Catholic officeholders say they answer to public, not church

There is more on yesterday's report about Bishop Burke.

Fallout from Bishop Burke's letter to "Catholic" politicians seem to be on the rise...Bishop Burke sent the letters to warn elected officials that they risked their spiritual well-being by taking political stances he found to conflict with church teachings.

He said Wednesday that if they continued to act in that manner, it was his intention to "ask them not to present themselves to receive the sacraments because they would not be Catholics in good standing."

This sort of rationalization, denial, and disobedience from politicians and others is exactly what we can expect to happen when the 'disease' of dissent is allowed to fester and spread in the Church. Because bishops, in general, have failed for years to act courageously to address these issues, we have this regrettable situation in which "Catholics", prideful because of the influence of Satan, act with such arrogance and confusion in their lives. They either do not understand or choose to ignore the moral imperatives which must be followed. They persist in scandalizing the faithful, with some of the bishops, in effect, being complicit by their inaction.

Will Bishop Burke be the first to formally excommunicate those who defiantly ignore or disobey his directives? We must continue to hope and pray that these politicians come to their senses and open their hearts to the Light of Truth.