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| FILE - In this March 15, 2013 photo made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis is greeted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan as he meets the Cardinals for the first time after his election at the Vatican. In an interview published Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013 in 16 Jesuit journals worldwide, Pope Francis called the church’s focus on abortion, marriage and contraception narrow and said it was driving people away. Now, the U.S. bishops face a challenge to rethink a strategy many considered essential for preserving the faith. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he thought the pope was telling everyone - inside and outside the church - to focus less on divisive social issues. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- In recent years, many American bishops have drawn a harder line with
parishioners on what could be considered truly Roman Catholic, adopting
a more aggressive style of correction and telling abortion rights
supporters to stay away from the sacrament of Communion.
Liberal-minded
Catholics derided the approach as tone-deaf. Church leaders said they
had no choice given what was happening around them: growing secularism,
increasing acceptance of gay marriage, and a broader culture they
considered more and more hostile to Christianity. They felt they were
following the lead of the pontiffs who elevated them.
But
in blunt terms, in an interview published Thursday in 16 Jesuit
journals worldwide, the new pope, Francis called the church's focus on
abortion, marriage and contraception narrow and said it was driving
people away. Now, the U.S. bishops face a challenge to rethink a
strategy many considered essential for preserving the faith.
"I
don't see how the pope's remarks can be interpreted in any other way
than arguing that the church's rhetoric on the so-called culture war
issues needs to be toned down," said John Green, a religion specialist
at the University of Akron's Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. "I
think his language calls for less stridency on these issues."
The
leadership of the American church is composed of men who were appointed
by Popes John Paul II or Benedict XVI, who made a priority of defending
doctrinal orthodoxy. Over the last decade or so, the bishops have been
working to reassert their moral authority, in public life and over the
less obedient within their flock.
The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops warned Catholics that voting for
abortion-rights supporters could endanger their souls. Church leaders in
Minnesota, Maine and elsewhere took prominent roles in opposing legal
recognition for same-sex marriage in their states. Bishops censured some
theologians and prompted a Vatican-directed takeover of the largest
association for American nuns by bringing complaints to Rome that the
sisters strayed from church teaching and paid too little attention to
abortion.
Terrence Tilley, a theologian at
Fordham University, said Francis wasn't silencing discussion of abortion
or gay marriage, but indicating those issues should be less central,
for the sake of evangelizing. But he noted that bishops have
independence to decide how they should handle local political issues.
"Although
Francis is sending a clear signal that he's not a culture warrior, that
doesn't mean the bishops will follow in lockstep," Tilley said.
Few of the U.S. bishops who have commented so far on Francis' interview indicated they planned to change.
Archbishop
William Lori of Baltimore, head of the bishops' religious liberty
committee, said in a phone interview, "Issues do arise and we cannot
always control the timing." However, he added, "Every time I make a
statement about one of these things I will certainly take another look
at it and ask, `Does this really lead people back to the heart of the
Gospel?'
"That's what he's asking us to do. I think that's a fair question. "
Lori
said he expected no changes in the bishops' push for broader religious
exemptions from the contraception coverage rule in the Affordable Care
Act. Dozens of Catholic charities and dioceses, along with evangelical
colleges and others, are suing the Obama administration over the
regulation. The bishops say the provision violates the religious freedom
of faith-based nonprofits and for-profit employers.
Archbishop
Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, head of the bishops'
defense-of-marriage committee, said in a brief statement, "We must
address key issues and if key issues are in the minds of those who are
talking with us we will address them."
"In San
Francisco, these issues are very relevant to daily life for the people
of this archdiocese," said Christine Mugridge, a spokeswoman for
Cordileone. "As long as the people of the archdiocese have particular
talking points that are pressing upon them, the archbishop will respond
to those talking points."
Francis, the first
Jesuit elected pope, said in the interview, "We cannot insist only on
issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive
methods." He said the church should instead act like a "field hospital
after battle," to "heal wounds and to warm the hearts" of people so they
feel welcome in the church.
The day after the
article appeared, Francis denounced abortion as a symptom of a
"throw-away culture," in an address to Catholic gynecologists. He
encouraged the physicians to refuse to perform abortions. But in the
interview last month, conducted in Rome by the editor of the Jesuit
journal La Civilta Cattolica, Francis said "it is not necessary to talk
about these issues all the time."
New York
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the bishops' conference, said he
thought the pope was telling everyone - inside and outside the church -
to focus less on polarizing debates on sex and morals.
"I
don't know if it's just the church that seems obsessed with those
issues. It seems to be culture and society," Dolan said on "CBS This
Morning." "What I think he's saying is, `Those are important issues and
the church has got to keep talking about them, but we need to talk
about them in a fresh new way.' If we keep kind of a negative,
finger-wagging tone, it's counterproductive. "
During
the 2004 presidential election, then Archbishop Raymond Burke of St.
Louis launched what was dubbed "wafer watch" when he said he would deny
Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic who
supported abortion rights. Other bishops followed suit or suggested that
abortion-rights supporters refrain from the sacrament. (Benedict later
appointed Burke head of the Vatican high court and elevated him to
cardinal.)
By 2007, the bishops revised their
moral guide for Catholic voters to put a special emphasis on the evil of
abortion, so the issue wouldn't be lost amid other concerns such as
poverty or education. The document, called "Faithful Citizenship,"
warned voters that supporting abortion rights could endanger their
souls.
In the 2012 campaign season, it was
much more common to hear bishops warning Catholics that voting for a
particular candidate would amount to "formal cooperation in grave evil."
Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., compared the policies of President
Barack Obama to those of Hitler and Stalin. At Mass on the Sunday
before the presidential election, Jenky instructed his priests to read a
letter saying politicians who support abortion rights reject Jesus.
Theologically
conservative Christians disagree over how much, if anything, needs to
change in response to Francis' comments. Mark Brumley, chief executive
of Ignatius Press, a theologically conservative publishing house that
Pope Benedict XVI chose as his English-language publisher, was among
those who said, "I don't see a major shift."
Bishop
Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., just last week had said in an
interview with his diocesan newspaper that he was "a little bit
disappointed" that Francis hadn't spoken out about abortion. On Friday,
in a statement responding to the pope's remarks, Tobin said he admired
Francis' leadership.
"Being a Catholic doesn't
mean having to choose between doctrine and charity, between truth and
love. It includes both. We are grateful to Pope Francis for reminding us
of that vision," Tobin said.
