The bishops!

Last week, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) decided to stick a finger in Pope Francis' eye and approve a draft document which would deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights. This was rightly seen as targeting President Joe Biden.

The USCCB had threatened to do this before Pres. Biden had been inaugurated, but were dissuaded by a directive from the Vatican. But bad ideas never quite die, and now it's been resurrected.

Remember, this is the same conference which bent over backwards to avoid spats with Donald Trump. Trump was the furthest thing from a good Christian man; but he appointed anti-abortion judges to the courts, and that was all that mattered.

Abortion is the only part of the Church's pro-life theology over which Church leaders get worked up. This draft document doesn't propose to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support the death penalty. It's only abortion which gets them apoplectic.

There's a reason why Catholics leave the Church, either for another, more liberal denomination, or give up religion altogether. Sclerotic old men who hid the Church's child abuse scandal have no moral standing to lecture anyone about morality. The Church writ large has lost most of its moral authority. It's gone from "how many divisions does the Pope have" to "how many pedophiles has the Church coddled". That the men of the USCCB blithely ignore their shattered influence and continue to do things which will further diminish it among the faithful would be funny were it not also so dangerous.

Even if by some fluke this document were to be approved by the Vatican, it would be up to each individual bishop to decide whether or not to deny someone like Joe Biden communion. I doubt any of them would have the cojones to cast out the American president. But that's beside the point. The bishops have decided to intrude on a political matter, and in doing so deal themselves another blow to their prestige. Pres. Biden is far more popular among the laity than they are. He is a faithful Catholic who lives the social gospel; the bishops in their concerns are far divorced from the lives of ordinary parishioners. 

This intervention is but the latest example as to why churches should lose their tax-exempt status. They regularly make a mockery of it by fully engaging in politics. Make them pay taxes, then be free to engage in any political battles they want. Of course, the USCCB might find that it doesn't have the faithful lining up with them were they to do so.

Every day Catholic bishops remind me why I left the Church. The hypocrisy emanating from the leadership was simply too much to bear. This latest episode will create a bunch of newly-minted ex-Catholics. What will they do when there's no one in the pews?