For His Friends

The title of this blog entry which will arise from time to time means “and other things” and signals that you should look for an entry that most likely lacks “unity, coherence and emphasis.” In other words, I will use occasions like this to raise a number of issues which are clearly unrelated to each other. So fasten your seat belt, here goes:

One thoughtful reader upon reading the entry on the level of charitable giving in the US to Haiti in the five weeks since the earthquake asked what the likelihood is that it is getting to the people who need it the most. It is a good question and all I can do is share my experience, now several years old of chairing the Board of Catholic Relief Services. Haiti is a challenging place for non-profits to work. There is a dreadful combination of corruption and violence present in that country which every private voluntary organization working there must be prepared to deal with. It is nothing to have a band of armed men break into a warehouse with food and steal it only for the purpose of selling it on the black market. The strongest of locks and the presence of armed guards secures nothing in that country for sure. Yet, most of what is donated for the needs of the general population does get to those in need. Giving it to the government to distribute is not a great idea because of the corruption factor and one thing which helps CRS is that they can use a vast network of parishes and churches as distribution points and that works more often than not. To the writer of the comment, the pictures of the army using force to drive away those storming the food distribution points was likely necessary to keep the method of distribution to those most in need going. I would have bet that had those storming the food center been successful, everything being shared, donated, sent for the poor and needy would have ended up on the black market. Haiti can be chaotic at times but I think that CRS and other PVO’s are succeeding in seeing that what they have to give gets to the right people. Will it be perfect? Not likely. Can it still be effective and fair distribution? Yes.

Health care is back on the burner and I am suspicious that the anti-abortion protection of the House language will not be present in what is parleyed through the legislature in the coming weeks. We need health care but we do not need a new “open sesame” which for all intents and purposes directs yours and my taxes to support abortion services. It looks like the action is slated for the Senate and I encourage all to “swamp” Senator Nelson with pleas that he change his position. The rest of this diocese’s elected representatives in the House remain pro-life but they need some pressure to work harder for an acceptable health care proposal in general. Remember, the official position of the Church is that access to safe, affordable health care is a right in itself.

On a much, much smaller scale of human interest, most of my doctors have declared me “cured” and my surgeon has politely and appropriately begged “never to see me again” – professionally. I am back to work, taking the major public liturgies which I used to celebrate without fail but will continue through Spring not “to overdo it.” My recovery is an answer to many prayers – my own and many of yours as well. It is wonderful to feel useful once again.

The Florida bishops meet in Tallahassee next week for what we call “Catholic Days at the Capital.” Joined by several hundred volunteers we annually descend on the legislature as it opens its annual session, usually but likely not this time see the Governor for a discussion of issues of mutual concern, celebrate the annual Red Mass for the executive, legislative and judicial branches (usually only a sparse representation of the legislature shows up), and meet as a state conference of bishops. It can be one and a half long days so we will see what my staying power is this year.

On Tuesday I am going to drive right through Tallahassee and keep going to spend an hour with my dear friend and fellow bishop, John Ricard, of Tallahassee-Pensacola. He is in rehab at the moment and remains in need of many prayers. He is a great man and a good bishop and the priests, deacons, religious and people of his diocese are worried about and for him. I will report in this space how he seems to be doing after I see him on Tuesday.

Don’t forget, we are once again lighting our Churches next Thursday night, March 11th and hearing confessions from 5-8 pm. The Light is ON for You.

So now you know what the Latin phrase et alia means – assorted and unsorted thoughts while shaving. God bless.

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Over the past week-end the media began to direct a  great deal of attention to the issue of Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and the Bishop of Providence, Bishop Thomas Tobin. The matter became media fodder when the Congressman chose to reveal the contents of a strictly personal and confidential letter sent to him several years ago by Bishop Tobin following pastoral outreach and conversation between the two on Kennedy’s ardent pro-abortion position. In that letter the Bishop as Kennedy’s bishop asked him to refrain from the reception of the Eucharist unless and until he embraced Church teaching on abortion and pro-life issues.

A few months ago, the Congressman raised the ante in the relationship by being openly critical of the Catholic bishops of the U.S. for risking the defeat of health care which he described as a true pro-life issue for concerns about abortion and conscience freedom guarantees. He stopped just short of calling the Church leadership “anti-life.” Bishop Tobin responded as I would have responded – calling a misrepresentation of the Church’s teaching for what it is. He did not publish his previous request to Kennedy to refrain from receiving the Eucharist and said he had no intention of making it public nor did he instruct the priests of his diocese to deny Eucharist to him (an allegation Kennedy made in his week-end interview). In other words, Bishop Tobin pursued conversation over confrontation and tried, unsuccessfully it would seem, a pastoral approach in asking the Congressman not to continue to give scandal by presenting himself as a member of the Catholic communion for communion. I think this is exactly how I would choose to proceed if faced with the same set of circumstances as was Bishop Tobin.

