context. Awaiting a call back, here are more excerpts of what she had to say in her Facebook comment:

"The Sisters do not generally accept invitations to political events. ..."

and,

"An assumption is being made here that the Obama Campaign somehow wanted to 'use' us. That is an unfair assumption and it cannot be proven. I posted the sign, and the sign speaks for itself. Adding other bits of data that are actually out of context and misrepresenting the big picture is out of place in your article. In reality the Obama campaign was very respectful of us and our sign."

Cornerstone Action, the non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to traditional values, did receive some props from Sister Mary Agnes in her Facebook response.

"That being said," she concluded, "thank you for joining us in prayer. Prayer is what is needed here, and it is the only real and lasting solution."