McCarrick fears a political poison seeping into church

LOS ANGELES -- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a man both championed and disparaged as a political moderate within his Catholic Church, strode quietly to the podium Thursday to address 200 bishops gathered here for their annual conference.

The former Newark Archbishop, known for diplomacy in matters political and personal, said he was worried that the partisan politics prevalent in the nation's capital, his home since 2001, have oozed into the church.

"My concern is the fear that the intense polarization and bitter battles of partisan politics may be seeping into broader ecclesial life of our Catholic people, and maybe even of our (bishops) conference," said McCarrick, 75, the archbishop of Washington, who will retire this week.

Had bishops courageously withstood the vicious and unrelenting attack on basic morals from professed Catholic politicians, this would be a non-issue. The fact that there are still many bishops who would permit sacrilege rather than stand up and correct pro-abortion politicians speaks volumes.

"I like to think of myself as a moderate, someone who's in the center," he said. "I think we have to stay in the middle. We have to stay in the center. There's an old Latin expression, 'in medios stat virtus' -- Virtue's in the middle."

What middle ground is there for those who publicly support and promote the murder of innocent babies? Rather than quoting Horace, it seems that the words of our Lord should be recalled:

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth." Revelation 3:15-16

These words seem more applicable when referring to those have failed to discipline any of the so-called Catholics who have intentionally separated themselves from the Church by publicly rejecting the Church's teachings, especially after decades of "dialogue."

[McCarrick] suggested that embarrassing politicians in ways that could cut off dialogue is counterproductive. He said he has known some staunch defenders of abortion rights who have moved "closer to the center on the issue," especially with partial-birth abortion, after he has talked with them.

There is no center of the issue...A Catholic either accepts that abortion is morally reprehensible and mortally sinful or he reject it. If a Catholic politician is so dense as to be unable to grasp this, then a bishop has no alternative but to deny him Holy Communion. The cardinal's equivocation is as repugnant as the politicians' embracing of moral evil. Is it no wonder that so many Catholics are confused, after enduring years upon years of lukewarm and poisonous indoctrination?

The poison seeping into the Church comes from those who were charged with protecting it. The implication that bishops who seek to protect and educate the faithful are responsible for the divisiveness demonstrates how poisoned one mind has become,