Your Voice — Today’s Catholic Blog

To jump right in with a controversy/scandal of sorts, the Catholic Church in the US has been at the forefront of the political debate in the last week or so with the comments made by Father Michael Pfleger May 25 at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. As anyone who has been following the news knows, Father Pfleger mocked Senator Hillary Clinton, saying the candidate’s behavior amounted to crying because a black man had cut in line and denied her the  Democratic nomination for President, to which she was entitled.  

As far as fallout goes, these remarks have prompted Senator Barack Obama to leave his church home of 20 years. They’ve prompted an apology of sorts and other follow-up remarks from Father Pfleger himself. They’ve also prompted the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, to denounce the priest’s words as a partisan and personal attack. The cardinal has gone on to ask the priest to take a leave of absence of several weeks from his ministry as pastor of St. Sabina Parish in Chicago. Cardinal George also related that Father Pfleger did not share in the opinion that he needed to take leave.  

This incident raises so many interesting points of the “when worlds collide” scenarios that play out when religion and politics encounter each other. First, it’s interesting to note that Father Pfleger was denounced by the cardinal for engaging in a partisan and personal attack. It wasn’t so much the priest’s support of Obama that was offensive. It was the public, to say nothing of unkind, form that it took. The Catholic Church sees very clearly its role in politics as one of advocating on the moral implications of a variety of issues. By doing so, the church hopes to shape the thinking of lawmakers and the consciences of the voters who choose the lawmakers.  

 It is very tempting to listen to the advocacy of the church on some issues and draw a partisan conclusion. For instance, the Catholic Church opposes abortion, gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research and birth control. Hmm … sounds like a Republican church.  On the other hand, it favors immigration rights, workers rights, universal health care, preferential treatment for the poor and environmental stewardship, while opposing the death penalty and the preemptive war. Now it’s sounding more Democratic. 

Ultimately, this paints a picture of a church whose teachings transcend partisan politics, and this is likely a big reason why Cardinal George was quick to condemn Father Pfleger. When the church — or one of its representatives — takes sides in partisan politics, or identifies itself with a particular candidate, the church is cheapened.  

Originally conceived by the staff at Today’s Catholic newspaper as a place where readers could voice feedback on various aspects of the publication, this blog is now going to move in a more blog-ish direction of regular posts from me, the assistant editor of Today’s Catholic, on various topics of interest in the Catholic Church. My hope is to include both straight reporting and commentary as events in the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, or any diocese for that matter, have ties to the church around the country, and even around the world and in Rome. Hopefully, this will prove at least mildly insightful, entertaining, etc. for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. 

“Your Voice,” the Today’s Catholic-administered blog of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend welcomes Today’s Catholic assistant editor Don Clemmer as a regular contributor to the blog. Don will make his best effort to post regularly and provide commentary on life in the Catholic Church, locally, regionally and universally. His comments will be his own. While he will do his best to represent the church, his comments will not be officially endorsed by Today’s Catholic newspaper or the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Don will also, after this post, stop referring to himself in the third person.