Real, Present, and Urgent Threats to the Communion of the U.S. Catholic Church

Folks, this morning I received a circular e-mail from former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, on behalf of the Cardinal Newman Society, with the subject, Catholic Colleges Are Undermining the Bishops. I want to extract a few of the facts Mr. Santorum mentions on his e-memo and re-present them as a list of real and present threats to the Communion of the Church. These are, in my humble opinion, much more important and urgent than the threats posed by some Catholic bloggers, as described by a concerned U.S. bishop.

● President Obama's latest addition to the powerful Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a same-sex marriage advocate whose concept of "sexual liberty" would trump our religious liberty. And what were the credentials by which she was selected for this honor?  Since 1991, she has been a celebrated professor at Georgetown Law Center—at a Jesuit Catholic university. This person is Chai Feldblum, the recent Georgetown law professor who is now at the EEOC, and who helped author the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act " (ENDA) which is before Congress.  This bill could cripple Catholic schools, hospitals and other charities by forcing them to provide benefits to same-sex couples.

● Cardinal Daniel DiNardo recently said that Catholics who lobbied for the health care reform law—ignoring the Bishops' warnings about abortion funding and weak conscience protections—had caused "confusion and a wound to Catholic unity." He had in mind an influential group of 25 leading "theologians"—11 of them citing Catholic college credentials—that lobbied Congress to reject concerns about the recently enacted health reform bill.  That gave legislators cover to vote for the bill with a "clear conscience."

● According to the Associated Press, the University of Notre Dame's president emeritus Father Theodore Hesburgh helped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi convince a pro-life congressman to switch his vote in support of the health care bill. Soon after the health care law was signed, Georgetown welcomed "special guest" Nancy Pelosi to a university celebration despite her firm opposition to any pro-life compromise in the law.

Since Canon 212, ss3, of the 1983 Code of Canon Law recognizes the right [of Christ’s faithful], indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church and also the right … to make their views known to others of Christ's faithful, to the integrity of faith and morals, reverence to our Pastors, and as a Catholic Christian concerned with the common good and the dignity of individuals I ask with due respect:

Where is the USCCB-directed Catholic media campaign, activity, or function, aimed at sharing forcefully the Church’s stance on faith and morals in the public arena, and informing Catholic politicians, officials  and intellectuals that they are confusing the faithful and wounding Catholic unity? 

Again, I respectfully point out – again - that the threats represented by Catholics who use their identity to undermine the Church’s teaching on conscience, faith, and morals, even the Church’s koinonia, are more urgent, important, and corrosive than the one presented by a few caustic Catholic bloggers. I humbly posit that it is the former, and not so much the latter, should be the immediate object of salutary canonical discipline.

I also take this opportunity to plug-in my support for the Cardinal Newman Society, and invite you to support the Society’s essential work in universities and colleges nationwide. I’ve also added a Cardinal Newman Society hyperlinked tile to the “Campaigns and Activism” section on the right sidebar.