Welcome to Wednesday. The U.S. bishops conference is concerned that President-elect Joe Biden's policy positions on abortion, and some other issues, do not align with church teaching. An NCR columnist says we won't be able to rush reconciliation after such political turmoil. Another NCR columnist writes about how we can understand those with opposing political ideas — meet them at the cross of Jesus.
Signaling what could become a showdown between the leadership of the U.S. Catholic Church and the second Catholic president in U.S. history, the head of the U.S. bishops' conference issued a warning to President-elect Joe Biden, saying his position on abortion rights creates a "difficult and complex situation."
"When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support [abortion rights], there are additional problems," said Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Among other things, it creates confusion among the faithful about what the Catholic Church actually teaches on these questions."
Gomez also announced the formation of a working group to examine the issue.
The remarks came Nov. 17 during the conclusion of the final day of the U.S. bishops' virtual meeting and just one week after Gomez offered his formal congratulations to Biden.
You can read more of the story here.
More background:
NCR columnist Carmen Nanko-Fernández's mentor was Fr. Richard Guastella, who sat her down in the rectory office when she turned 18 to talk about the sacred obligation of a citizen to vote.
They got together on Inauguration Day 2017 to try to make sense of the "storm portended in a president who envisioned the country in terms of 'American carnage.' " Guastella died of COVID-19 on Holy Thursday.
"During los Dias de los Muertos, on mi altarcito beneath his photo, I placed the sticker that affirmed my absentee ballot. 'I Voted/Yo Voté,' my sacred obligation still remembered," Nanko-Fernández writes.
"In a time of pandemic, social friendship begins with the wearing of masks," Nanko-Fernández writes. "In a time of political transition, healing begins with the admission of loss, not with placating the ego of a dysfunctional leader. If we can't do the simple things, how can we ever invest in the common good? We owe a sacred obligation to the dead and to the living."
You can read more of the column here.
In the post-presidential election chaos, much has been said about reconciliation and whether we can work together with or even have conversations with those that are radically on the opposite of one's own political beliefs.
But like NCR columnist MT Dávila tells her students, suffering is where we meet others. It is a universal experience, it is authentic and it comes with the central tenet to our Christian faith, that Jesus suffered a cruel and unjust death on the cross.
"To be more precise, as a Joe Biden supporter who considers many of President Donald Trump's policies as violent toward members of the LGBTQ+ group, indigenous folks, immigrants, African Americans, and those with medical vulnerabilities, I have wondered how I would be able to come close to having a conversation with someone who continues to support Trump and his policies," Dávila writes. "This is a question I have posed to many audiences in the past: How am I to love the bearer of an unlovable idea?"
You can read more of the column here.
More headlines
- ICYMI: For a group that is majority Catholic — and thus often expected to vote primarily against abortion — Latino residents in Arizona largely voted Democrat in this presidential election, helping to turn the state blue for the first time since 1996.
- Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese says that the recent report detailing the Vatican’s response to the scandal surrounding ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick shows why it's a mistake to canonize popes (or anyone) quickly after their deaths.
Final thoughts
NCR Forward members are regularly invited to special member-only events. Join us tomorrow for a discussion with three Black leaders who will share their reflections on how their ministries help them continue the journey of Black Catholics in the U.S. Catholic Church. Become a member today to be part of this event.
Until Thursday,
Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @ncrSLY
