Category: Bishops
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Fake Catholic Groups Working Overtime for Healthcare Bill
Deal W. Hudson December 14, 2009 It’s sad to report, but report we must: The same fake Catholic groups that helped President Barack Obama get elected have rallied to the cause of the health-care bill, abortion funding and all. As reported by LifeNews.com, Catholics United (CU) and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) are warning…
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The Failure of the Bishops’ Healthcare Bill Strategy
Deal W. Hudson March 15, 2010 The Catholic Health Association (CHA), a lobbying group for Catholic hospitals, has offered its support for the health-care bill as it currently stands. A statement from CHA president Sr. Carol Keehan expresses “concern on life issues” while underscoring the bill’s requirement that “a separate check” would have to be written for…
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Are the Bishops ‘Advancing the Republican Agenda’?
Deal W. Hudson April 5, 2010 Regular readers may be taken aback by the question, but I ask it seriously. In fact, I am repeating a question put to Francis Cardinal George by a reporter for the Catholic News Service. A March 23 story from CNS, written by Nancy Frazier O’Brien, featured an exchange with Cardinal George,…
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Seven Ways the Bishops Should Respond to Sex Abuse
Deal W. Hudson April 15, 2010 To rebuild the trust of U.S. Catholics in the Church and its leaders and to make reparations to the victims left in the wake of this scandal, the bishops need to address several points: 1. The bishops should make clear that this is a crisis and that they are…
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Can the Bishops Fix the Health Care Bill?
Deal W. Hudson May 24, 2010 When the health-care bill passed, the bishops’ reaction was twofold: disappointment at federal funding for abortion, while universal care was applauded. For some, including myself, the sound of the bishops’ clapping was far too loud given the immense tragedy of our federal tax dollars being committed to supporting abortion under the…
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Honoring a Bishop from the Northwest
Deal W. Hudson August 16, 2010 Too often, Catholic commentators, including myself, speak about American bishops in the plural. The existence of a national bishops’ conference, unfortunately, encourages this habit, one that obscures a basic fact about the Catholic Church: It is individual bishops who are responsible for sanctifying the lives of the Catholic faithful. There’s no…
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The Kicanas Problem
Deal W. Hudson November 15, 2010 When the Catholic bishops meet in Baltimore this week, they will elect the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Usually, the chatter among Catholic punditry about who will be elected is minimal, given the longstanding tradition of elevating the vice president to the president’s…
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Ten Things to Know About the Politics of the New Encyclical
Deal W. Hudson June 25, 2015 The new papal encyclical, Laudato si’, is already a factor in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats are thrilled at having the “appearance” of support from Pope Francis. The Republican Party, which needs Catholic voters to win elections, should pay close attention to the impact of the encyclical on attitudes of…
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After SCOTUS Marriage Decision, Bishops Start Environmental Justice Program
Deal W. Hudson July 5, 2015 There were two significant events in the life of the Catholic Church this past month. On June 18 Pope Francis released his second encyclical, Laudato si’, and on June 26 the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay “marriage” with their Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops responded very differently to…
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Pope Francis meets the United Nations in a Fractured World
Deal W. Hudson September 15, 2015 When Pope Francis arrived at the United Nations today he was welcomed by the sight of the Vatican Flag, the first time the yellow and white flag had ever been raised at the UN since its founding in 1945. In 1964, the Holy See, which is not a member, became a…
Deal W. Hudson 