Welcome to Wednesday. San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy says Joe Biden's Catholic faith shouldn't be questioned due to his politics. Amy Coney Barrett should not be held up as the next feminist icon because she is not a feminist says an NCR commentary writer. An NCR columnist says that President Donald Trump's obsession with being "manly" is literally toxic, as it has increased irresponsibility when exposing others to coronavirus.

Bishop laments questioning of Biden's faith due to abortion policies

In an address titled "Voting in Faith, Rebuilding in Hope," San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy pushed back against those questioning Joe Biden's personal Catholic faith based on his positions on abortion rights. McElroy said that when it comes to questions of public policy, abortion legislation is a matter of prudential judgment.

"One very sad dimension of the election cycle we are witnessing," said McElroy, is "the public denial of candidates' identity as Catholics because of a specific policy position they have taken. Such denials are injurious because they reduce Catholic social teaching to a single issue. But they are offensive because they constitute an assault on the meaning of what it is to be Catholic."

On the question of abortion, he said that because Catholicism teaches that some actions, including abortion, are "intrinsically evil," meaning that they are "always and everywhere wrong," some church leaders have claimed that "candidates who seek laws opposing intrinsically evil actions automatically have a primary claim to political support in the Catholic conscience."

Read more about McElroy's talk here.

More background:

All of San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy's speech can be read here.

McElroy's talk echoes many of the themes he explored in a February 2020 essay published by NCR, in which he argued that Catholics should remember that "in the end, it is the candidate who is on the ballot, not a specific issue."

A number of individual U.S. bishops are using the presidential election year to offer their own reflections on how Catholics should approach the ballot box, often doubling down on emphasizing abortion via letters and columns.

Other than hiding in the basement, what can parishioners ask their pastors to do to keep their parishes from turning into partisan war zones this election season, asks Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese.

Amy Coney Barrett is not a feminist icon - she is not a feminist at all

It is not enough for a woman to claim a seat at the table of Supreme Court judges. She needs to work, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did, for other women to be given places as well.

But Amy Coney Barrett has not done this, says Rebecca Bratten Weiss in a commentary for NCR.

"Ginsburg, whether she wanted it or not, was an emblem of everything the religious right hates and fears about feminism," writes Bratten Weiss. "And Barrett, also whether she wants it or not, is now being invoked as the alternative to Ginsburg-style feminism. In the eyes of a demographic routinely hostile to female leadership, Barrett 'passes' as an acceptable woman to wield influence in the public square."

You can read the rest of the commentary here.

More background:

The Supreme Court nominee will try to convince us that she is open-minded, when the only reason her supporters are so excited is that they know her mind is made up and it is reliably conservative, says NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters.
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett presented her conservative approach to the law at the start of fast-tracked confirmation hearings, while Democrats, powerless to stop her, tried to cast her as a threat to Americans' health care coverage during the coronavirus pandemic.

More headlines

President Donald Trump's obsession with being perceived as "manly" and "tough" has increased erratic behaviors and irresponsibility that is literally toxic, since it exposes others to a deadly disease, says NCR columnist Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan.
NCR political columnist Michael Sean Winters writes about the importance of non-presidential contests on November's ballot, such as state legislative races, which could have an impact on redistricting.
ICYMI: Even if the rest of the international community continues to prop up the increasingly violent Jovenel Moise administration in Haiti, the Vatican should not fall in line with them, writes Valerie Jean-Charles, communications strategist and editor of Woy Magazine.
ICYMI: The predominant global economic system is "unsustainable," particularly in its impact on the environment, Pope Francis said as part of the global TEDx Countdown on climate change.

Final thoughts

This week is our Fall Member Drive, in which NCR asks our loyal readers to consider joining our community of NCR Forward members. Members have tons of benefits, such as special events, member polls, question and answer sessions and more. You can find out how to join here.

Also, join us today at 1:30 p.m. central for a Facebook Live conversation on coronavirus, health care and the election. Follow us on Facebook for the latest news and events.

Until Thursday,

Stephanie Yeagle

NCR Production/Online Editor

[email protected]

Twitter: @ncrSLY

Featured Advertisers