Washington has begun to take note of the U.S. bishops’ more assertive tone on religious-freedom issues. Last week, a group of Republican senators criticized in a letter the controversial decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to deny funding to the highly rated U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ program for trafficking victims’ assistance.
Yesterday, Nov. 13, a Washington Post story, “U.S. Bishops Prepare Fight For Religious Exceptions Over Gay Marriage,” signaled that partisan “Democrat Catholic” groups are stepping up to provide their own spin on the bishops’ more assertive response to actions they judge to pose a serious and growing threat to religious freedom at both the federal and state levels.
As the Post story reports, “Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats, pointed to the agenda released before this week’s meeting, which included no public discussion of poverty despite the state of the economy.” The implication is that “Church leaders are turning inward and away from promoting the Church’s teaching on social justice.” Go to the Catholic Democrats’ website, and you learn that, in the last presidential election battle, the nonprofit explained why Catholics could vote for Barack Obama in good conscience.
However, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, is not backing down, and makes no apologies for sticking with his priority issues, while maintaining an integrated approach to the full range of the Church’s social, moral and constitutional concerns.
In his opening address at the bishops’ meeting in Baltimore this morning, Nov. 14, Archbishop Dolan stated:
“Our world would often have us believe that culture is light years ahead of a languishing moribund Church.
“But, of course, we realize the opposite case: The Church invites the world to a fresh, original place, not a musty or outdated one. It is always a risk for the world to hear the Church, for she dares the world to ‘cast out to the deep,’ to foster and protect the inviolable dignity of the human person and human life; to acknowledge the truth about life ingrained in reason and nature; to protect marriage and family; to embrace those suffering and struggling; to prefer service to selfishness; and never to stifle the liberty to quench deep down for the divine that the poets, philosophers and peasants of the earth know to be what really makes us genuinely human.”
Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond is covering the general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 14-16 in Baltimore.
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Of course the country and politicians are beginning to dismiss ‘religion’ and ‘religious’ issues…when we have ‘Catholic’ politicians like Pelosi, Biden, Sebellius, Dodd, et al aggressively advocating for the killing of preborn human babies and yet are allowed to continue to receive the Eucharist which only Catholics in good standing are permitted to do, then the public sees them as ‘Catholics in good standing’ and then tend to dismiss Catholic teachings, Catholic stands on other issues. If a child engages in terrible, immoral behavior and the parents give no consequences and allow the child to continue to receive privileges, then the child never learns that his/her behavior is wrong…Cardinal Burke, the head of the Vatican’s supreme court and a Canon Lawyer has said over and over and over that such ‘Catholic’ politicians should not receive the Eucharist but because other Bishops disagree, nothing is done about this. By the way, both Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict have also stated that such politicians should not receive the Eucharist…but, again, the Bishops disagree and Pelosi herself stated publicly that her Bishop had never spoken to her about this and therefore, she said, the Bishops must disagree. There is NO issue so essential as whether or not the preborn baby has the right to life. Mother Theresa said that the evils that befall us stem from this massive slaughter of preborn human babies and further, that a nation that kills its young will not survive. I wonder what about Bishops that allow Catholic politicians to aggressively advance the anti-agenda in the USA and abroad and still receive the Eucharist…? will they survive? will they enable those who publicly repudiate and defy Church teachings to confuse Catholics and others who look to the Church for guidance? Let’s not be surprised when the secular government dismisses Church teachings when some Bishops do the same…
It is finally sinking in. Our US church leaders have come to the conclusion that our secular government wishes to deprive Catholics of religious freedom. Enlightened individuals at Notre Dame, Georgetown University, the Catholic Hopital Association of America , and many US Bishops have tried appeasing an expanding government. Now they should be able to see that weakness always encourages further aggression. Canon 915 provided that government officials who supported anti Catholic activities should be publically censured and denied Holy Communion. Many Catholics are confused. They see government officials supporting legislation that opposes Catholic teachings being treated by some Bishops as if they are in good religious standing..I am sure that all of our Bishops are holy and sincere men, but I can not see how any one of them could form a conscience contrary to the teachings of the Church in matters of grave evil. If a Bishop can not bring himself to support this canon I think he should make his point and then step aside. I think the time is past for a trusting relationship with government.Promises must be received with caution. The Church nees to be unified. Bishops must improve their teaching of Faith and morals and communicate better with their flocks.
Florin those Catholic Leaders, as I have told you elsewhere know they have chosen to live outside the Church. When one supports abortion, same-sex marriages, euthanasia, stem-cell experiments of human embryos and all the other horrors which are the raging American Culture, he/she is fully aware they are disobeying God’s Divine Law and the Church’s Authority. They receive Holy Communion to their own condemnation by adding Sacrilegious Sins upon Mortal Sin/s. Those who perform abortions, instantly ex-communicate themselves from the Church. The Bishops need not shout to them from the Pulpit. We need to pray for them because they have imperiled their own salvation. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church remains faithful to Her Founder and Head, Jesus Christ Himself. Through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, She has remained and She remains faithful to Him in shepherding His Sheep until He comes again. The fact that we have bad Catholics - ordinary people and Leaders, fallen Priests and Religious and not too-fast acting Bishops, does not invalidate the Holiness of Christ’s Bride. We all fully support and pray for the American Catholic Bishops as they brace themselves to fight the Evil Obama Government and the culture of death and destruction of the mankind
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