It’s Time for Our Bishops to Act

The other day, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, a senior White House official, Keisha Lance Bottoms (former mayor of Atlanta, but now the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement), was asked about the extent of President Biden’s support for abortion. The program’s co-host, Willie Geist, asked Bottoms, “Does the President, does White House, believe there should be abortion available without limits in the country?” As you might expect from this White House, Bottoms did not provide a clear “Yes” or “No” response, but instead said the following:

“What the president believes is that there should be a fundamental right for a woman to choose what to do with her own body and the President has said this time and time again, that there are basic, fundamental rights, access to health care, this access to health care includes women across this country. And what we expect to see is that, especially college-aged women, women who’ve had to face these very difficult choices will be reminded of this, especially during this season. And it’s something that we can’t ever put too far behind us because, again, we know that elections matter and we know that congressional Republicans want to take us back. I’m 52 years old. In my lifetime, I’ve always known that a woman has a right to make decisions about her own body and what we are seeing being put forth by congressional Republicans right now takes us back more than 50 years.”

It would seem her response confused even the folks at MSNBC; and Geist, trying to elicit a more definitive answer from Bottoms, asked: “So, does that mean the President supports abortion at any time during the pregnancy, whether it’s 3 weeks or 30 weeks?” To this, Bottoms replied: 

“What the President has said very publicly is that he supports a woman’s right to choose. I’ve never heard the President give a timeframe on that. But he has said that he believes that a woman has a fundamental right to make decisions about her own body and her healthcare choices.”

I’m pretty sure this is White-House-Speak for a “Yes” answer, that the administration is telling us President Biden supports abortion at any time during a woman’s pregnancy. Ms. Bottoms certainly didn't say otherwise.

The next question, then, should be asked of the Catholic Bishops of the United States. If President Biden, who frequently declares himself to be a "devout Catholic," absolutely denies the Church’s consistent magisterial teaching on life and a host of other moral issues, should he be allowed to partake in the Church’s sacramental life? Just consider the scandal the President causes as he publicly attacks the Church by denying its teachings and, as one parishioner remarked the other day, “…just gets away with it. Where are our bishops?”

Yes, indeed, where are our bishops? One priest told me they likely hesitate to get involved in what they view as political issues, something that might influence elections. I think my response surprised him. I simply said the Church has always taught that the goal of evangelization is to ensure the Good News of Jesus Christ reaches individuals and also penetrates and transforms cultures, highlighting and lifting up those aspects of culture relevant to the Gospel. 

Too often today we live our Christianity strictly as individuals. Even in societies with large and majority Christian populations, Christian influence on laws and institutions, on education, science, entertainment, sports, and the arts is lacking or completely absent. Some say that this is fine and in keeping with our Constitutional freedoms. And I agree, at least partially. Our Constitution guarantees our religious freedom, prohibiting the government from establishing a state religion, but also prohibiting that same government from "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion by the people. If that's the case, and it is, we can certainly exercise our Church's primary task: evangelization. As Jesus commanded the disciples right before He ascended to the Father:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” [Mt 28:19-20].

As Pope St. Paul VI reminded us:

“…The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times. Therefore, every effort must be made to ensure a full evangelization of culture, or more correctly of cultures. They have to be regenerated by an encounter with the Gospel. But this encounter will not take place if the Gospel is not proclaimed” [Evangelii Nuntiandi, 20]

This teaching was echoed by Pope St. John Paul II who wrote: 

“A faith that does not affect a person’s culture is a faith 'not fully embraced, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived.'” [Christifidelis Laici, 59]

It’s time to act and restore a culture of life in our nation and in the world. We each have a part to play in this drama, but our bishops should lead the way and set the example for the faithful.

Fr. Reese, S.J. and Pope Francis

There was an old joke that listed a few things the pope doesn’t know about the Church. As I recall (hard to do these days), one of those things was “what the Jesuits will do next.” Presumably this no longer applies since for the first time in history we have a Jesuit pope. Of course, even Pope Francis may not be able to predict what each of his fellow Jesuits decides to say or do or write. 

This week, for example, American Jesuit, Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J., wrote down a few of his thoughts on Pope Francis’ recent hospitalization. Fr. Reese, who writes a column for Religion News Service suggested that the 84-year-old pope’s illness, hospitalization, and surgery formed what might be a key event in Francis' papacy. According to Fr. Reese, “…even with the best prognosis, age is catching up with Francis. Barring a miracle, he will only be expected to continue as pope for five or six years. We may look back at his hospitalization as the moment that marked the beginning of the end of his papacy.”

