America Writers Named Bishops

Eagle-eyed America readers and church observers will have noticed that two America authors have been selected for leadership roles by Pope Benedict. Blase Cupich, a frequent contributor to our pages, and formerly the bishop of Rapid City, S.D., has been named Bishop of Spokane, Washington. And Msgr. Robert McElroy, formerly pastor of St. Gregory's in San Mateo and the author of The Search for an American Public Theology: The Role of John Courtney Murrayand Morality and American Foreign Policy: The Role of Ethics in International Affairs, has been named an auxiliary bishop of San Francisco. Bishop Cupich most recently wrote for us "Twelve Things the Bishops Have Learned from the Sexual Abuse Crisis," and "Serious Thinking" on Caritas in Veritate. Msgr. McElroy wrote "Why We Must Withdraw from Iraq" (in 2007) and "We Hold These Truths," on John Courtney Murray, SJ. Of course writing for America is not without its danger: one article that Msgr. McElroy wrote in 2005, a learned and thoughtful piece that we featured as cover story, "Prudence and Eucharistic Sanctions" is already drawing fire from the right-wing, specifically Lifesite News, which accused him of "criticizing Catholic church policy." Michael Sean Winters dissects the tempest here at NCR.

For our part, we congratulate Bishop Cupich and Bishop-elect McElroy. Ad multos annos. And when you get a chance, ad multos articles for our magazine.

James Martin, SJ

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ed gleason

8 years ago

I watched and winced at that 'Hardball' bishop Tobin shipwreck again. Having known Msgr. McElroy for 25 years I can assure you he would never have been caught so far off base and tagged out as Bishop Tobin was by Matthews. McElroy was the 'go-to-guy' on Church public policy for the San Francisco Archbishops Quinn, Levada and Niedreraurer. He not only writes well, he can articulate lucidly and appealingly the many Church's positions in the public square/media, a skill we need to see more of. His San Francisco designation has long been 'the smartest guy in the room', so his aappointment as auxillary is both long overdue and a hopeful sign.

Jim McCrea

8 years ago

And then there is this Kristyun response from the tighty-rightie "Catholic" website of ill-repute:

http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=00c59b1f-555a-435e-8af8-3a8f98fd7adf

Katherine Schlaerth

8 years ago

One of the real problems those of us in medicine must face is the lack of support from our fellow ''Catholics'' especially, our politicians. Most of us, including myself, have found that if we don't refer for abortions, or give abortifacients to women, we will not be hired for medical positions, or will find ourselves persecuted. It is easy to dismiss the occurrence of these prejudicial attacks on Catholic, and others including PA's, nurses, nurse practitioners and MD's, because the press will not address these issues. I fear that Catholics who won't do abortions, either chemical or surgical, and who will not refer for abortions will be excluded in the future from participation in the new health care legislation.
For bishops, priests and politicians who approve of abortion in special cases, and I suspect there are many, the fate of medical professionals who try to adhere to the dictates of their consciences is of little consequence. Please, however, be aware of the real persecution of medical personnel that is happening out there, and don't shove our concerns under the blanket and brand us as of no importance, or our concerns of less importance than our political fellow ''Catholics''. Life is hard enough as it is, and the prejudice of our fellow ''co-religionists'' doubles our burden in trying to act responsibly in conformity with our beliefs.