Is it possible that U.S. bishops are being blackmailed into silence?

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**Is it actually possible that some U.S. bishops are being blackmailed into silence? We all know of bishops who are mysteriously tight lipped when it comes to speaking out against pro-abortion politicians or homosexual unions . Could it be that there is more to the story?:hmmm: **

Are Left-Wing Politicians Beyond Blackmailing US Bishops?

By Karl Maurer, Editor,
www.CatholicCitizens.org

4/21/04 CCI Editorial - American Catholics watch in stunned disbelief as pro-abortion politicians thumb their noses at the Catechism and Canon Law. But Catholic (and non-Catholic) writers are beginning to speculate that the lack of action on behalf of the Bishops may have less to do with spinelessness, and more to do with extortion and hard ball politics.

In Illinois, several Catholic law makers have indicated that for decades, pressure has been placed on Illinois Catholic Bishops by pro-abortion politicians in response to threats of sanctions or excommunication.

In a state where both the Democratic and Republican parties are dominated by liberals who openly endorse abortion and homosexual “rights”, political retaliation can come in several painful ways: mandatory distribution of abortifacients in Catholic hospitals, mandating handicap accessible elevators in Catholic churches, elimination of public funds for book programs in Catholic schools, as well as the constant threats of eliminating tax related exemptions. The mother of all retaliatory tactics is the constant threat that politicians will turn off the spigot of social"justice" programs, where payments flow directly from taxpayers to institutions like Catholic Charities (an institution that gets the majority of its funding from the federal government subsidies!) What else can explain the hierarchy’s silence as pro-abortion “Catholics” Dick Durbin and Mayor Daley sit in the front row of Old St. Pat’s on Sunday? Maybe we don’t want to know…

Conservative journalist Rod Dreher thinks there’s more to the story than just politics, and speculates that based on the homosexual scandals in the church,** numerous bishops are likely to be compromised by past homosexual activities.**

“Is there a connection between the silence, or at least the empty words, of so many Catholic bishops on the subject of pro-abortion Catholic politicians, and the possibility of hidden personal scandal in the lives of individual bishops?," asked Dreher.

"That thought has crossed my mind in the past few days as I’ve watched the bishops, with very few exceptions, either keep quiet or flail half-heartedly at John Kerry. There is one influential bishop in particular whose name has come up in public in connection with the Kerry controversy, and I know that this bishop is deeply compromised in his personal life; and more importantly, I know that this fact, while hidden from the public, is fairly widespread knowledge among the media and church elite,” noted Dreher.

In a posting to a Catholic blog site (www.bettnet.com) Dreher went on to speculate that these concerns were horribly close to the truth. “I would be shocked if the higher-ups in the Democratic Party didn’t know (of homosexual Bishops) too,” said Dreher.

In Washingon DC, Cardinal McCarrick recently “met privately” with pro-abortion Presidential candidate and self described “Catholic” John Kerry, about which Dreher noted, “…I don’t expect this bishop to offer any criticism of Kerry if asked, and in fact I would expect him to offer warm words of conciliation and ‘healing.’ He may mean them sincerely, or he may fear what might emerge if he took on Kerry directly on the abortion issue,” noted Dreher.

Please read article in its entirety by clicking on link below
catholiccitizens.org/press/pressview.asp?c=14117
 
that is just ridiculous. you are wasting electricity by posting that. u.s. bishops are a voting body, so more than half have something to hide and are willing to betray Christ for it?

nowadays, any moron with a computer can get a moronic message out, let’s be careful not to be the ones who spread it.
stunned disbelief…CatholicIdiots.org…blah blah blah…
 
oops, i didn’t mean you gloriapatri4. i just thought the article was bad. sorry.
 
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GloriaPatri4:
Is it actually possible that some U.S. bishops are being blackmailed into silence?..
well I’m sure that just about anyhing is possible

Is it probable? No

Bishops have to serve all their flock and live in the world
not an easy row to hoe
 
Andrew Greeley has implied as much with his carryings-on. The bishops’ behavior does seem consistent with fear of exposure. It doesn’t even need to be blackmail necessarily; I notice plenty of people you’d think would be more forthright are not because they or someone in their family is implicated. It makes you look like a hypocrite, and everyone knows that is the WORST possible outcome, right? :rolleyes:
 
I suppose anything is possible. I have wondered if priests ever use evidence on their bishops to blackmail. That is possible too.

The better part of me likes to believe that our Bishops are always saving themselves for the most important arguements…kinda like how parents learn to pick their arguements wisely with their children.
 
All of this concern could be eliminated if the Church started focusing on Christ and not politics. Get rid of all government funding - period. Get focused on the Gospel - preach, teach and lead - and people will follow.
 
At a conference recently Cardinal George of Chicago stated in dealing with politicians whose positions are contrary to church teachings one must be “prudential”. The oft mentioned reason for this do nothing business is fear of losing our tax exempt status. Non-Catholic religious leaders are less intimidated and speak out strongly against politicians, etc. who go against pro-life and moral issues.

In Illinois there seems to be more contrarian Catholic politicians than not. Our state comptroller, defeated for his US Senate bid, has interjected himself into the Illinois legislative process by pushing bills for embryonic stem cell research. Incredible!

In my opinion those who attend Old St. Pat’s are the status catholics. It is a beautiful chuch, but I will take my humble parish over it any day. There’s a lot of seeing and being seen going on at Old St. Pat’s. If our leaders won’t take a position on these politicians, we can by shunning them. Move out of the pew, refuse the hand shake of peace, ignore them, and for petesake don’t vote or support them!
 
I’ve been asking myself many times why American bishops keep silent when they disagree with politicians (or… do they actually disagree?) but they don’t keep silent when they disagree with their own Pope - on feeding tubes, for instance.
 
I voted no, because their silence is not about “blackmail”. They are silent because:
  1. They put “social justice” above of “sancity of Life”
  2. Many are sympathetic to homosexuality for <<a’hem>> PERSONAL reasons
  3. They are politicians first, pastors second.
Do I think they do not want to be “outed”?? Yes. But they are actually protected from , not exposed to “blackmail”.
 
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