Even in the exceedingly unlikely event that every bishop miraculously agreed on how to approach the question of Communion and abortion, it still would not resolve the political question of abortion in favor of the Catholic position.
Sam Sawyer, S.J.
Sam Sawyer, S.J., is the editor in chief of America Media.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
How not to talk about vaccines: Some bishops are choosing the culture war over the common good
Statements by some U.S. bishops on the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Covid-19 are proving to be a cautionary tale about confusing Catholics on what is morally permissible.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Joe Biden’s missed opportunity on abortion
By rescinding the Mexico City Policy, the president did serious damage to his own goal of unifying the country.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
Republicans use ‘unconstitutional’ in bad faith — and it’s dangerous for the pro-life movement.
The Republican Party has steadily devalued the meaning of “unconstitutional” in its defense of Donald Trump, writes Sam Sawyer, S.J., undermining the best legal argument of the pro-life movement.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The U.S. bishops need a better public response to the McCarrick Report
The bishops have failed to find a public way to communicate to American Catholics that they are taking this report seriously and are ready to make changes in response to it.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The McCarrick Report confirms it: Clericalism powered the sex abuse crisis.
The failures detailed in the McCarrick report are not just tragic accidents but the predictable outcome of the incentives and attitudes that have shaped the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Talking to Jesus about voting, and listening for freedom rather than fear
Those who are telling Catholics they can vote only one way are not just distorting theology but also wounding people spiritually and pastorally.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Explainer: Yes, Catholics can vote for Democrats. (They can vote for Republicans, too!)
Are the 40 million U.S. Catholics who are registered Democrats facing the fires of hell? Not according to canon law or the U.S. bishops.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
Skewed media coverage of abortion at the Republican convention reveals a gap no one wants to bridge
Biased and prejudiced coverage of abortion has severe costs.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Cardinal Dolan’s praise for President Trump was a pastoral failure
Too often, our bishops respond by answering the questions that they wish people had instead of the ones they actually do have, Sam Sawyer, S.J., writes. It is a pastoral failure of communication that stems from a failure to listen.