Posted on 11/13/2014 7:33:30 AM PST by NKP_Vet
CHICAGO — Back in November 2008, when many Catholics called for the U.S. bishops to find “common ground” with a new administration that embraced abortion rights, Cardinal Francis George, the then-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the historic election of the nation’s first black president.
But in an official address that was reflective of the cardinal’s approach of seeking constructive dialogue without compromising on foundational truths, he expressed strong support for racial equality and social programs aiding the poor while also affirming that the bishops would continue to uphold Catholic teaching rejecting abortion.
“Common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good,” declared Cardinal George during an opening address at the bishops’ 2008 meeting in Baltimore.
Six years later, Cardinal George’s remarks still resonate, as Catholic leaders face mounting pressure to accommodate moral practices that violate Church teaching, even as they strive to serve the poor, immigrants and others on "the fringes."
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
There is NOTHING in the teaching of the Catholic Church that requires Catholics to support ANY federal “anti-poverty” program, or federal involvement of any kind in health care.
In fact, a Catholic is at liberty to accept the fact that all such programs are both unconstitutional and immoral.
The bishops have NO BUSINESS supporting ANYTHING that a Catholic is at liberty to reject. The bishops abuse their authority any time they take a public-policy position that is not obligatory for all Catholics.
Currently, the USCCB takes about 103 public-policy positions. About four of them are obligatory for all Catholics: E.g., abortion MUST be illegal; embryonic experimentation MUST be illegal, marriage can exist only between a man and a woman.
Pro-abortion apostates have been able to exploit the bishops’ abuse of their authority by pointing to the many unconstitutional public policies that they and the bishops support, as though the apostates’ support for abortion, gay marriage, etc., were just a few among many “issues.”
The USCCB will be an arm of the apostates’ party as long as it takes public policy positions that Catholics are at liberty to reject and still be faithful Catholics.
Thanks for saying that. I'm always interested to read your take on things, Arthur.
Robert Royal asked Cardinal George why he had soft-pedaled abortion over the years. George said it was because he had to keep the Catholic schools open (takes about $100 million/year), and the big donors were pro-abortion.
On a pilgrimage at Lourdes:
Rosary Basilica
On May 2, Cardinal George was the principal celebrant and homilist at a Mass in the Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary, a Catholic church and minor basilica within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Its main theme is a celebration and depiction of the Rosary.
Photo: Peter Scudner / Order of Malta
God bless his many years of service.
Really? Wow, what were all those saints thinking?
There’s still a lot of libs on the USCCB leftover from the 1960s...
That sounds like how John Zmirak described the bishops' collective approach to the abuse crisis:
In case after case, we read in their correspondence, in the records of their soulless, bureaucratic responses to victims of psychic torture and spiritual betrayal, these bishops' prime concern was to save the infrastructure, the bricks and mortar and mortgages.
The bishops of the past fifty years have consistently betrayed a complete absence of paternal—fatherly—concern for the Catholic people, including children.
Their PRIMARY concern in 1968 was how to soft-pedal Humanae Vitae so as to lose as little social standing as possible.
Their PRIMARY concern regarding abortion has been how to avoid doing anything that might hurt Democrats or help Republicans, without becoming so overtly pro-abortion as to get in trouble with Rome. (Something that, under Bergoglio, is no longer even the minimal problem it once was.)
Their PRIMARY concern with the rape and abuse of children and teenagers was how to cover it up and use the Church’s wealth to KEEP THEMSELVES OUT OF PRISON.
The vast majority of Catholic bishops are committed to MORTAL SIN: i.e., giving Communion to public promoters of abortion, same-sex marriage, etc.
Since there will never be lawsuits over this issue, or interest on the part of the media, or any threat of prison, the U.S. bishops will NEVER stop giving Communion to pro-aborts.
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