As you might expect — after all, he is a Jesuit — Fr. Reese has a distinct point of view that does not always coincide with the Church’s teachings on a number of issues. A former editor-in-chief of America, the left-leaning Jesuit journal, and columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, Reese has espoused some interesting religious, political, and moral positions. For example, he really dislikes what he calls the “unreformed liturgy” — aka, the Latin or Tridentine Mass — and says that young people should not be permitted to attend such Masses. 

More troubling, however, were his comments during the 2020 presidential campaign when he declared approvingly that, “A Catholic Democrat might feel impelled to vote for Biden despite his position on abortion and gay marriage because of other morally grave reasons, for example, his positions on racism, immigration, global warming and COVID-19.” Since the Church considers abortion nothing less than murder, the slaughter of innocents, one wonders whether Fr. Reese would consider it okay to overlook a candidate's support for a new Holocaust or for Communist China's enslavement of Uyghurs and Kazakhs so long as his policies were correct when it came to issues like climate change. 

New York's Cardinal Dolan made this case in his public rebuke of Fr. Reese when he wrote that the priest's approach was nothing less than a "...capitulation to the abortion culture, and a grave weakening of the powerful pro-life witness...Thank God, those who believed that slavery was a moral horror, a cancer on our country, and contrary to the higher values of a lawful republic, could never accept this capitulation." 

Over the years Fr. Reese has been consistent in downplaying the Church's teaching on abortion. For example, he likes to quote the U.S. Bishops document, Faithful Citizenship, while avoiding its strong language regarding abortion. He also came out strongly against government defunding of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. In the same way he avoids mentioning Pope Francis' very public condemnation of abortion and abortionists, whom the pope compared to "Mafia hit-men." As the pope said, "Is it legitimate to take a human life to solve a problem? Is it permissible to hire a hitman to solve a problem?...human life is sacred and inviolable and the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes should be discouraged with strength." One suspects Fr. Reese isn't very pleased to hear his fellow Jesuit speaking with such moral clarity.

In this latest column, Fr. Reese again avoids these life issues and seems more concerned that Pope Francis has perhaps not done enough to ensure his successor will follow in what Fr. Reese consider the correct ideological path: "If his papacy is reckoned a failure, it will be because Francis failed to replace or outlast the clerical establishment put in place by John Paul and Benedict. His papacy will only succeed if he is followed by popes who are in sync with his approach to Catholicism, and this is not guaranteed." No, indeed, Father, it is not guaranteed, thanks to the Holy Spirit. Fr. Reese also wrote that "Francis has rebranded the papacy for the 21st century with a pastoral, prophetic and inclusive voice." After the truly pastoral and prophetic papacies of Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, this seems a rather odd thing to say, and I expect Pope Francis would agree.

Finally, Fr. Reese's comments about the pontiff's illness might also be an indication of the real and perhaps serious nature of Pope Francis' health. The Vatican has rarely been very open about popes and their health issues. Too often a pope must die before the world learns he was seriously ill.

It's all very interesting, though. And Fr. Reese will likely get lots of airtime on those networks that despise the Church and its teachings. But that's just another reason I always tell my friends not to believe a word you hear or read about the Catholic Church in the secular media. 

We are left with an ailing pope for whom we pray daily. We pray for his full recovery and for his wisdom in these times of moral relativism and political and social chaos. We need him to speak clearly and loudly to the world on faith and morals.

Pray for Pope Francis...oh, yes, and pray, too, for Fr. Reese.

Rosary: Pray for Our Nation

I should have mentioned it on this blog, but didn't -- simply too much going on these days. But I hope most of you were aware of and took part in yesterday's online praying of the Rosary by the U.S. Bishops. 

Beginning at 3 pm, the Rosary was streamed via the Bishops' website -- www.usccb.org -- for the intention of our nation and its people. Yesterday was the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, so it was a fitting day for the Bishops to call the faithful to prayer, especially to pray the Rosary. It was a wonderful time of prayer, coming together as a nation and as a Church to pray.

For Diane and me, the day has even more special meaning. One of our daughters was born on October 7, our other daughter and her husband were married on October 7, and one of our daughters-in-law was also born on October 7. And so we prayed, too, for our family and for their families.

2020 has certainly been a challenging year for many and the nation and the world certainly need our prayers. How good it would be if all the faithful came together daily throughout this month and prayed the Rosary in their families. Prayer is powerful, dear friends, and like the gift of faith, can move mountains.