In judging this situation, please keep the following in mind:

1. Abortion is a moral issue which admits of no compromise. It is taking innocent human life. It has been the teaching of the Church for many decades and perhaps centuries. Catholics who choose to be pro-choice do not embrace the teaching of their Church on this issue and at some point can be considered to have separated themselves from the Catholic communion.

2. The Catholic Church leadership in this country is strongly committed to expanding health care to the uninsured. While it may seem that our commitment here is less passionate than our opposition to abortion, that’s not how I and my brother bishops feel. Abortion as a moral issue trumps but does not vitiate our support for expanded coverage for the poor and uninsured.

3. The Church in making its case before the Congress is acting as Cardinal George, our President said last week, based on principle, not politics. It is allowed to do this under section 501.C.3 of the Internal Revenue Service Code. We would likely cross the line if we endorsed or opposed a candidate for political office, which we do not do. Many of our more ardent pro-life Catholics would like to see more of the latter but it will not happen.

4. Congressman Kennedy, for whatever reasons, chose to take on his bishop and his Church’s teaching in an unconscionable manner. The bishop has responded as both pastor and teacher. I admire his restraint and his strength.

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First, a confession. I spent all day in a clinic and in doctors’ offices for regular post-op visits. All went very well on that front. What I was not able to do was watch the live video of the second day of the annual Fall meeting so for these reflections, I am dependent on news reports from CNS and other sources. As you know, EWTN is not carrying the bishops’ meeting this year, gavel to gavel, so it was not possible  for me to record the meeting and watch it this evening. Anyway, here goes.

Most all the action items passed with sizable majorities. While almost every action item had one or two votes against, this preventing a unanimous action of the assembly, I have always held that if the Nicene Creed  (the one we recite and pray at Mass) were placed before the bishops, it too would garner two or three negative votes.

One item which had the largest number of “no” votes was a proposed pastoral letter on marriage. Although the bishops’ National Advisory Council encouraged a “yes” vote on the proposed pastoral, bishops who spoke today felt that while there was nothing wrong with the proposed text, there were some issues and passages which could have been rendered better . The pastoral received five more votes than necessary for passage. The bishops also overwhelmingly approved a revision in the “Ethical and Religious Directives” which guide local bishops, health care facilities, doctors and nurses in hard decisions about medical treatment in an age when technology allows life to be maintained and sustained for years. The Pro-Life Committee saw their work product, a statement on life and birth in a technological age pass by a wide margin. All of these actions are available to you now on the USCCB web site.

The long work on a new translation of the Roman Missal is over and now Rome’s approval is awaited. Sometime in 2011, the new Missal will be implemented in the English speaking world. We will have to get use to some new language and there will be a period of catechesis in 2010 and early 2011 which I and our priests will lead to get you ready for the changes.

Finally, several bishops came to the defense of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development whose collection will be taken up this coming week-end in churches throughout the U.S. Founded about 30 years ago, CCHD has given grants to many organizations and agencies and sponsored an education program on the roots of poverty. Conservatively oriented Catholics have beeb taking shots at CCHD since its inception. Several years ago it was learned that a grant recipient was ACORN which was involved in projects not in accord with Catholic teaching. Several years ago before the US Government and Congress became aware of ACORN’s malfeasance, CCHD had dropped all support for this organization. I personally believe in and support CCHD and feel that our bishops’ committee  has acted responsibly with regard to this challenge.

That’s it from m perspective. Some final thoughts and notes on the meeting tomorrow.

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After an opening Mass in the hotel, the bishops began their annual Fall plenary assembly by spending the morning in what are called “regional meetings.” Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina are all in “Region XIV” so the bishops of the twelve dioceses of those four states comprise the regional grouping. I know that one of the topics which the bishops were asked to discuss is the number of seminaries spread across the United States at this time. This discussion comes at a moment when it appears that vocations are on the rise and seminary enrollment is increasing. As I mentioned earlier here, St. John Vianney College Seminar opened in September with about 80 seminarians (the highest ever) and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach opened with about sixty seminarians but a total enrollment of eighty is not more than a year or two away. Seminaries are expensive operations but there are strong regional arguments to be made for them (training future priests for ministry in Spanish to Hispanics, for example.) No one wants to close their seminaries in this country so I wonder tonight what suggestions may have come from the regional meeting discussions this morning.

The Plenary opened with an hour and twenty minutes of formalities including an address by Cardinal Francis George, our President, and the papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi. These two talks have always been a part of the opening “ritual” for the meetings. Cardinal George began by speaking about the importance of priests to the ministry of bishops and painted a fine picture of what the Church might be like if there were no priests. He did this largely in the context of this being “the year for priests” as declared by Pope Benedict XVI. It was a fine reflection for we bishops about how important and vital our priests are not just to the Church which is obvious to all of our people, but to our own ministry as bishops.

