UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
by NCR Editorial Staff | Nov. 6, 2012
When the bishops of the United States gather later this month in Baltimore for their fall meeting, they ought to take some time to ponder a simple question: Were their words and actions during the recent election season the kind of discourse that informs and persuades or did they contribute to the partisan shrillness that we hope our teachers are educating youngsters to rise above as they mature into voting citizens?
We do not yet know the outcome of the national election, but the results for the church are already well-known — no polls necessary here. The activity of the loudest and most extreme voices in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have left us the most politicized and divided church in recent memory. They have not only done a disservice to the cause of unity, they haven’t done much to advance the causes they so stridently champion. …
The bishops are so beholden to the huge sums of money dumped on them by the Knights of Columbus (see story) that they can’t imagine pushing back against the political agenda of an organization led by a longtime, high-level Republican operative.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.