"That this is even an issue shows how the viruses of the political right have infected the U.S. church leadership. It stands almost alone in the Catholic world in its singular focus on abortion, as Jason Horowitz reported in the New York Times. He noted that in 'much of Europe and Latin America, it is essentially unthinkable for bishops to deny communion to politicians who publicly support abortion rights.'
"Having pulled back ever so slightly, the bishops should now drop this ill-conceived project altogether. It will only continue to undercut their capacity — already strained by scandal — to preach, teach and persuade. They might take a moment to ponder the call to dialogue from Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and brilliant writer whom Pope Francis lifted up in his 2015 speech to Congress.
“'If I insist on giving you my truth, and never stop to receive your truth in return,” Merton wrote, “there can be no truth between us.'” -- E.J. Dionne, Jr., on the statement drafted by a right- wing majority of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops on denying communion to pro- choice Catholic politicians, notably President Biden.
The right has a large presence in the American church hierarchy, as well as in Catholic advocacy groups like the Catholic League, whose Board of Advisors reads like a who's who of right- wing Republicans, and which is led by "Sweaty Bill" Donohue, scourge of gays and defender of pedophile priests. So, often times when the right sneezes, the Catholic Church in America catches cold.
