Most traditional media -- the MSM, corporate media, whatever you want to call them -- don't take religion coverage seriously. Unless there's sex involved of course, or financial finagling. Forget about the deeper discussions of the leaders of the spiritual lives of thousands, even millions of Americans. So the election of a new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a real yawner, right? At least the AP story is.
The AP led with the "news" that the new president, Cardinal Francis George, is "a defender of Catholic orthodoxy with extensive experience in Rome," tastefully burying the controversy about his woeful mishandling of a 2005 priest/molestation case. Of course, that was the lede in the NPR headline news I caught. Buried even further in the AP story, and ignored by most of the media, was the publication of the bishops' "Call for Bipartisan Cooperation on Responsible Transition in Iraq."
Our nation cannot afford a shrill and shallow debate that distorts reality and reduces the options to 'cut and run' versus 'stay the course.' Instead we need a forthright discussion that begins with an honest assessment of the situation in Iraq and acknowledges both the mistakes that have been made and the signs of hope that have appeared. Most importantly, an honest assessment of our moral responsibilities toward Iraq should commit our nation to a policy of responsible transition.... Our nation's military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner rather than later.
The Catholic Church is against the war? Always has been.
This is at least the sixth statement that the bishops or their representatives have issued on Iraq since September 2002 when they raised "serious questions about the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq." But, at the time, their words were all but lost in the avalanche of media attention to reports about the failure of some bishops to respond to reports of sexual abuse by priests. But, regarding Iraq, the bishops were far quicker with their qualms than they were 40 years earlier during the Vietnam war. Although they condemned the war in 1971 -- which made an impact on a middle America that often disapproved of protesting "hippies" -- their statements earlier in the war were more equivocal.
That story appears in my local newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which as far as I can tell is the only traditional media outlet to lead with the USCCB's latest anti-war statement. I tip my hat to religion reporter Ann Rodgers.
The Catholic News Service lists the bishops' anti-war efforts and its concerns with the millions of Iraqi refugees and the estimated 600,000 Iraqi civilians killed. This is what being "pro life" is really about, not nonsensical protests against women's health care.