A Papal Letter Showing Church's Conservative and Liberal Sides Boosts Progressives
Reader Comments
Well written Kyle
Well written Kyle
Deus Caritas Est
1) Isn't it just possible the Vatican isn't looking at these things in American political terms? In fact, isn't that almost certain?
2) The "forays" of the American bishops have not been all socially conservative. They certainly have been out front on immigration reform, to the consternation of many conservative Catholics. They have opposed torture and continued their work against the death penalty. And they have done all kinds of work on things that are not stereotypically "liberal" or "conservative" issues, like liturgy and helping out Katrina victims and so on.
3) It's kind of strange, isn't it, to tally up the number of references to abortion versus labor unions in a document primarily about economics? Why would you expect those numbers to compare meaningfully? Any more than you would expect the references to economic issues to equal the references to abortion in Evangelium Vitae? The Church presents these teachings as an integrated whole, but with priorities and relationships among them.
4) The pope's very first encyclical was half dedicated to the church's charitable mission. I would call that a pretty significant "foray," wouldn't you? Which American political faction does that benefit?
The whole premise here is artificial, IMO.
