Stay in the kitchen

Several weeks ago, I wrote the article titled "Our Lady embarrassed," which you had the opportunity to read in that issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic. The article was triggered by the decision of the University of Notre Dame to bestow an honorary doctorate upon President Barack Obama. But the article went further. I hooped to address situations in your life and mine where we embarrass Our Lady and our church with thoughts, words and deeds that run contrary to the Gospel of Jesus.

As you might imagine, reaction to my article was swift. Many applauded my position; many denounced it. Some were respectful; others not. Some simply wrote, called or commented personally; others went public.

All well and good. Important issues should invite passionate debate and discussion, provided that each side listens to, has respect for and is willing to ponder each other’s take on a given situation.

Unfortunately, my friends, that isn’t always the case. Some who wrote to me wrote in a tone that began: “Who do you think you are! Keep your opinions to yourself. They are, after all, not worth much!” I beg to disagree. I wasn’t writing for or about myself. I was writing about an issue about which many in our diocese and many of our non-Catholic friends had questions.

Disagreements can happen in discussions. But dismissal of a person can never be in order, not in our country, and especially not in our church.

Stifling the church

Last week, we, the bishops of our country, gathered together for our annual spring meeting. One of the topics we discussed was the trend in our society to dismiss the voice of the church on issues, many issues.

It was Harry S. Truman, the plain-speaking 33rd president of the United States, who said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

What he meant is that you can’t take a position if you are not willing to defend it and get “roughed-up” over it. When you jump into the public arena, there are no protective bubbles to keep out the slings and arrows that might come your way. If you are thin-skinned about criticism, then you better not get into the fray.

It is my duty and my vocation as bishop to apply faith every day to issues in the public arena. I will defend the beliefs and the teachings of the church in any arena and at any time. I will do so firmly and with all the conviction of my heart, mind and soul.

In doing so, I expect that people who disagree will challenge opinions expressed with their own. And while I hope that will be done civilly — as I always try to do on my part — I know that, as President Truman said, I have to expect “some heat when I walk into the kitchen.”

My concern lately is that those who disagree with the positions that the church takes today in the public arena not only want to respond, but seem intent on throwing the church out of the arena entirely. They don’t want to express their opinion in rebuttal, but seem to want to dismiss the church’s right to speak out on issues.

Two recent events:

• In Connecticut, many of the faithful and church leaders were shocked when a bill was introduced in the legislature that would have legally forced Catholic parishes — and Catholic parishes alone, by the way — to operate financially under boards independent of their pastors and their bishops. A rally was organized to protest the bill.

The Connecticut bill was quickly withdrawn. But now deeper attacks have begun. The Connecticut Office of State Ethics decided that the Diocese of Bridgeport was subject to laws governing lobbying organizations because of its involvement in the rally against the bill.

The Diocese of Bridgeport has now had to file its own lawsuit as the lobbying law of Connecticut would be used to limit greatly the church’s ability to comment, and the faithful to organize, on any matters of public concern.

• Second item: A complaint has been filed with the IRS against the Diocese of Portland, Maine. A group called Empowering Spirits Foundation wants the IRS to remove the diocese’s tax-exempt status because the diocese may be involved in gaining signatures on a referendum aimed at repealing the state’s same-sex marriage laws. Though the program for seeking signatures had not even begun, the complaint was filed even though IRS regulations clearly allow churches to engage in advocacy oppositions in public referendums.

Two issues, neither of which involves Pennsylvania or the Diocese of Pittsburgh directly. Yet, they point to a disturbing trend: The attempt to dismiss the church’s voice in the public arena or to reduce the church’s voice as only one among many.

Lone voice against abortion

In the early days after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision overturned state laws everywhere and forced legalized abortion on the United States, the church was the lone voice speaking out against abortion. Thirty-six years later, recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans share the church’s position — not perfectly, perhaps, but far closer than in the days immediately after Roe v. Wade.

When the church was that lone voice speaking out against legalized abortion, there was also an ongoing crusade to dismiss that voice — not to debate, but to silence by attacking the church’s non-profit status. One case went all the way to the Supreme Court before being thrown out.

The church will continue to be engaged, and I will continue to be engaged, in the many social issues that impact our lives today: abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, immigration, marriage, the rights of the poor, health care, issues of war and peace, crime and violence. The list goes on and on. The church cannot — and will not — be stifled or silenced or dismissed by legal threats. The church’s obligation to teach the truth demands such a stand.

As Simon Schama, historian and social critic, notes in his new book, “The American Future,” many of the nation’s greatest social movements — anti-slavery, organized labor, civil rights — would never have succeeded without the courage and moral fervor of faith communities. Movements to silence the voice of the church are not only unconstitutional. They are dangerous to America.

“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Pray God that our country will always respect, and the church can always respond to, our need to “stay in the kitchen.”