Heidi Schlumpf's blog

My colleague Jamie Manson cites a piece from "PBS Newshour" in her blog post today alerting NCR readers that the "Bishops' expansion of conscience exemptions is broader than we think."

While much of the reporting on this issue has been problematic, here are some other pieces that do a good job of honestly exploring this issue:

• From Mother Jones magazine: "Most of Obama's 'Controversial' Birth Control Rule Was Law During Bush Years"
• From NPR's Morning Edition: "Rules Requiring Contraceptive Coverage Have Been In Force For Years"
• From NCR: Santa Clara University Ethics Director David DeCosse on how the "Bishops' conscience model makes light of practical reason"

But some of the greatest wisdom I've read on the topic is to be found in the comments from many loyal and long-time NCR readers and subscribers who commented on yesterday's editorial about this matter. I urge you to find the time to read them.

I must say I am a little surprised at some of the more moderate/progressive Catholics in the media (Mark Shields, Cokie Roberts, E.J. Dionne) who have questioned the Obama administration's ruling that some Catholic employers must provide coverage for contraception for their employees.

I also note that none of them of works for a Catholic organization.

Of course, even if they did, the $50 a month for birth control probably wouldn't be a financial hardship for them. But for the Catholic schoolteacher or Catholic Charities social worker, it might be.

Those schoolteachers and social workers probably are among the majority of Catholics who said they believe employers--including religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals--should be required to provide health care plans that cover birth control at no cost, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the Public Religion Research Institute.

Like many of you, I have been deluged this week with Facebook posts and links pro and con about two women's reproductive health issues: the HHS decision to mandate contraceptive insurance coverage and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's decision to cut breast cancer screening funding to Planned Parenthood, which it just reversed.

Bryan Cones, managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine, muddies the emotional debate about the HHS ruling about contraceptive coverage with a few facts, namely the difference between a canonically Catholic organization and one with a Catholic connection that is more "historical and aspirational."

"All 'Catholic' institutions are not created equally, legally or even canonically speaking," he writes in a blog post titled, "Just which Catholic institutions are 'mandated' to provide contraception?"

Among those exempted by the law, Cones says: Catholic parishes and schools, diocesan agencies directly connected to the bishop, religious congregations, most Catholic high schools and some Catholic colleges and universities (those for whom Catholic religious education and spirituality are required components).

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua has died.

The full story is here.

The archdiocese's statement on his death is here.

Bishop Joseph P. McFadden of Harrisburg, Penn., must not have read my NCR blog post chastising Cardinal Francis George for the lazy and often logically invalid use of "the KKK card" last month.

I argued that comparing your opponent to the KKK (as George did with some gay activists) was as bad as the infamous logical fallacy "Reductio ad Hilterum," which tries to "prove" that something is undesirable or evil by pointing out that Adolf Hitler or the Third Reich advocated or implemented a similar thing.

According to Religion News Service, McFadden angered the local Anti-Defamation League and ACLU, who claimed he trivialized the Holocaust by comparing today's educational system to Hitler's and Mussolini's because, they tried to establish "a monolith so all the children would be educated in one set of beliefs and one way of doing things," the bishop said.

The blog post headline caught my eye: "Obama offends the Catholic left." I wondered what he had done now--but was surprised to find this piece was about the recent HHS contraceptive mandate decision.

The Catholic left is mad about that? As a self-described "leftie," I was hardly offended by the decision, so I delved into the piece.

The blog post was written by Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn, a VP at News Corp. who writes speeches for CEO Rupert Murdoch. He is certainly not "left," nor does he claim to be.

A blog post by David Neff, the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, titled "Why Last Saturday's Political Conclave of Evangelical Leaders Was Dangerous," went viral this week, with lots of strong opinions pro and con about his assertion that Christians are not called to be kingmakers or pawnbrokers.

