Breaking News - Signs Of Catholicism At Latest USCCB Meeting!
Film at 11

Even though I've been out of the loop for almost a week now, I'm sure the Catholic Blogosphere is all atwitter over the latest to come out of the USCCB; namely, the document entitled Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.

First off, I gotta give credit where credit is due. When I read statements such as "The statement explains the necessity of opposing actions that are intrinsically wrong, such as abortion and euthanasia, because these actions involve directly and intentionally ending an innocent human life", I know damn good and well that Pope Benedict has been rattling more than just a few cages.

Not all that long ago we were hit every Presidential election cycle with statements such as "abortion is just one stance among many that we should prayerfully consider" coming out of quite a few chanceries, remember?

A few recurring themes in this document stuck out to me; (comments and emphasis mine)

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today overwhelmingly approved a statement called Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States. (Just overhwlemingly? Why not unanimously? I can't help but wonder who voted against it. And why)

A second temptation involves “dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity. Racism and other unjust discrimination (I wonder what they mean by "unjust discrimination"? The only reason I ask this is because of all the so-called 'Gay & Lesbian Ministries' that are so prevalent in many diocese),

torture (let's just hope the USCCB doesn't qualify torture as something harsher than.... ohhhh, the time-out corner or having to endure this years Notre Dame football team),

the use of the death penalty (keep in mind that this statement was developed by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn. The same Bishop DiMarzio who stated; "While the bishops argue against capital punishment, he said, Catholics may disagree without separating themselves from the Church community". Ladies and gents, what we have he is what's better known as double-talk),

resorting to unjust war (I also hope the USCCB understands that bombing the crap outta Canada simply because that particular nation begat Alanis Morissette, both the disco and skank version, would qualify as an unjust war. Killing terrorists and those who support them isn't. BTW, we all know that the USCCB is referring to the War in Iraq, and I've already commented on that before),

war crimes (such as having to listen to Alanis Morissette, both the disco and the skank version),

the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or lack health care (and to think of all the hundreds of millions spent on out-of-court settlements for bishop protected rapist "priests". I wonder how many hungry and sick people could have been taken care of with that money),

or unjust immigration policies (correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't The Church already definitively spoken on the topic? Why does the USCCB continue to harp on this?) are all serious moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act.”

Admittantly, I'm not as enthusiastic as many of my fellow Catholics are, but at least this is a step in the right direction.