Comments for How the Bishops Found Their Voice at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 14 out of 14 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 06:54:43 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-105 I have been involved in the pro-life movement since 1970. We in our county Pregnancy Helpline which was instituted at the very beginning. In early 1970, we recognized the need to help those who were suffering from post-traumatic abortion. The Diocese of Lansing implemented the Project Rachel program, which invites woman to the healing love and forgiveness of Jesus. We recognized at the onset that we would have to offer an alternative to those seeking abortion, and healing and forgiveness. - Kathy Tercheck Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:55:56 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-94 Abortion is not a sigle issue. It is a foundational issue upon which all other issues are built. Get this one wrong and the rest falls like a house of cards. Period. - Militia Christi Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:34:12 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-84 Stacie: the consistent ethic of life requires first to pass the test on abortion/euthanasia. If a candidate can't pass that test, their "rightness" on any other issue of life and dignity is rendered suspect. If you don't have the right to life, you don't have the right to health care, or a peaceful world, or merciful treatment for the guilty. Don't weigh all moral issues equally! - Fr. Chris Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:47:12 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-78 Stacie: It isn't that they are focusing on the rightness of a party on one issue. What the bishops are finally doing is calling for an adherence to a fundamental principle that is often overlooked by certain "Catholic" politicians. And it isn't that we are blinded by the abortion issue, rather, some are so morally blind they can\'t see the abomination that abortion is. Luckily, the bishops are trying to give sight to those who neglect this absolutely fundamental issue. - TommyMagnus Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:36:46 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-77 I shame those bishops for focusing so heavily on the only topic Republicans are "right" on when it comes to Catholic doctrine. Are we the "faithful" so blinded this abortion issue that every other human issue goes by the wayside? Abortion is abhorrant. But so is capital punishment, being involved in an unjust war, excessive greed and thousands of BORN children suffering without proper healthcare. Why aren't the bishops raising their voices and educating their flocks on these issues too? - Stacie Adams Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:33:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-76 Wow. Approximately 15% of American Bishops have a pair. How Inspiring. No really, I mean it. Stop laughing. - Doug Sirman Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:33:36 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-73 One of your respondents asked the question, why now, after forty years. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger called those years "catastrophic", when a secularized gospel brought about a worldly laity and a clerical scandal which has rocked the Church. We still have worldy bishops with us like Cardinal McCarrick whose perfidious action in hiding the Ratzinger document destroyed any chance of the bishops presenting a united front to protect the Eucharist against desecration. But we've turned the corner. - Dan McNeill Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:11:02 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-75 Great...the conspicuous silence for the past couple of decades has raised a generation of apathetic Catholics. Will there be enough time and enough Bishops left to do the job of repairing the damage done? In this case...the Church in America deserves what it gets. - Doug Childs Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:25:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-74 Good on the Bishops for reaffirming the Catholic identity. How we have needed the same in Australia (though our strong Bishops are trying). The faithful (and not so faithful) have been fed a diet of timidity for so long that for many, the true Catholic truth has become blurred. Then, when you come to a vote (e.g that for unregulated abortion, partial birth abortion and compulsory referral for abortion for doctors 2 days ago) many Catholics are in a relativism induced coma and the bill passes. - Paul Evans Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:35:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-72 One valuable thing I see in the bishops becoming so vocal is that pro-lifers will have a very visible advocate. With the Church at their side, more people will may feel comfortable taking a stand. HOWEVER, I worry that that the Church will appear overly political as per comments by Burke and the bishop of Scranton. The Church in Spain suffered a horrendous backlash when it appeared to side with Franco. Could the American Church be setting itself up for a similar blowback? - Mark Ugolini Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:15:56 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-71 If you recall, Humanae Vitae informs the bishops that it is their MOST urgent task to teach the faithful about the Churchs understanding of sex and family. I find it no surprise that the bishops that pay attention to that charge are also the one's who have no issue calling the laity to task - especially if they are a pro abortion politician. Any thoughts on the correlation? - TommyMagnus Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:34:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-69 Shortly after the papal visit this past spring, Robert Novak, a convert, wrote a column asking why people like Pelosi were receiving communion in light of her stance on abortion - frankly I feel Mr. Novak lit the fire under these bishops - until then, little had been said. Mr. Novak should be applauded for his courage to make this issue a "national" issue for all Catholics - he asked the question we were all thinking and did so in a public forum. - Liz Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:14:22 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-68 I don't think the McCarrick Committee, nor its lack of influence this time around, is the entire answer to the question, "Why now?" Far more interesting and valuable for Catholics would be the answer to the question, "Why has this taken forty years?" - James the Least Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:13:42 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2008/how-the-bishops-found-their-voice.html#comment-66 If McCarrick hadn't messed up in '04, we'd probably have a lot more than 30 bishops doing what's necessary now. Unfortunately, the economy now has center stage in this election. That favors Obama. The meltdown is due to the country's living beyond its means--i.e., to rampant materialism. As I've argued at my blog, American Catholics are complicit in that. Satan is smarter than we are. - Michael Liccione Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:55:23 +0100