Posted on 11/14/2012 8:19:32 AM PST by marshmallow
BALTIMORE (RNS) A divided Catholic hierarchy on Tuesday (Nov. 13) failed to agree on a statement about the economy after a debate that revealed sharp differences over the kind of social justice issues that were once a hallmark of the bishops’ public profile.
The defeat of the document, titled “The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Economic Times,” followed an hour of unusually intense debate among the 230 bishops gathered here for their annual meeting. It left many of them openly frustrated that the prelates have not made a joint statement about the nation’s economic woes four years after the recession hit.
“This document is dead,” New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said with obvious disappointment as he brought the gavel down on the debate after it failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
The failure of the bishops to pass the statement was extraordinary; in June, the bishops had authorized a special committee to write a brief reflection for consideration at this meeting, and the conference rarely rejects something produced by one of its committees.
But the bishops did not receive the draft until they arrived for the meeting, and what they found was something that pleased almost no one. The document was long, coming in at 14 pages, and many said it was dominated by spiritual terminology that ignored the roots of the economic crisis and did not suggest solutions provided by Catholic social teaching.
The first draft gave short shrift to a century of social justice encyclicals from the popes, including those of Benedict XVI, and did not even mention the USCCB’s landmark 1986 pastoral letter, “Economic Justice for All,” which has been hailed for challenging economic injustice in the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at religionnews.com ...
Sounds like they shot down an albatross
Does anyone know if there has ever been a Bishop with a degree in economics?
My point exactly...a Bishop with an advanced degree in Economics could lend some much needed expertise to issues such as this one.
What message would a Catholic reading this mushy document take away from it?
From reading this tripe, I now know why Catholics voted for obama. It appears that the catholic bishops are leading the charge for change that obama is spewing.
The bishops, mostly being economic illiterates, did well. Good for the bishops.
Sure, he spoke out against abortion, but what about the rest of Obamacare and "social justice"?
Funny how no one seems to know exactly where Dolan stands on this.
Good for the younger bishops. They do indeed seem more conservative in wanting to emphasize private charity rather than gov't largesse.
EARTH TO USCCB: Stop arguing about the economy, especially since you are NEITHER economists nor politicians and DON’T BASICALLY HAVE A SINGLE CLUE about any of it.
You’re supposed to be talking about RELIGION. HEllo!!! Yes, that thing that you were ordained for. Indeed. Yes, that. Where the hell have you been for 40 years??????
Absolutely nothing. That’s the problem. And that’s why virtually no one really cares what they say.
The document was drafted by the liberals who make up the staff at USCCB. The bishops did well in shooting it down.
Not that I know of. They’d ought to do what they were ordained for and get out of politics and economics. They’ve proven pretty substantially in the last year that they don’t know politics from crap and it’s time they realized it. They got had with this health insurance thing and didn’t even get the punchline until after everybody else did. DUH.
What we need is actual Catholic teaching. Hello. Wonder how long it will take them to realize THAT? Not holding my breath.
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