Neff quotes James Davison Hunter, author of To Change the World, who told CT in a 2010 interview:

Instead, Neff advocates:

The whole system that decides which patients get organ transplants is fraught with moral quandaries. Sadly, there are more folks who need hearts, kidneys, lungs and other organs than there are donated organs, so a number of factors need to be considered, including how critical the transplant is and the likelihood of survival and satisfactory quality of life after transplant.

But should a child with intellectual disabilities be denied a transplant based solely on those disabilities?

Thousands are saying "no" after reading about a 3-year-old girl who allegedly was was denied the possibility of a transplant--even with an kidney donated by a family member--at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Just days after public radio's "This American Life" aired an episode about Chinese sweatshops, 150 workers at an electronics factory in Wuhan threatened to commit suicide by jumping off the factory roof because of poor working conditions.

The UK's Telegraph reported:

Foxconn's reaction: to install nets around the building.

It's hard to claim ignorance about the conditions under which so much of our stuff is made these days, but Mike Daisey, a self-described "worshiper in the cult of Mac," had to see it for himself. So he went to Shenzhen in southern China and talked to workers outside of a Foxconn plant and visited other factories under the guise of being an American businessman.

Cardinal George has apologized for comparing the Chicago gay pride parade to the Ku Klux Klan, saying today that he was "truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused."

I'm not sure what eventually changed his mind--or why it took so long (he made the comments Christmas Day and continued to defend it in the following week)--but I agree this is a step in the right direction.

See full story here.

I've long been a fan of Catholic Relief Services, having witnessed their work firsthand in India and Ethiopia as part of trips won through CRS's Eileen Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence program. I've also been a fan of Ken Hackett, who led CRS for the almost 20 years I have been covering the organization and who retired last month.

Luckily, I'm also a fan of the new president, Dr. Carolyn Woo, former dean of the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, my alma mater. While I don't know Woo personally, a close friend who worked with her at ND speaks very highly of her as a colleague and a Catholic.

Although it seems like we shouldn't have to be noting this in the year 2012, Woo is the first woman to head one of the world’s largest international humanitarian relief organizations.

In teaching logical fallacies as part of persuasion and public speaking courses, I sometimes refer to a half-serious one called "Reductio ad Hitlerum," or "playing the Hitler card."

Debaters who use this fallacy attempt to "prove" that something is undesirable or evil by pointing out that Adolf Hitler or the Third Reich advocated or implemented a similar thing. It can be a fallacy because, of course, Hitler advocated some positive things, like classical music, for example.

Playing the Hitler card tends to derail any argument or conversation, because it--not surprisingly--angers the other side to be compared to a man generally considered to have been evil incarnate. Thus, its use is considered lazy, at best, if not always fallacious.

(There is also the--again half serious--Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies that states that all online discussions eventually degenerate to the point where someone compares another's beliefs to Hitler's.)

I was reminded of this as I've observed the recent debacle about Cardinal Francis George's comments comparing some in the GLBT rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

I have mixed feelings about Santa.

Sure, he represents the spirit of giving, is based on a saint and can be very useful for coercing good behavior out of children for about three weeks out of the year.

On the other hand, he has come to symbolize the overemphasis on presents, the blurring of the line between "wants" and "needs" and general excessive materialism during what should be a spiritual season. Nothing says "Gimme" like a kid making a list for Santa.

While most parents love to encourage the magic of Santa, making the annual photo on a store Santa's lap an important tradition, others shy away from embellishing the story too much. For it is a story, after all, and one children eventually learn is based on much "fibbing" by their parents.

But if you really want to get controversial, try bring up the topic of Santa in church.

As part of Christmas Eve family Masses, some parishes have added a visit from Old St. Nick, perhaps in part to pique the interest of kids who can't help but be thinking of what will be under their tree the next day.

At St. Gertrude Parish in Chicago, parishioners stumbled along earnestly, guided by handy "cheat sheet" cards in the pews. At the 10 a.m. "family Mass," the congregation read the creed perfectly, but reverted to "And also with you" during the Eucharistic prayer.

Although the parish had held an informational workshop about the changes last month, most at Mass were unaware of the controversies around the proposed changes. A few wondered why they hadn't fixed "for us men ..." in the creed while they were at it.