God's peace.

Just A Few Thoughts

This afternoon I took a break from my work on the mini-course I'm teaching, and glanced through the local, national, and world news. A few of the things I encountered got my juices flowing. For example:

A New Socialism? What about that young woman from New York (I've forgotten her name) who calls herself a socialist and it intent on changing the face of the Democrat Party? Interestingly she seems to be achieving some degree of success, at least according to much of the media. And yet, isn't a socialist, by definition, an ignoramus? After all, socialism has been tried many, many times throughout the world and it has always failed. In fact, the only thing socialism achieves is universal poverty. In that sense I suppose one could claim that socialism is the perfect path to true egalitarianism, the kind that doesn't lift but  lowers everyone to the same impoverished level. Oh, wait! There's always one exempted group: the elite, the ones the Soviets called the nomenklatura. These are the folks who, because they're so much smarter than the rest of us, give themselves special privileges. The elites, you see, can't be bothered with all those mundane things that complicate the lives of the hoi polloi. Running every aspect of a society is hard work; and run it they do, right into the ground. 

Socialists are just polite versions of Communists and National Socialists (i.e., Nazis) in disguise. There's really little difference because socialism in any of its forms cannot stand on its own. Eventually the people who allowed the socialists to gain power realize the mistake they've made. But socialists cannot give up power so they quickly evolve into authoritarians and then totalitarians. This is why so-called "democratic socialism" is a myth. Just try to get rid of it once it's in place. If this new variety of Democrat actually takes power, heaven help us. 

Abuse in the Church. All this abuse business within the Church is taking its toll, but our bishops seem to be unaware of its impact on the faithful. I hear about it almost every day from parishioners and others who share their concerns with me. Many are outraged by the requirements placed on them, especially since the problem seems to be largely the result of actions by priests and bishops. The faithful are fingerprinted and investigated; they are forced to take part in vapid and insulting workshops or on-line programs; they are repeatedly reminded not to do things they've never even thought of doing. It's as if the Church leadership is placing the guilt on the faithful, instead of where it belongs, on those who actually did these reprehensible things and those who tolerated them.

As one parishioner remarked this morning, "How come I have to go through all this garbage [his word], when the bishops exempted themselves from background investigations and fingerprinting and all the rest of it?" A good question from a faithful man who is frustrated by what he sees in the Church he loves.

And God forbid if someone is falsely accused of abuse -- something I suspect has happened many times. Even without proof, he or she will be removed from ministry and you can imagine how that will effect reputation and life.

I was once asked to give a talk to a group of seminarians , and in the course of my comments I told them, "The holiest people you will ever encounter are not seated in the sanctuary; they are in the pews of your parish church. They will look to you for direction and example, but if you don't provide it, they will turn to God. They will find Him in the Sacraments, in Sacred Scripture, and in Sacred Tradition. And it is they who will keep the Church holy."

I truly believe the Church of the future will be much smaller but much holier -- a mere remnant of today's overly bureaucratic organization. In 1969, the then Father Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, said the following during a broadcast over German radio:

“Let us go a step farther. From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge — a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, it will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision. As a small society, it will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. Undoubtedly it will discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to the priesthood approved Christians who pursue some profession. In many smaller congregations or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care will normally be provided in this fashion. Along-side this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the changes at which one might guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world. In faith and prayer she will again recognize the sacraments as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical scholarship.

“The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right. It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek. The process will be all the more arduous, for sectarian narrow-mindedness as well as pompous self-will will have to be shed. One may predict that all of this will take time. The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain — to the renewal of the nineteenth century. But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.

“And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. It may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but it will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death."

Immigration Root Causes. And while I'm on the subject of our bishops, might I ask why we rarely hear anything from them about the root cause of the immigration problem in the US and elsewhere? Specifically, why do people flee one nation for another? The root cause is not the fault of the destination country, whose societal structures are so attractive to others. No, the root cause is the widespread persecution and corruption that promote general poverty, keep people uneducated, and limit opportunity in the countries of origin. And yet, when it comes to immigration, you would think our nation were the bad guy. I think it's time for the US bishops and the bishops in these other nations to focus on these root causes and not the symptoms. Just a thought.

Decadence and Decline

The American people have spoken and, as my late brother once cynically remarked, "You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American voter." It would seem his cynicism has been borne out by yesterday's election.

As you have probably guessed, I am not happy with the results. My displeasure, however, has less to do with who won or lost in particular elections than the direction these results are taking our society and the unexpected speed of that movement.

