Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Rather than disinviting ...
... pro-choice speakers from Catholic venues, I have an alternative suggestion for bishops. What would be the reaction if a bishop himself attended such an event? The purpose would be to offer a public disclaimer on the speaker's position, and reiterate the church's position on abortion. Or the Iraq War. Or another divisive moral issue on which it might be felt Catholics are unclear.
Since I cannot remember the last time I read or heard of a bishop volunteering to productively work in favor of life (though I know of several anti-abortion protesters), this would give the prelate an opportunity to actually perform a work of mercy. (Getting a secretary to write to a college president or make a press release doesn't qualify in my book.) And importantly, people would see a bishop doing something that actually took some effort and sacrifice. Mind you, a bishop would not have to do this all the time. And he still could write letters or make press releases, too. But it would be something different. Something unworthy of a yawn or a "so what?"
