Bishops will revise Catholic voting guide to address current issues
While continuing to acknowledge the valued concept of separation of church and state, the leadership of the Catholic Church in the United States reaffirmed Wednesday that it is imperative that the faithful not check their consciences at the voting booth. Members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in New Orleans discussed the issue in a press conference. They are from left, Bishop John Wester (chairman of the USCCB Communications Committee), Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, vice-president of the USCCB; Archbishop William E. Lori, chair of the committee on religious liberty; and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, chair of the committee on clergy. (Theodore P. Mahne, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)
While continuing to acknowledge the valued concept of separation of church and state, the leadership of the Catholic Church in the United States reaffirmed Wednesday that it is imperative that the faithful not check their consciences outside the voting booth.
Gathering for its annual spring meeting in New Orleans, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted Wednesday (June 11) to reissue a revised guide to help Catholics in making voting decisions in accord with their Catholic moral beliefs.
Originally issued in 2007, with an additional introductory note in 2011, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” became the focus at earlier administrative meetings with an eye toward the 2016 election cycle.
According to Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston/Houston, and the vice president of the USCCB, in light of the development of public policy issues that have evolved since the original document was issued, the administrative panel decided to issue a new introduction and edit the document to incorporate the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, as well as what Pope Francis has brought to the church since then.
While “Faithful Citizenship” has been called a solid platform, it has become dated in certain key aspects, said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, president of the USCCB. For example, he said, the document emphasizes some policy issues that have diminished in importance or even disappeared since 2007, while addressing lightly or not at all policy issues that have come to great prominence since then, such as religious liberty and the redefinition of marriage.
The document also does not account for the teaching documents of Pope Benedict XVI since late 2007, such as “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), or of Pope Francis and the issues he has emphasized in his first year, especially in “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”). The meaning of certain precise theological meanings to concepts such as prudential judgment and conscience also could be clarified, particularly for new audiences, the bishops have said.
Having been approved by the assembly, the next step would be for Kurtz to appoint a panel to prepare the draft of the revisions in time for the November 2015 General Assembly of the USCCB – and to be disseminated to the public and parishioners by the 2016 election cycle.
In other presentations:
• The assembly was updated on the work of Catholic Relief Services regarding the relief efforts in the Philippines following the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan last November. Through money raised in special collections across the United States, more than $21 million have been sent to the Philippines, Kurtz told the assembly. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, chairman Catholic Relief Services, noted that CRS first responders were on the ground in the Philippines immediately after the typhoon struck, aiding 50,000 households since then.
• The bishops were given an update on the subcommittee on the catechism by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Conn., on how the panel issues its “declarations of conformity” to catechetical material, working with publishing companies. The two key criteria are authenticity to doctrinal issues as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and completeness, regarding the thoroughness of the teaching, as appropriate to the age of the student for whom the text is intended.
• The bishops voted to seek a renewal of the “recognitio,”or approval from the Vatican, of the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States. The largely procedural vote accepts the proposal from the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life ad Vocations to leave unchanged for five years the guidelines for the education and ongoing formation of men seeking to be ordained as deacons, without later being ordained as priests. There are more than 15,000 active permanent deacons in the United States.
• In another procedural vote, the bishops approved the reauthorization of an ad hoc committee focused on religious liberty. Archbishop William E. Lori, the committee’s chairman, compared the need for a panel focusing on religious freedom to the beginnings of the pro-life movement after the Supreme Court’s ruling in “Roe v. Wade.” Today religious freedom is threatened from a number of points of attack, he said, citing, for example, health care mandates that have excluded exceptions due to matters of conscience.
Gathering for its annual spring meeting in New Orleans, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted Wednesday (June 11) to reissue a revised guide to help Catholics in making voting decisions in accord with their Catholic moral beliefs.
Originally issued in 2007, with an additional introductory note in 2011, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” became the focus at earlier administrative meetings with an eye toward the 2016 election cycle.
According to Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston/Houston, and the vice president of the USCCB, in light of the development of public policy issues that have evolved since the original document was issued, the administrative panel decided to issue a new introduction and edit the document to incorporate the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, as well as what Pope Francis has brought to the church since then.
USCCB MEETING
- What: The national leadership of the Catholic Church gathers this week for its semi-annual meeting. The approximately 250 bishops, archbishops and cardinals, will address a variety of issues facing the Church. The joint themes of the meeting are “Marriage and the Economy” and “The New Evangelization and Poverty,” which will be the primary focus of Thursday’s conference.
- Social media: The general sessions of the meeting can be followed by live stream here. Updates also will be tweeted with the hashtag #USCCB14, and posted to Facebook.
The document also does not account for the teaching documents of Pope Benedict XVI since late 2007, such as “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), or of Pope Francis and the issues he has emphasized in his first year, especially in “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”). The meaning of certain precise theological meanings to concepts such as prudential judgment and conscience also could be clarified, particularly for new audiences, the bishops have said.
Having been approved by the assembly, the next step would be for Kurtz to appoint a panel to prepare the draft of the revisions in time for the November 2015 General Assembly of the USCCB – and to be disseminated to the public and parishioners by the 2016 election cycle.
In other presentations:
• The assembly was updated on the work of Catholic Relief Services regarding the relief efforts in the Philippines following the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan last November. Through money raised in special collections across the United States, more than $21 million have been sent to the Philippines, Kurtz told the assembly. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, chairman Catholic Relief Services, noted that CRS first responders were on the ground in the Philippines immediately after the typhoon struck, aiding 50,000 households since then.
• The bishops were given an update on the subcommittee on the catechism by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford, Conn., on how the panel issues its “declarations of conformity” to catechetical material, working with publishing companies. The two key criteria are authenticity to doctrinal issues as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and completeness, regarding the thoroughness of the teaching, as appropriate to the age of the student for whom the text is intended.
• The bishops voted to seek a renewal of the “recognitio,”or approval from the Vatican, of the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States. The largely procedural vote accepts the proposal from the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life ad Vocations to leave unchanged for five years the guidelines for the education and ongoing formation of men seeking to be ordained as deacons, without later being ordained as priests. There are more than 15,000 active permanent deacons in the United States.
• In another procedural vote, the bishops approved the reauthorization of an ad hoc committee focused on religious liberty. Archbishop William E. Lori, the committee’s chairman, compared the need for a panel focusing on religious freedom to the beginnings of the pro-life movement after the Supreme Court’s ruling in “Roe v. Wade.” Today religious freedom is threatened from a number of points of attack, he said, citing, for example, health care mandates that have excluded exceptions due to matters of conscience.
No comments:
Post a Comment