Why do they need a reservoir of goodwill? They speak the Truth. Is that not enough?
No, it's not. As Fr. Wilson said in a recent column, for the bishops to all-of-a-sudden start hammering Catholic politicians (and even Catholics themselves) for the votes they cast is hypocrisy of the highest order, when the same bishops have stood by for 30 years and given a wink and a nod to the same politicians, casting the same votes.
To choose an election year to take a stand risks putting the very people in office they're railing against.
Can you not see that?
The more the Catholic bishops in the US actually and fearlessly speak the truth, the greater will grow their "reservoir of goodwill." Nobody admires phonies like Mahoney.