Do The Bishops Speak For The Catholic Church ?

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted a story today about a recent statement by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The article reports:

…CNSNews.com asked Pelosi, who is Catholic, whether she supported her church in the lawsuits it has filed, which argue that the administration’s regulation violates the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment.

“What about the 43 Catholic institutions [that] have now sued the administration over the regulation that requires them to provide contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortifacients in their health care plans?” CNSNews.com asked. “They say that violates their religious freedom.  Do you support the Catholic Church in their lawsuits against the administration?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s the entire Catholic Church,” Pelosi responded. “Those people have a right to sue, but I don’t think they’re speaking ex cathedra for the Catholic Church.  And there are people in the Catholic Church, including some of the bishops, who have suggested that some of this may be premature,” Pelosi said.

The Bishops represent the leadership of the Catholic Church. Part of their responsibility is to guide the Church and provide direction.That is what the Bishops are doing, and doing it very well. The problem is that what they are doing interferes with Ms. Pelosi’s politics. Is Ms. Pelosi concerned that the religious freedom of her church is under attack? Obviously not.

The article reminds us:

As most Catholics outside of Capitol Hill know and understand, the bishops speak for the Catholic Church, quite literally within their own dioceses, and in every other way when united as a group.  They do not need an ex cathedra declaration to make decisions on public policy (and as I noted above, most of them would go a lifetime without seeing one anyway).   Furthermore, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops unanimously oppose the HHS mandate and have called for opposition to it.  That is speaking with as much unanimity as one is likely to find within the Catholic Church, and while that doesn’t mean that every Catholic has to agree with it, it does mean that every Catholic should at least recognize that the bishops are indeed speaking for the Church in this matter.

I don’t know if Obamacare will be overturned, but any law that can be used to limit religious freedom in this way needs to be overturned.

 

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