The Bishops Caucus

Catholic Bishops are meeting to hash out, among other things, a more uniform approach in dealing with pro-abortion Catholic politicians. There have been many positive signs over the past several months on that front, indications of a growing sense of fed-upness, with a good number of bishops issuing substantive and forceful denunciations of Catholic politicos like Nancy Pelosi and good ol' Joe Biden. No doubt, some are realizing that they face a new sort of beast in the soon-to-be minted Obama Administration and the enlarged Democratic congressional majority, with their firmly anchored pro-abortion platform and pretty much pro-everything-that-is reprehensible-and-abominable-to-the-dignity-of-the-person social policies.

Pat Buchanan said it nicely the other night when he predicted that the cocksure Obama will, without a doubt, govern from the far left but that he will gloss over the ugly shades of extremism with a sunny veneer of moderation. This m.o. is exactly how Obama has managed to reach the pinnacle of power. History demonstrates that Obama's voting record, whether in Chicago or in DC, has been one of undiluted, doctrinaire liberalism and that he succeeds remarkably in wrapping up (and thereby concealing) his radical agenda in warm, innocuous language that clouds the true danger of the actual policy. He says, for instance, that he wants to reduce the number of abortions and that "this is something we can all agree on regardless of our stance on abortion." Well, by airbrushing out every law that restricts abortion, as he firmly intends on doing asap, how on earth does it compute that we should expect to see a drop in the number of abortions performed? What Obama says is one thing, what he does is quite another. He's been able to maneuver himself up the ladder of power thanks to a combination of verbal dexterity (put more truthfully, chicanery) and the simultaneous inability of people to discern the record from the rhetoric. Thus disarmed, they slowly nod their heads in agreement and think, "Well, that seems to make sense." Game. Set. Match. Mr. Obama.

How will the bishops respond to all of this? Well, incredibly some are cautioning that the "tone" of the message ought be massaged so as to not cause too much offense among the faithful. This is so tiring. Let's try this again: The bishops need to speak with one voice, clearly, unequivocally and forcefully, now more than ever before, that it is totally unacceptable for a soi-disant Catholic to support, in any way, a politician who advocates the illusory "right" to an abortion.

Enough with the nuanced prayers that blend together in one broad sentence our uniform opposition to abortion, to war and to capital punishment, as though we are incapable of making moral distinctions between acts that are intrinsically evil and those that are not. Enough of the "we can agree to disagree" insouciance and stalemate that seem to be the habitual end result of the stand-off between bishops and liberal Catholic politicians, election after election. Enough of parish priests thinking that there is no need to thunder from the pulpit from time to time in the run-up to an election on the moral imperative incumbent on every Catholic to vote, first and foremost, in opposition to abortion and in favor of life. And finally, enough of the gushing river of impunity with regard to pro-abortion Catholic politicians who unleash their scandalous malarkey on national television regarding the Church's stance on abortion.

Bishops should know that there are legions of faithful Catholics who are chomping at the bit to back them up in the public square. All we're looking for is some leadership and backbone.