“Barbara Bellar, State Senate, There’s ‘Nun’ Better.”
Those words are stamped at the top of Republican State Senate candidate Barbara Bellar's website.
The play on words reflects the time the 65-year-old Burr Ridge woman spent as a Benedictine nun before earning medical and law degrees.
But Sun-Times Media columnist Phil Kadner has been pressing Bellar — who faces State Rep. Bill Cunningham, a Democrat, for the 18th District Senate seat — for more detail on her background. The district takes in parts of Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Palos Park, Palos Hills and the 19th Ward on the Southwest Side of Chicago.
In a column published Tuesday, Kadner writes:
... when asked if she ever took vows of fidelity and obedience she refused to return telephone calls for days and repeatedly walked away from this columnist during a Republican candidate forum at Moraine Valley Community College on Saturday.
“Dr. Bellar served as a Benedictine nun for five years and remains active in her church,” Bellar claims in a biography on her campaign website, which includes a logo that reads:
But Sister Patricia Crowley, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago, said Bellar was only a postulant in the order, meaning she was there for a year and was a candidate to join the order. ...
“You are a postulant, which is the first stage and lasts about a year, and then become a novice, which requires a vote (by the order) to be accepted, Crowley said.
“After a year or two after that you would take your vows.
“All I can tell you is that Barbara Bellar was a postulant here and never became a novice and never took any vows.”
Kadner also reveals that Bellar earned her medical degree in Mexico — confirmed by records on file at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — not New York Medical School, where she took a one-year course.
But Bellar's official "life journey" on her campaign website reads:
"... she pursued her undergraduate education at Mundelein College/Loyola University, completing a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Biology. She worked in endocrinology research at both the University of Chicago, and Loyola University while receiving her Teacher’s Certification, and then completing a B.H.S. as a Physician Assistant. Continuing on her path of working and studying, she completed Medical School and an Intern year at New York Medical College and then completed a Family Practice Residency at University of Illinois."
Dr. Bellar is getting more attention these days due to a YouTube video in which the she blasts Obamacare, which now has topped 3 million views.
"God should decide how long we live, not President Obama," she said at a Palos Hills candidate forum earlier this month covered by Patch.
In addition to her religious training, her bachelor degrees, her law degree from St Louis University and John Marshall Law School, her masters degree in bioethics and health policy from Loyola University, Bellar serves in the Army Reserve with the rank of major, works full-time as a physician and is earning a second masters degree in public health while running for the State Senate.
But Bellar won't answer any of Kadner's questions about her record, and that doesn't sit well with the columnist.
"What troubles me the most is that someone running for public office simply refuses to answer questions in person or return phone calls challenging her credentials."
Well, that's understandable. She seems to be very, very busy.
Update: . "My life is an open book," she says. Read her full reply.
Obviously in the case of Dr. Bellar, some of these same bloggers posting on patch are not voting for Dr. Bellar no matter what…after all she is a Republican! Many of the bloggers are democrat organization loyalist, seizing the opportunity to muddy the waters to confuse the independent voters from the real issues facing Illinois. However I believe voters will make that ballot decision based on facts of the problems facing this state, they know who created this mess and more importantly who is more likely to fix it! They are smart enough to not be swayed by mean spirited, redacted loose conjecture.
The facts are quite clear regarding Dr. Bellar, for those paying attention to the campaign, nothing has been embellished, Dr. Bellar has always been quite clear with her facts. This “pretend controversy”… is simply Phil Kadner and the south town trying desperately to keep their newspaper alive! The art of creating controversies where they don't exist....that’s a process as old as newspapers themselves. Silly things like this can have an effect on electoral outcomes…of course I believe that is what “Phil Kander” had in mind when he crafted his piece. I am sad however that the Patch thought it was good journalism to re-print the muck Mr. kadner threw out here! It’s untrue, its mean, it’s unethical and it’s not fair, but we all answer for our sins in the end!