To be blunt, I honestly believe Western civilization is nearing its total collapse. It's been coming for some time but I never expected to be alive when it finally happened. Europe, of course, has led the way and only the morally blind cannot see the depth of its decline. I am aware, too, that our nation must eventually go the way of every other nation. Original sin pretty much guarantees that. But I had optimistically held out the hope that the United States of America would last longer than most, that it would rediscover its uniqueness, that its people would somehow reclaim its birthright, that we would defy history and the forces of evil and bring about a rebirth of freedom. Alas, this is not to be. We have, I believe, passed a societal point of no return.

As a nation we seem to have fallen prey to democracy's fatal weakness: the awareness by the majority that they can bleed the minority with impunity. Once politicians grasp this, they use their considerable powers, especially the power of taxation, to aid their friends and harm their foes. Our founding fathers hoped to prevent this by means of a Constitution that would protect the rights of all, include checks and balances, and guarantee separation of powers. What they didn't foresee was: (1) a judiciary that would, in effect, rewrite the Constitution, adapting it to the prevailing zeitgeist; (2) an executive that would increasingly usurp the powers of the legislature; and (3) a weakened legislature that would allow this to happen. When the collapse will occur, I cannot predict, but it will occur, and soon enough.

This modern Western civilization of ours came to be through Christianity, but once its religious foundation crumbles it will cease to exist as a civilization. No civilization can survive when the core values that gave it purpose have disappeared. And Western man cannot survive in the shell of a civilization deprived of these values, its Christian underpinnings. These values are rapidly disappearing in the face of internal decay and corruption. Civilization grows closer to barbarism as it drifts father away from Christianity. Evidence of this can be seen in Western Europe where Christianity is now the faith of only a small minority and consequently is discounted as irrelevant by the politically powerful. These same worldly forces are not content to ignore the remnants of our civilization but have turned on Christianity and its values in an inexplicable suicidal attack. We are now witnessing much the same here in our own country. And, believe me, the signs cannot be dismissed.

Only the most brutal society will slaughter its children by the millions simply because they are inconvenient.

Only the most self-centered society will neither honor its elderly nor aid its infirm, preferring instead to find ways to eliminate them through "managed health care".

Only the most decadent society will equate sodomy with marriage.

Only the most corrupt society will pile up astronomical amounts of debt onto future generations merely to satisfy its own immediate wants.

Only the most faithless society will allow its government to undermine our nation's most cherished freedom, the people's free exercise of their religious beliefs.

The citizens of our nation have reelected a man who sees no evil in either abortion or infanticide, no problem with the continuing destruction of our free-market economy, and no contradiction in same-sex marriage. He bows to those who despise us and shows disdain for our allies. He is a man of his time, a man of our times, a man so certain he is right that he will never admit to being wrong. And he is, once again, our president.

Who's to blame for all this? We all are, along with those who came before us. Too often we stood by silently and watched as our citizenry slid into the decadence that surrounds us. Although I dislike doing so, I assign much of the blame to our American Catholic bishops whose reaction to all this was too little, too late. For years they said little and did less when Catholic politicians screamed their rejection of Church teaching from their bully pulpits in Congress and governors' mansions. Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo,  John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Martin O'Malley...these and too many other Catholic politicians have set an example that millions of uncatechized Catholics have followed. If it's okay for them, it must be okay for me. As one educated layman said to me a few years ago, "My pastor told me it would be sinful to vote against a candidate just because he's pro-choice or favors gay marriage." Comments like that make one wonder about the involvement of that pastor's bishop.

But perhaps this will wake up our bishops, our clergy, and our laity, and turn them into a holy remnant seeking God's will in their lives. Maybe it's exactly what we need. As my pastor said this morning, "It seems we all have a lot of work to do." He's right. The world is littered with so much dirt and squalor and hatred. Millions devote their lives only to the aimless and irresponsible pursuit of pleasure. These are the obvious symptoms of internal decay and corruption, and God will probably allow a purging. As Evelyn Waugh once wrote [Vile Bodies, 1930], there is "a radical instability in our whole world-order, and soon we shall be walking into the jaws of destruction." But we must always remember: even if our entire civilization crumbles around us, the Church will remain.This was promised us.

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Religious Persecution, American Style

A few days ago, a parishioner corralled me after Mass complaining about the U. S. Bishops' "Fortnight for Freedom", the two-week time of prayer and awareness leading up to tomorrow, Independence Day. He thought it was all overblown and didn't see the Department of Health and Human Services' mandate as a "very big deal". This mandate, requiring Catholic institutions to include and pay for abortifacients, contraception and sterilization in their health care plans, is more than a "big deal"; it's a huge deal. 

