US Bishops' Conference lambasted over questionnaire.

New York--In the National Review OnLine, Culture of Life President Austin Ruse addressed the American Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Controversial presidential questionnaire which has since been withdrawn. The framing of the questions and the issues addressed by the questionnaire had received strong criticism for the advantage they gave to John Kerry, despite his prominent pro-abortion position.

In "Holy Democrats! The Catholic presidential questionnaire is dead--thank God," Ruse voices what increasing numbers of Catholics and non-Catholics had been thinking about these unhelpful questionnaires produced by liberal, social-justice-only staff of the U.S. Bishops' Conference. (Editor: In Ottawa the CCCB situation is similar to that in Washington).

Ruse made it clear that he was not criticizing all the bishops. He writes, "The bishops did not create this questionnaire. The bishops did not edit it. It is likely that hardly any bishops even saw it before or after the fact. Why the bishops have allowed this to happen is an open question. But the fact remains that a cabal of mostly left-wing laymen who staff the government-relations office of the USCCB created it."

The lack of genuine priority given to the life issues by Catholic Church bureaucrats has for many years been one of the most painful obstacles to success for U.S. pro-life organizations. (Editor: In Canada's recent federal election of June 28, 2004, pro-life leaders were once again dismayed that the life and family issues were clearly again not the high action priority that the), should have been).

Regarding the U.S. situation, Ruse says the "fact is that it seems the USCCB liberals do their utmost to undermine the life issues. They do this by consistently lumping them in with issues that are frankly not that important." However, a shift is in the works, he says.

Ruse observed that "The dreadful questionnaire has been pulled. In the past few years more and more bishops have begun speaking out against the scandal of pro-abortion Catholic politicians. The bishops as a body overwhelmingly voted in June 2004 that pro-abortion politicians must not present themselves for communion."

The intimidating power of Catholic Bishops' Conferences, although canonically they have no religious teaching authority, has for decades caused many bishops to abdicate their own authority on important issues to the often ideologically oriented Conference bureaucrats and their allied bishops.

Ruse notes that in the U.S., a historic challenge to the power of the bureaucrats is finally beginning to happen. He writes, "Cracks are appearing in the Soviet-like facade of the lay bureaucracy at the bishops' conference. Some bishops are getting uppity. Like peasants revolting against their masters, a growing number of mostly young, energetic, and orthodox bishops have begun to scale the walls."

It is no secret that pro-life and pro-family leaders across North America are cheering for the spreading of this trend which many believe will finally bring many more bishops and dioceses into the battles that count and possibly stop the North American moral and cultural meltdown (LifeSiteNews, Sept. 14, 2004).