BALTIMORE (RNS) At a time of fractious debate within the Catholic Church in the U.S., the nation’s top bishop on Monday (Nov. 16) said Catholic universities, media outlets or organizations that insist on independence from the church hierarchy are “less than fully Catholic.”
In his address that opened the semi-annual meeting of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago implored 300 fellow bishops to “look for ways to strengthen church unity.”
“Since everything and everyone in Catholic communion is truly inter-related,” George said, “… an insistence on complete independence from the bishop renders a person or institution sectarian, less than fully Catholic.”
In particular, church leaders have begun discussing ways to “strengthen our relationships” with Catholic universities, media “claiming the right to be a voice in the church,” and organizations that work under Catholic auspices, George said.
“The faithful need the bishops in order to be Catholic, and the bishops need the faithful in order to be Catholic pastors,” said George, the president of the bishops conference.
George’s address comes as the nation’s 67 million Catholics are sharply divided on a number of religious and political issues, including same-sex marriage, health care, and abortion, and as the church comes under criticism — sometimes from its own members — for its uncompromising stance on those issues.
This month, a scion of the nation’s most prominent Catholic family, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., has been engaged in a war of words with his bishop, Thomas Tobin of Providence, over abortion and health care.
Kennedy’s support for abortion rights “is unacceptable to the church and … absolutely diminishes your communion with the church,” Tobin wrote in a public letter to Kennedy.
Kennedy has insisted that “the fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.”
Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Washington has threatened to cancel its multi-million-dollar social service contracts in Washington if the city legalizes gay marriage. Some members of Congress, including Catholics, have questioned the bishops’ influential role in the health care reform legislation on the Hill.
Jon O’Brien, president of the group Catholics for Choice, said in a statement that “conservatives, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have been presenting their own views as an accurate representation of all U.S. Catholics.” But surveys show a significant gap between the abortion views of bishops and a majority of lay Catholics, O’Brien said.
George defended the bishops’ political involvement, which includes a successful push for an anti-abortion amendment in the health care reform bill the House passed Nov. 7.
“It is not for us, as bishops, to speak to a particular means of delivering health care,” George said Monday. “It is our responsibility, however, to insist, as a moral voice concerned with human solidarity, that everyone should be cared for, and that no one should be deliberately killed.”
The bishops have shown no signs of withdrawing from debate on controversial public issues. At their meeting here this week, bishops are expected to approve a statement on marriage that strongly condemns efforts to legalize same-sex unions; to reinforce the church’s ban on many forms of contraception and reproductive technologies; and to insist that health care workers are obligated to provide most severely brain-damaged patients with food and water.
“To limit our teaching or governing to what the state is not interested in would be to betray both the Constitution of our country and, much more importantly, the Lord himself,” George said.
George acknowledged that the Catholic hierarchy’s moral authority has been tarnished by the clergy sex abuse scandal that cost the church more than $2.6 billion since 1950. But, he said “the sinfulness of churchmen cannot be allowed to discredit the truth of Catholic teaching or to destroy the relationships that create ecclesial communion.”
“The proper response to a crisis of governance,” George said, “is not no governance but effective governance.”
Peter Isely of Milwaukee, a board member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), accused the bishops of focusing on politics while largely ignoring lingering problems from the abuse scandal.
“The problem isn’t `no governance,’ it’s the same governance,” Isely said in a statement. “The same secretive, rigid, all-male monarchy that caused the crisis and causes the continued coverup is still in place.
Many of the same men who hid predators and evidence and crimes are still bishops today.”
By DANIEL BURKE
Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted November 16, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Fortunately those bishops are not absolutely powerful (except perhaps over a relatively few absolute fools) so they are only too powerful and too corrupt.
They claim to have the right to control the way Catholics think, but Catholics live in the world and learn from it and do many things, good and bad and neutral which give them, as a group, a multi-faceted view that those bishops and their pope can never get. In other words they have more wisdom among them than the guys off in their bishoprics with their servants and wealthy chums.