sadly I understand that the DEMOCRAT candidates are not going to showing up, dodge the voters once again ???? They want your vote but won’t face you in public! open political debate between the candidates seeking elective office for the: State Senate District 18th, State Representative District 35th, and State Representative District 36th The Debate has been confirmed and will take place On: Monday October 29, 2012 at 7:00pm, at: Parkwood Baptist Church at 11355 S. Central Park Avenue, Chicago Illinois, in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood. Pastor Thorin Anderson, the Pastor of Parkwood Baptist Church has agreed to host and act as an impartial moderator of this event. All candidates from the Republican and Democrat sides have been invited. The following Republican candidates have already accepted this invitation and will be present at this event: Dr. Barbara Bellar, Candidate for IL State Senate-District 18 Bob Shelstrom, Candidate for IL State Representative-District 36 Ricardo Fernandez, Candidate for IL State Representative-District 35. The format will be a town hall style forum with questions being submitted in writing by the audience. All members of the public are invited to attend this event. For further information, you can call Park Wood church 773-238-4475.
I applaud them for providing an opportunity where open debate can take place, allowing the public to compare the candidates. My only concern is if the church will be big enough to handle a large crowd that will certainly attend. I have been hearing from a few sources however that the Democrat candidates are not going to show up. It appears they do not feel they need to face the public; their absence will be a strong message to all the voters.
So I assume your rant regarding the woes of 19th ward was meant for another blogger? I wrote nothing regarding the 19th ward? As for my play book, read my post they are 100% accurate, getting pissed at me for pointing out the robber baron actions of your Democrat leaders over the last 45 years is not going to change the cause of why we face economic disaster today. Those same Democrat leaders you voted for time and time again are the ones who squandered away our state and counties money, seriously, Joe, how is that working out for us all?
well lets hope the debate will be a successful exercise in civic responsibility and the general public becomes better informed one way or the other about the issues facing us.
Thank you, your own slant actually serves to make my point, So you agree then that for less than 14 of the previous 45 years the Democrat party has controlled the state of Illinois? The Dems held majority of all three bodies of government. I might also add the vast majority of overwhelming carnage of compiled debt and abuse has occurred over the previous 16 years leading us up to today’s teetering fiscal collapse…with the largest proportional majority of that debt occurring over the previous 11 years, and guess what? The Democrats have held both houses and nearly the entirety of the governor’s mansion during this last portion. PH Fran, If we were Texas for example, you could make a point that our political leaders are doing good work for the citizens, balanced budgets, paying off the debt, providing excellent “critical” services to the states citizens, and deserve to be re-elected to office. BUT.. We are not Texas, we are the 50th..last place, worst of the worst, seems the voters here in Illinois are in severe denial. As a general electret, it is very hard to look in a mirror and accept the responsibility for your vote. As a voting whole, we believed these people and they betrayed us, why on earth would we send them back again?
Governor though important, is a figure head; Mr. Madigan controls the agenda, the vast majority of our current fiscal implosion has boiled to this quicken pace under predominately over the last decade, ALL under the Democrats controlled agenda, reckless out of control non-essential spending, social subsidies, continued neglect of their “legal” duty to fund pension liabilities. I pose the question again; who is most likely to fix this disaster; the same folks that created this or those with new vision? They say that there are none more blinded then those who refuse to see the truth! PH Fran, I am sure you’re a good person, we simply have obvious differences in our expectations of leadership.
I'm also appalled by the lack of knowledge by "involved" parents regarding their school's performance. During the Evergreen Park 124 teacher strike, I spoke to many parents about why they were supporting giving teachers above COLA raises that would result in their children having larger class sizes, programs being dropped and the laying off of young teachers. Most hadn't even bothered to look at the school budget on line, they just mindlessly "supported the teachers". Many were crowing about how their school was "superior" to others in the area, but when I asked them what test scores bore out that assumption, I found out they hadn't even looked at test scores (124 8th graders scored lower than state average in "exceeding standards" in math and reading)