Catholic Church (as far as its officials - US Bishops) has for most of the 20th century been a leftist organization. Without US Catholic bishops, we would not have the welfare state, crushing debt, out of control immigration.
Also, let's not forget the support of US Catholic Bishops for Nuclear Freeze movement (in order to derail Ronald Reagan).
The support of these leftist positions has nearly destroyed Catholic Church. Catholic bishops have endorsed expansion of government into areas traditionally performed by Catholic Church (charity, education, health care), can be viewed by a rational observer as noting short of a suicidal.
There has been some change lately in the “right” direction, but it may prove to be too little too late.
As far as Santorum, he is a decent individual. But if people of Tea Party persuasion think Santorum is the right person to carry their banner, they are fooling themselves.
The US needs drastic, painful cuts to avoid Greek tragedy (Greece today is only a preview of what is to come). Which candidates have what it takes to cut government down to sane size? I think Perry and Paul do. Gingrich probably as well. I have serious doubts about Santorum and Romney.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. Things *have* improved, but there are still plenty of libs/”moderates” in the USCC. But election-wise, there is good news: when Santorum is clearly understood, i.e., his across the board program is considered in totallity, he is seen as being congruent with Catholicism (and the CCC) as it is meant to be understood in truth.
Please re read this thread’s article. It presents the balance and reasonableness of Santorum’s vision, and how it is informed by the balance and reasonableness of Catholic teaching. When I read it, everything clicked regarding the attitude, focus, spirit, and application of Catholic social teaching. I said to myself, “THIS is what it should be!”
One of Santorum’s themes is the dignity of work and providing people with opportunities for them to stand on their own feet in freedom, rather than being enslaved in dependency on the government. With the exception of individual Bishops, the USCC wants the government to take care of “the poor,” preferably “undocumented immigrants.” (That’s “illegal aliens” for you in Rio Linda. lol) OTOH, Santorum is against amnesty and for a border fence. In his blog, Archbishop Dolan basically called conservatives “Know Nothings,” and said he agreed with the very liberal Cardinal Mahoney regarding “immigration.” In another entry, Dolan said that Americans are selfish gas guzzlers; Santorum wants to “drill, baby, drill.” The comparisons go on and on.
The last visionary conservative we had was Ronald Reagan - I’m waiting to see if the USCC will castigate Santorum. I’d be surprised if they don’t.