Catholic Bishops President: We Were Right on Abortion, Health Care

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Catholic Bishops President: We Were Right on Abortion, Health Care

Baltimore, MD – In his final speech as the outgoing president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis E. George said the nation’s Catholic bishops were right on abortion and health care.

LifeNews.com/state-5667
 
The USCCB supported health care reform legislation only if abortion funding were not a part of it. Had the Stupak Amendment passed, I suspect they would have supported the legislation. But the Democrats tossed the Stupak Amendment, and the bishops withdrew their support.
 
They withdrew it way too late and never should have used the pulpit to tell us to support it in the first place. They got what they deserved for sticking their noses into socialist politics.
Having me pray for “Universal Health Care” and “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” under the Prayers of the Faithful, nearly caused me to walk out of church. It did result in a pastor being reassigned to a seminary to teach.
 
In my view, the more important part of this debate was the contention that the U.S. Bishops’ statements on the health care legislation was somehow an official teaching on faith and morals. That is overreaching. Political issues have a moral component, no doubt, but the idea that no one can hold a contrary position to the bishops on a particular piece of legislation is just wrong.
 
Alan55 said:
In my view, the more important part of this debate was the contention that the U.S. Bishops’ statements on the health care legislation was somehow an official teaching on faith and morals. That is overreaching. Political issues have a moral component, no doubt, but the idea that no one can hold a contrary position to the bishops on a particular piece of legislation is just wrong.
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While it may be argued that the bishops as a body need not or should not take a position on legislation, the bishops in this case took a hard line against abortion and abortion funding, which they ought to do.

Political conservatives will argue that the USCCB should not even have been advocating for health care reform–and they were. Political liberals argue that they should not have warned repeatedly that they would only agree to the legislation with firm anti-abortion language.

When Stupak withdrew his amendment based on White House promises, it proved to many in the pro-life community that for Democrats, pro-choice trumps everything else, including Catholic support for health care reform.
 
I agree that Republicans and Democrats will see the Bishops’ position differently. However, even when Catholics disagree on politics, they are not seen as disobedient to the Church and its teaching. In this case, the U.S. Bishops, particularly their conservative majority, asserted that the religious women who proposed a more positive view of the legislation were somehow promoting a position contrary to Church teaching, despite their acknowledgement of the importance of life issues.

Cardinal Francis George spoke of the “wound to the church’s unity” caused by differences over the final legislation. This remark implies that once the Bishops speak on a piece of legislation, that is the official Catholic position and any difference of opinion is an expression of dissension. As I said above, that is just wrong and reflects a grab for power and authority by the U.S. bishops. The bishops are welcome to teach moral principles and articles of faith until the cows come home. A particular piece of legislation? That’s were laity should make up their minds based on the Church’s teaching on faith and morals.
 
Alan55 said:
I agree that Republicans and Democrats will see the Bishops’ position differently. However, even when Catholics disagree on politics, they are not seen as disobedient to the Church and its teaching. In this case, the U.S. Bishops, particularly their conservative majority, asserted that the religious women who proposed a more positive view of the legislation were somehow promoting a position contrary to Church teaching, despite their acknowledgement of the importance of life issues.

Cardinal Francis George spoke of the “wound to the church’s unity” caused by differences over the final legislation. This remark implies that once the Bishops speak on a piece of legislation, that is the official Catholic position and any difference of opinion is an expression of dissension. As I said above, that is just wrong and reflects a grab for power and authority by the U.S. bishops. The bishops are welcome to teach moral principles and articles of faith until the cows come home. A particular piece of legislation? That’s were laity should make up their minds based on the Church’s teaching on faith and morals.
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Most people would consider the USCCB a pretty liberal body politically. They did support health care reform. But their position on abortion is more fundamental than politics. Any legislation which proposes to fund abortion is seen as immoral. That’s a pretty solid position from the standpoint of Catholic morality.
 
JimG said:
Most people would consider the USCCB a pretty liberal body politically. They did support health care reform. But their position on abortion is more fundamental than politics. Any legislation which proposes to fund abortion is seen as immoral. That’s a pretty solid position from the standpoint of Catholic morality.
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The USCCB has took a sharp turn to the right with John Paul II, who became Pope in 1978. His appointments to the episcopal ranks in the U.S. were uniformly conservative in Church matters and tended to be more politically conservative as well.

Even more significantly to your point, however, is the sharp turn to the right of lay Catholics in the U.S., as reflected on the CA forums. The abortion issue has tended to align Catholic voters with the Republican Party, which has promised much (and delivered much less) regarding pro-life issues. As a result, Catholic laity in the U.S. have tended to view their bishops and priests and much more liberal than they would like, reflecting the fact that they have moved faster and harder to the Right. That is, the U.S. bishops are more conservative in fact, yet percieved as too liberal.

So, I disagree with your view that “most people would consider the USCCB a pretty liberal body politically.” I find them pretty conservative. However, I’m not sure that either one of us (or for that matter, most denizens of the CA Forums) speak for “most people.”
 
More significant your point of view, however, is a sharp turn lay Catholics in the United States as a forum for reflecting on the right CA nothing i will do more than with gaia gold. The issue of abortion often with Republicans, with many promises (and delivers much less) to issue pro-life Catholic voters. Therefore, the Catholic laity in the United States tend to believe that their bishops and priests and more freedom ffxiv gil than they think it reflects their movement speed and hard right facts. That is, the more conservative U.S. bishops, in fact, they considered too lenient.
 
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