Catholic reps. to bishops: help us end the war.
From the Congressmen and -women’s press release:
Fourteen Members of Congress including Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and
Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-17) sent a letter to the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) last Thursday, calling on the Bishops to increase their
involvement in efforts to end the war in
In the letter, which was sent to Bishop William S. Skylstad, President of the
USCCB and Bishop Thomas Wenski, International Justice and Peace Committee Chair,
the Members of Congress ask for a meeting with representatives of the USCCB to
discuss ways that Congressional Members and the clergy can work together to
mobilize public action to end the war.
“Throughout our nation’s history,
Catholics have been at the forefront of the fight for social justice,”
said Congressman Tim Ryan. “We are proud to see that the USCCB feels as strongly
on this issue as we do and we are prepared to work closely with them to reach
out to fellow members of the faith.”
“As Catholic Members of Congress we
stand in unison with the Catholic Church in opposition to the War in
Yet to attain the ideal of peace, we must not only speak the words, we must take
action and that is why we are reaching out to the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops to work with them to bring an end to the War in Iraq,” said
Congresswoman DeLauro.
Read the rest right here.
Perhaps the USCCB can send a memo to some of these members of Congress requesting their assistance and support for bringing about a more just and loving society. I am all in favor of our bishops speaking out and more actively seeking an end to the war, but I find this move a bit hypocritical (i.e., in the sense of stage-acting) on the part of some these members of Congress who, while they identify themselves as Catholics, take positions contrary to morality. These members would be the first to balk at any such memo were any bishop to send it.
Grant: This is hilarious.
I wish them good luck. We have had no luck getting our bishop (Pena) to even say anything against the war let alone act upon it.
The post *was* intended, wasn’t it, to poke fun at the sheer chutzpah of DeLauro, who was last heard complaining that papal influence over the abortion issue “directly conflicts with our fundamental beliefs about the role and responsibility of democratic representatives in a pluralistic America,” “clashes with freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution,” and even “offend[s] the very nature of the American experiment.” http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2007/May/Cath_Members_Pope_05_14_07.html
I’m not laughing.
Back in 2003, I wrote a piece in Commonweal noting that the bishops’ opposition to the war in Iraq had gotten scant attention in the news media. Father Raymond Schroth wrote a letter that wisely noted the bishops had not done much follow-up on the letter. Few of them went back to their dioceses and talked about the war. In the New York area, where I live, that’s certainly been the case. The bishops have not shown much concern. The various correspondents here have noted the irony involved in the politicians’ letter. They’re right: It’s a sad state of affairs when politicians wind up prodding the bishops’ conscience.