What I actually said to this particular parishioner need not be repeated here. My fear, though, is that far too many Catholics think just as he does. But this is not a "Catholic" issue. It's an issue of religious freedom affecting all Americans, something that should disturb all people of faith. Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, clearly described what's at stake:

"This is the first time in the history of the United States that a presidential administration has purposely tried to interfere in the internal working of the Catholic Church, playing one group off against another for political gain. What isn’t always understood is that the Bishops of the Church make no attempt to speak for all Catholics; they never have. The Bishops speak for the Catholic and apostolic faith, and those who hold that faith gather around them. Others disperse." [See his comments here.]

Cardinal Francis George

As faithful Catholics we are truly blessed that our bishops have shown the courage and wisdom to rise up and confront this threat publicly. We must "gather around them." Some of us believe it's been a long time coming, something that should have been addressed years ago. For decades now the faithful have been scandalized by nominally Catholic politicians who love to show off their ashes on Ash Wednesday but consistently join with the determined secularists in their attacks on the Church and its teachings. We must pray for these politicians, storming heaven with pleas for their conversion. But at the same time we must not abdicate our responsibility as citizens. In the United States "We the People" are sovereign, not the president, not the congress, and not the courts. When the government we put in place begins to trample on the rights of the people, it's time to elect a new government, one that will restore and respect those rights. This we can do on November 6th.

And the threat is by no means "overblown." Our republic has withstood much in its long history, but its strength and longevity rest on one thing: respect for the Constitution. Once that respect begins to diminish -- and far too many of today's politicians openly question the value and the values of that document -- things can change very quickly. This was perhaps best predicted by Cardinal George when in 2010, after the passage of legislation that enabled same-sex civil unions in Illinois, he stated in all seriousness:

"I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die in the public square.”

Can't happen here? Not in the good ol' USA? Believe me, it can, and quite likely will unless we accept our responsibility to fight it openly in the public square. Subtle and not so subtle persecution of Christians is already well advanced in much of Western Europe, and even in Canada, our northern neighbor. And in Asia and Africa the persecution is not at all subtle, but is creating martyrs to the faith almost daily. There's no reason to believe the United States is somehow immune to these forces. [Read more here.]

Of one thing we can be certain: Satan is behind it. The Father of Lies loves to confuse, to obstruct, to destroy, to make his lies seem so very believable and reasonable. Satan, of course, is creation's greatest loser and all his machinations will ultimately lead to nothing. But in the meantime, he can certainly cause much chaos and distress, and lead many to eternal death rather than the eternal life God offers them. [More here.]

We must join our bishops as they fight for the Church established by Christ Himself. If we don't...well, get ready for the coming persecution.

Archbishop Dolan on Religious Freedom

Responding to recent initiatives by the Obama administration and a number of state governments that threaten the religious freedom of American citizens, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has formed an ad hoc Committee on Religious Liberty designed to secure and promote the religious freedom of all. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the bishops' conference, has led the charge to awaken Catholics to the threats to their religious liberty and to enlist them in the battle to defend the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution.

At the U. S. bishops' semi-annual meeting in Baltimore, Archbishop Dolan clearly defined the nature of the struggle for religious freedom in our increasingly secular culture:

"Our world would often have us believe that culture is light years ahead of a languishing, moribund Church. But, of course, we realize the opposite case: The Church invites the world to a fresh, original place, not a musty or outdated one.

"It is always a risk for the world to hear the Church, for she dares the world to 'cast out into the deep,' to foster and protect the inviolable dignity of the human person and human life; to acknowledge the truth about life ingrained in reason and nature; to protect marriage and family; to embrace those suffering and struggling; to prefer service to selfishness; and never to stifle the liberty to quench deep down for the divine that the poets, philosophers and peasants of the earth know to be what makes us genuinely human."

Archbishop Dolan wasn't alone in this effort to defend religious freedom, and stated that he was impressed by the unanimity of support expressed by his brother bishops. Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the Committee on Religious Liberty, argued that by defending religious liberty the bishops will protect the many Catholic social services that do so much good in our society. Bishop Lori stated that, "In the dioceses that we serve, the Church is the largest non-governmental source of education, social, charitable, and health-care services."

Summing up the bishops' position, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia threw down the gauntlet by stating that religious freedom "should become an election-year issue, because our identity as Catholics is under threat."

Pray for our nation...

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