Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The Bishops of (New) Baltimore

Fr. George Rutler assesses the New Baltimore Catechism on the death penalty.

...An incapacity for indignation at calculated ambiguity is the consequence of a bureaucratic culture which melds ayes and nays into maybes. At the Baltimore assembly, the bishops approved the eloquently ambiguous statement by a vote of 194 for, 8 against, with 3 abstentions. Perhaps they were thinking like Nancy Pelosi who said of the Affordable Care Act: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Years from now, whether the Church has risen from its present slough of despondency to a shining new eminence, or lies battered in a heap of broken basilicas and quivering banalities, the wonderful question will be: “How was it that at a meeting in 2019, almost all of the American bishops voted for something without knowing what it means?”....
Yes, well.  Maybe.  Or maybe not.

Fr. Rutler also reminded us of one of Buckley's best zingers:

"I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you actually believe what you just said."

Keep that handy in case you meet your local Bishop.

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