Welcome to Friday. NCR's editorial staff asks the U.S. bishops to suppress the devotion to St. John Paul II. Women protesting the abortion ban in Poland include some Catholic supporters. NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters says the U.S. bishops need to abandon their culture warrior approach in favor of the common good.
In some ways, Pope John Paul II was an admirable man. But the Vatican's unprecedented report on disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick reveals that the pope made some calamitous, callous decisions.
"It is time for a difficult reckoning," NCR writes in our editorial. "This man, proclaimed a Catholic saint by Pope Francis in 2014, willfully put at risk children and young adults in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and across the world. In doing so, he also undermined the global church's witness, shattered its credibility as an institution, and set a deplorable example for bishops in ignoring the accounts of abuse victims."
As with every saint, John Paul has a cult of people across the world that celebrate his memory and encourage devotion to him, but we hope that the U.S. bishops, who are meeting next week for their annual conference, can put a stop to such practice.
"Suppressing the late pontiff's cult would not mean telling people they need to throw away their relics or their medals — people could still practice private devotion to him," we write. "But for abuse victims, their advocates and many others, John Paul's memory is no longer a blessing. It should not be celebrated in public."
Read more of the editorial here.
More background:
Polish women have been protesting for weeks against the Law and Justice government and against the Catholic Church since a ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal imposed an almost total ban on abortion. Current Polish abortion law, among the most restrictive in Europe, allows a pregnancy to be terminated only if the mother's life is in danger, in cases of incest and rape, or if there are fetal abnormalities.
The new ruling would no longer allow abortion in the case of fetal abnormality, which at present accounts for 97% of all the abortions performed in Poland.
Organizers are planning regular demonstrations every Monday in the coming weeks, according to Marta Lempart, head of Strajk Kobiet, the Polish "Women's Strike" movement. The grassroots organization plays a leading role in the demonstrations that have been taking place throughout Poland since the tribunal's ruling. So far that includes 580 cities and towns, Lempart, who comes from a Catholic background, told NCR.
You can read more of the story here.
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Final thoughts
Global Sisters Report is hosting a virtual program on the Sisters of Selma with professor emerita Carol Coburn, who conducted a Q&A series, Mercy Sr. Patricia McCann and Therese Stawowy, who was a Sister of Loretto when she marched in Selma. The three will share their experiences in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, how it influenced their lives and ministries, and their insights on the parallels and differences with the ongoing struggle to counter structural racism today. You can register for the event, which will be held at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, here.
Until Monday,
Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @ncrSLY