So if anyone were going to change it should be the bishops and the pope. Of course they won’t so the next best thing is for even more Catholics to ignore them and for more Catholics to leave the Church.
posted November 16, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Maybe their time is better-served mulling ways to benefit the community and repair their tarnished image instead of blackmailing city officials with the plight of the homeless and throwing their bigoted weight around. Why doesn’t anyone else think that a religion, any religion, dictating legislation in the United States is absolutely dangerous? Oh that’s right, because the majority of Americans are Christian, believe this is a solely Christian nation built solely for Christians and they merely tolerate the rest of the tax paying population. The Founders would be truly appalled.
posted November 16, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Living just outside Providence, the Tobin (who in IMO is a real pain in the but)Kennedy spat has been in the news a lot. I’m so proud of Patrick Kennedy for standing up to Tobin. I have often wondered if the Cathoic bishops and above, and the priests, actually think that in this day and time RC’s really are as frightened as they used to be (when RC’s believed all that those guys said was “gospel”)of RC set rules. This world has changed….and the RC hasn’t. Tradition isn’t always the best. As far as their homophobia and anti-choice rules…(as well as anti-condom/birth control rules) are so out of this world it is pitiful. They really need to enter the 21st century!
posted November 16, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Good to hear Rep. Patrick Kennedy D-R.I. speak up and have his say. The children of Rose Kennedy were brought up R.C., and anyone censoring this family is very uncredible. It’s good to hear that R.C. members are standing up for their lives and still living their religion. The Protestant Christians go through this same criticism by Evengelical, Fundamentalist Christians; being accused of not being Christian because we interpret differently than they. Are these the bullies of religion?
Read in the Washington Post that one of the Episcopalian Church groups say that if the R.C. drop their charities in Washington D.C. they could possibly work it out to pick them up. No man or church is an Island unto themselves.
posted November 16, 2009 at 7:34 pm
nnmns you really ought to mend your proselytizing ways how dare you preach to Catholics when you are so firm about Christians and how it offends you for them to do what you are doing in your post. What’s up with that? double standard?
“To limit our teaching or governing to what the state is not interested in would be to betray both the Constitution of our country and, much more importantly, the Lord himself,” George said”
posted November 16, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Changing your church, cknuck? You sure defend the RCC a lot. Maybe you’ve seen the error of your recent religion and somehow think the RCC’s got it right.
posted November 16, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Amazing that people still think bishops somehow live segregated lives and never interact with everyday people.
Another thing, nobody from the Kennedies was ever censored. When theologian extraordinare Patrick Kennedy stated that his views in no way mitigated his standing as a Catholic, the local bishop corrected him (can you imagine?? The nerve of him stating that certain views are incompatible with the Catholic faith. The horror!!)
posted November 16, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Tobin couldn’t keep his mouth shut and just let Kennedy have his opinion. He had to get his name in the paper and local news criticizing Kennedy, in an attempt to glorify his position. (like anyone cares, but then this is a Catholic state). Kennedy has his own parish and spiritual advisor and has no reason to worry about “THE Bishop”. Kennedy has his own personal problems, and is trying to take care of them. Kennedy is entitled to his own opinion. He doesn’t have to please Tobin. He just has to do what he feels is right for him…wow! how unCatholic of him! No, it is thinking Catholic time, instead of Robot Catholic time.
posted November 16, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Beep-beeeepp. Bu battt. BA tu ba tu.
posted November 17, 2009 at 1:15 am
I wish the Bishops would speak out as boldly against poverty, war, torture and capital punishment as they do about abortion and same-sex marriage. If you listen to them you would think that abortion and gay marriage are the only two moral issues of the day!
posted November 17, 2009 at 10:43 am
Richard,
YAHTZEE! (Every body seems to say “Bingo”) You got it!
Tom,
I sure hope that was simply your keyboard shorting out, and not some childish attempt at a retort to pagansister’s remarks.
To the Man in Red (That swinging Chi-town Cardinal)
It is not a good strategy to unify an organization by promoting divisive issues. Why not work from common areas of strength? Jesus’ mandate to feed, clothe, visit, and comfort will work out much better, especially in this economy. Planting poison ivy in the pasture will not feed anyone – in others words, don’t try to rile up the folks with something that is painful and not helpful. This may be why the pews and seminaries are getting emptier. The world needs more positive, beneficial, and unifying efforts, not less.
posted November 17, 2009 at 11:42 am
jest, first sermon I’ve heard from you in a long time that I could actually get on board with, nice.
posted November 17, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Good points, jestrfyl. Well said, as always.
posted November 18, 2009 at 11:08 am
Kaloo kalay! What a Frabjous Day! P.s., ck and I agree on something! Usually p.s. and I are in concert, but to have ck join us. This is indeed a wondrous day. Being this is indeed so, I think it would behoove the various Red Hats in this story to pay attention and adjust their strategy.
posted November 18, 2009 at 11:41 am
AMEN, Brother Jestrfyl!