In representative democracies we have elected politicians that represent the will and the interests of their constituencies. These elected officials make their decisions based primarily on their moral conscience. More and more Catholic Bishops seem to be clueless about this concept. Not only are these bishops not theologians, they are not politicians.
Cardinal Pell of Sydney Australia, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of England and Wales, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, and last but not least Archbishop Burke of St. Louis all have something in common, they are control freaks around the questions of Stem Cell Research, abortion, and gay marriage. Each has used the Holy Eucharist as a tool of division. Each makes veiled threats against Catholic Politicians who would vote their conscience over these very complex and personal matters.
Cardinal Pell said about Stem Cell research it is a serious moral matter and Catholic politicians who vote for this legislation must realize that their voting has consequences for their place in the life of the Church” What are the consequences the Cardinal is referring to? The Archbishop describes the proposed laws, which would bring New South Wales into line with changes already made at a Commonwealth level, as grotesque. He says they would legalize the creation of human-animal hybrids. The Cardinal shows his opposition to Vatican II on this matter when he says “"I don't think that any Catholic politician, any Christian politician, any pro-life politician who has properly informed his or her conscience should vote for these changes."
Cardinal Cormack Murphy-O’Connor of England and Wales, this Prince of the Church certainly does an interesting tap dance with facts about a whole array of subjects. However, recently he has thrown himself like Pell into the political arena. Both want to tell Catholic politicians how to vote. But Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is a little cagier. He speaks out against Gay Marriage, but allows for a Gay Mass to be said. He also fought gay adoption, stem cell research, and abortion. He threatened to deny communion to those politicians who supported gay adoption, but was afraid to follow through with it. Like another play ground bully he comes once again into the political arena to threaten politicians who support abortion with the denial of the Holy Eucharist. What a pathetic display of lazy reliability, there is no follow through. Integrity does not seem to be his strong suite.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago is really a piece of work. He apparently gets his theology from such books such as Parish the Thought: An Inspirational Memoir of Growing up Catholic in the 1960s. No fan of Vatican II, and yearning for the days of the old Latin Language Liturgy. He works against legislation that would not allow discrimination in housing and jobs against gays and lesbians; however, allows a Liturgy for Gay Catholics in Chicago. Like Pell, and Murphy-O’Connor, George loves to turn words around, and get his facts wrong. Hey no one is perfect. Recently George, vice president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops told The Chicago Tribune: "We are trying to find a language that does not betray the teaching of the church, but will perhaps express it in ways that are not so offensive." What a wonderful hypocrite.
Archbishop Burk, now he is a real, real piece of work. When it comes to expressing his personal views of church values, Burke has a habit of making headlines, not always to the satisfaction of his flock. He has spoken out against abortion; against politicians who support abortion; against entertainers who support anti-Catholic teachings but also want to perform at Catholic functions; and against using embryonic stem cells for research. His secret weapon is the Holy Eucharist. If you don’t tow Burke’s line he will deny you communion. Out of all these prelates Burke appears to be the lose cannon. If any would resort to excommunication it would be him. Many individuals in the Archdiocese of St. Louis feel he is archaic and kind of an embarrassment.
I think in any democratic society, if Sheikh Al Hilali had made that same kind of declaration to Members of any governing body of the Muslim faith, telling them how to vote, I think there'd be outrage. The threat of denying Communion is getting rather old and common place. The only card left to play is Excommunication. I think such threats only show the irrelevancy of our Church Leadership. They are unable to persuade, so they resort to intimidation. I wonder what Christ would do in a situation like this. The real scandal is the bishops are trying to break down the wall that separates religion and state.