The Papal Nuncio’s talk spoke about the qualities needed of the bishops in light of love for the Church. He opened with a long quotation from Pope Paul VI prior to his death about the gift of love from Christ to the late Pope in the Church. He then outlined three necessary qualities for bishops: fidelity (allowing here for some application of creativity in addition to preserving the treasury of the faith), prudence, and hope. He paid special tribute to a national meeting of Diocesan Vocation Directors recently held in Newark, finding the Directors to be impressive, resourceful and full of hope. Our own Father Len Plazewski is the President of the National Vocation Directors and God knows he reflects all those adjectives. The Nuncio ended his remarks by sharing a letter which he received from a priest asking for the appointment of “more positive” bishops. “Check, Archbishop. And thanks for your remarks.”

The rest of the afternoon was given over to the introduction of the “action items” which the bishops will begin to debate and vote tomorrow morning. The assembly had only ninety minutes, max, to submit formal amendments to the Action Items.

Finally, my successor as Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, gave the assembled bishops a wonderful picture of CRS today, along with a stirring four minute video. The archbishop noted that only 22% of Church-going Catholics could identify CRS as the Church in the US’s overseas disaster relief and development agency.

Cardinal George asked the bishops assembled to support a statement which he wished to make on health care reform. We’ll download that statement for you here as soon as it is available.

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Update: Cardinal George’s Statement is now available at the USCCB website for this year’s November meeting, or you can access it directly.

I am very grateful that the Gator’s game with Vanderbilt turned out never to be close and was somewhat boring since it allowed me to watch intently the debate in the U.S. House of Representatives last night on the Stupak anti-abortion amendment to the House Health Care Bill. I stayed with the U.S. House for the rest of the night until finally the vote on the whole health care proposal. It was an interesting exercise in civics and political science. Just before midnight, the House voted (1) to accept the Stupak amendment adding even strong language to proscribe any use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortion under the House Health Care bill, (2) rejected a Republican counter health bill proposal, and (3) pass by the narrowest of margins the omnibus Health Care proposal.

First, the Stupak amendment: I was proud of the almost sixty Democrats who joined a solid, unanimous corp of Republicans to insert this language and generally proud of the rhetoric surrounding this approach. The pro-choice members offered their usual statements of opposition and of course it was embarrassing to listen to some members of the pro-choice caucus in the House speak who were probably born Catholics, may still be Catholics for all I know, but still do not grasp the moral implications and the teaching of the Church of their baptism on the dignity and protection of all human life. I have far more patience with those outside of our faith community who at least struggle with this issue.

It appears that on Friday night a deal which would have met the requirements of the Stupak wing fell through and representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops attending the meeting indicated that our Conference would oppose the whole bill if it did not include the more restrictive language of “Stupak.” Speaker Pelosi then did the only thing she could do knowing that without the Stupak langauge she would not muster sufficient votes for the omnibus health care bill allowed the matter to come before the House for limited debate and vote. I suspect that the Speaker hopes in her heart of hearts that if there is ever a conference committee to reconcile the House version with anything that might come from the Senate, this language which again I suspect she finds odious will the negotiated out. But for the moment, this was a victory for the pro-life cause and the number of Democrats who joined with their colleagues from the other side of the aisle suggests that the polls-confirmed shift in the country from tolerance for “abortion-on-request” to a greater level of uncertainty and even distaste is having its effect even on Congress. Until the health care debate is over, I still consider this “one small step for human life.”

The nation’s bishops and I support health care reform of whatever type will reduce the number of uninsured in the country and assist in covering all people within our boundaries who are currently denied access. I would confess to some personal concerns about the range and scope of the Bill passed by the House last night but it is still “a long way to Tipperary” and this hunt for equity in access and reduced cost is far from over. We will see. All of our Congressional representatives except the very predictable Ms. Castor voted for the Stupak amendment and they deserve our thanks which I will communicate to them tomorrow. They always hear from us when we want something but seldom hear “thanks” when they perform for us. If you have the time to thank them, join me.

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Today’s issue of the Los Angeles Times has an op-ed piece by James Oliphant in which he indicates that roughly forty moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives are ready to hold up debate and vote on the Health Care legislation unless and until stronger wording prohibiting any reform money for paying for any abortions under the reform plan is inserted. This group wants the strong language of what for 33 years has been referred to as the “Hyde Amendment” inserted into the law here as it has been. Hopeful sign to be sure.

Later this afternoon, Speaker Pelosi said she had the necessary support to move the House version to the floor for debate and vote but the article which noted this indicated that there was still a strong minority of Democrats who want the abortion funding language made stronger. Decision time is near but this legislation will soon find that “it is a long way to Tipperary.” Write those letters, good people or better yet call or e-mail.

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