New Archbishop of Miami: Obviously Conservative? Obviously Liberal? No: Clearly Catholic

On the whole, I'd rather live in America than, say, China or Somalia. For one thing, I already speak the language here. And there are other reasons for staying.

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind having a dominant culture here that was a little less opposed to my beliefs. From today's news:

"CHA probably feared government more than bishops, says Miami archbishop"
EWTN News/CNA (July 2, 2010)

"...EWTN News caught up to the recently appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami in Rome where he had just received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI.

"Speaking of the U.S. bishops position in regard to the CHA on Obama's health bill, he said, 'We were pretty forthright with our concerns of the legislation that was passed by Congress to our opposition.'

"He explained that the bishops opposed it because it did not provide adequate conscience protection.

" 'It did not, in spite of what its proponents alleged, it did not keep our money from going to fund abortions and it also left out undocumented aliens from any protection or any possibility of health insurance even if they were going to pay for it themselves...'..."

The EWTN News/CNA isn't a transcript of the new bishop's interview, but he's quoted extensively. The Catholic News Agency has the four-minute interview posted on YouTube:

"Archbishop Wenski on the CHA and Health Care"

catholicnewsagency, YouTube (July 2, 2010)
video, 4:00

"In an exclusive interview, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, Fla. talks to CNA about the U.S. Bishop's take on Obamacare and the actions of the Catholic Health Association in regards thereto. The CHA had more reason to fear the government than the bishops, he said."

Against Killing Babies, but For Treating Immigrants Like People - Inconsistent? No: Catholic

I've made the point in other posts, that the Catholic Church doesn't fit into either the conservative or liberal political philosophies. It's not that we don't have standards. Although Catholicism has accommodated indigenous cultures, there are some things we can't change to suit a village shaman - or the United States Congress. Or even the President of the United States.

Because we don't believe that people should do whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like it, Catholics are viewed in some circles as wanting to 'impose our views on others.' There's something to that. If I saw someone trying to kill himself, I'd try to stop him. Even if he really wanted to commit suicide just then. (You guessed it: the Church has a rule about committing suicide. (January 28, 2009))

It's easy to identify the Catholic Church as a conservative organization, because it's against abortion, suicide, and euthanasia. It's also easy to identify the Catholic Church as a liberal organization, because of our position on immigrants and the death penalty.

We're not inconsistent - we're Catholic. We value life, and we think that people are worth something, no matter who their ancestors were, or where they came from.

That means we don't 'fit in' too well: but that, I can live with.

Related posts:

• "Minnesota Bishops, Immigrants, Papers and Justice"
  (June 30, 2010)
• "Public Officials with Ethical Standards: A Radical Idea For Today's America"
  (June 29, 2010)
• " 'Parallel Magesterium?' Catholicism 101: The Church Speaks For the Church"
  (June 22, 2010)
• "Party Politics, Reality, the Big Picture, and This Catholic"
  (October 1, 2009)
  
• "'Cafeteria Catholics' and a Diverse Church"
  (June 8, 2009)


• "The Catholic Church Won't Even Let People Kill Themselves"
  (January 28, 2009)


• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)