Church's freedom threatened.

Vatican City -- Chicago's archbishop Cardinal Francis George warned that the freedom of the Church in the United States "is now threatened by movements within" and "by government and groups outside."

Cardinal George delivered this sober assessment to John Paul II during the recent visit to Rome by bishops from the ecclesiastical provinces of Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, "The Church's mission is threatened externally by an erosion of institutional freedom." "The scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by some priests and the failure of adequate oversight by some bishops has brought with it a more overt expression of the anti-Catholicism which has always marked American culture," he said.

"In this context, courts and legislatures are more ready to restrict the freedom of the Church to act publicly, and to interfere in the internal governance of the Church in ways that are new to American life. Our freedom to govern ourselves is diminished," he lamented.

"The Church's mission is further weakened by her inability to shape a public conversation that would enable people to understand the Gospel and the demands of discipleship," the Chicago archbishop said. "The public conversation in the United States speaks easily of individual rights; it cannot give voice to considerations of the common good."

"Matters that should fall outside the purview of law in a constitutional democracy with a limited government--the nature of life, of marriage, even of faith itself--are now determined by courts designed only to protect individual rights."

"In this culture," the Cardinal said, "the Gospel's call to receive freedom as a gift from God and to live its demands faithfully is regarded as oppressive, and the Church, which voices those demands publicly, is seen as an enemy of personal freedom and a cause of social violence.

"The public conversation in the United States is often an exercise in manipulation and always inadequate to the realities of both the country and the world, let alone the mysteries of faith. It fundamentally distorts Catholicism and any other institution regarded as 'foreign' to the secular individualist ethos. Our freedom to preach the Gospel is diminished."

Cardinal George continued: "The Church's mission is threatened internally by divisions which paralyze her ability to act forcefully and decisively." "On the left," he said, "the Church's teachings on sexual morality and the nature of ordained priesthood and of the Church herself are publicly opposed, as are the bishops who preach and defend these teachings. On the right, the Church's teachings might be accepted, but bishops who do not govern exactly and to the last detail in the way expected are publicly opposed."

"The Church is an arena of ideological warfare rather than a way of discipleship shepherded by bishops," the Cardinal observed (Catholic.org, June 1, 2004). Full text in Origins, June 10, 2004.

N.B. For the discussion about Catholic politicians who defy Church teaching, yet insist on receiving Communion, see article "Politics, abortion and the Church" elsewhere in this issue," also see "John Kerry, American elections, and Catholic Bishops" in the June 2004 edition. Editor