When I was still a new bishop I remember a conversation I had with a priest from Germany, an old classmate of mine from Rome; he told me about how bishops in Germany would criticize each other in public through the media. I remember being scandalized by that and also being grateful for being an American bishop: while we have our differences, I told him we respect one another and would not do anything publicly to disrupt unity in the Church.
I’m deeply grieved by the rising public acrimony among bishops and the adoption of behind-closed-doors maneuvers to interfere with the accepted, normal, agreed-upon procedures of the USCCB.
Those who do not want to issue a document on Eucharistic coherence should be open to debating the question objectively and fairly with their brother bishops, rather than attempting to derail the process.
I thank Archbishop Gómez for his integrity in assuring that the procedures of our bishops’ conference are followed, which is the only way to ensure respect and equality for all. I look forward this June to the serene dialogue to which Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, exhorts us in his letter to Archbishop Gómez, so that we may discern “the best way forward for the Church in the United States to witness to the grave moral responsibility of Catholic public officials to protect human life at all stages.”
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