September 2002 Call to Action News

Bernard Law and George W. Bush

Theologian/author James Carroll, a plenary speaker Nov. 2 at the CTA National Conference, often devotes his weekly column in the Boston Globe to the clergy sex crisis and the need for church reform. Even more often his columns deal with issues of war and peace. Aug. 13 he wrote about the connection between "The church and foreign policy in the U.S." Here is an excerpt:

"With the Catholic Church's blessing, the word 'evil' as applied to enemies became a staple of American rhetoric 50 years ago. That tradition has been reinvigorate by George W. Bush, along a new axis. Bush's ideological soulmate in all of this was Cardinal Bernard Law, whose particular imprimatur Bush sought during the 2000 election campaign. The cardinal's worldview of good and evil in absolute ontological conflict mirrors Bush's, with each man certain of his own alliance with good.

"No more. See how Bush keeps his distance from the men in red robes. The priestly child abuse-and-cover-up scandal has fully discredited the church's claim to be a moral exemplar Yet the scandal continues. Prelates who still speak in legalese, threaten dissenting clergy, reject alternative financial donations, and forbid concerned laity to gather in church halls only show how total is their moral failure The purging is right and just for the church. It can be a good thing for the nation, too. The ongoing revelations of the hierarchy's crimes should remind every person that every institution is morally deficient - America included. Evil is not an axis but an orbit encircling the planet, a universal problem."