Fr. Dominic Grassi, St. Gertrude's pastor, mentioned the changes at the beginning of Mass and again during the announcements, saying he hoped they wouldn't be a hindrance and would help the parish pray together. Later, in an interview, he admitted it took some getting used to.

"I grew up in an Italian family," he said, explaining that there was plenty of fighting among the children. "But when we got to the dinner table, we knew to stop. It wasn't the place. It's the same with this."

But some at the North Side parish known for inclusion were annoyed with the changes.

I hate to say, "I told you so," ... and I won't, because it's too early and there is no conclusive or scientific evidence yet, but this journalistic report from The Catholic University of America by "Inside Higher Ed" shows that the new single-sex dorms at the school haven't had much effect on either binge drinking or "hooking up."

It's officially a trend now. A second diocese, Madison, Wis., has moved to restrict Communion under both species.

Read all about it at Deacon Greg Kandra's blog post here. Another interesting analysis is at Dating God, where Daniel P. Horan, OFM, says, "It strikes me as nothing less-than an clerical overstepping and unnecessary demarcation of the clergy and laity." Read his full blog post here.

I try to not get upset about every little step backward by the church hierarchy, but when it's evident that a movement is underway to take us back to a church where laity knew their place and had appropriate awe--not necessarily for God, but for their leaders and the trappings of the church--it is very depressing.

The new Mass translations, banning altar girls, limiting the Communion cup. What's next? No Communion in the hand? Bring back the Communion rail? Getting rid of the vernacular altogether?

Sigh.

Communist or socialist countries that restrict missionary activity and religious expression pose particular challenges to the practice of mission today, but countries such as China and Vietnam also have surprising lessons for the Catholic Church, Father Peter C. Phan told the Maryknoll Centennial Symposium this weekend.

China—where Maryknoll’s first missionaries had arrived in 1918—expelled all foreign missionaries in 1949. “But lo and behold, when Christians came back in the 1980s, we found a more vibrant Christianity in China than it was before,” said Phan, professor of theology at Georgetown University. “What we thought would be the end of mission turned out to be the flourishing of mission.”

“What we learned in those 30 to 40 years is that bishops and priests were dispensable,” Phan said with a laugh. “This is also the lesson we learned here during Vatican II. While the bishops were in Rome, the local churches prospered.”

Phan suggested that the distinction between the official and underground churches in China may be a Western lens that is “too limiting, too confining to understanding what is really happening on the ground.”

When liberation theologian Father Gustavo Gutiérrez was asked to say a few impromptu words at the Maryknoll Centennial Symposium, he expressed gratitude for the work of Maryknoll priests and nuns in his native country of Peru, in particular for their mission of friendship.

“We do not have a true commitment to the poor without friendship,” said Gutiérrez, citing Jesus’ words, “I no longer call you servants… but friends” (John 15:15). “Friends are different but equal…. When we speak about the preferential option for the poor, we have to be close to them. Many people understand the witness of Maryknoll as being friends of the people.”

Plenary speaker Dr. Dana Robert picked up the theme of friendship in her talk Friday afternoon. “Mission as relationship: this is where we have to go now,” said Robert, director of the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at the Boston University School of Theology. Robert, a United Methodist, had just returned from the interreligious Global Christian Forum in Indonesia.

Models of Catholic mission over the past century succeeded, in part, because they were the right forms for the right time, but new models are needed for today, two plenary speakers told those gathered for the Maryknoll Centennial Symposium today at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Catholic Charities in the Illinois Diocese of Peoria announced today that its staff and clients would transition to a newly formed non-profit organization with no affiliation to the Roman Catholic Church, which will provide adoption and foster care services to couples in civil unions, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to deny clemency to Troy Davis, who has attracted high-profile support for his claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989. Despite significant doubts about his guilt (as NCR blogger Claire Schaeffer-Duffy noted here), Davis' execution is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT tomorrow.

We all know folks who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Do you have compassion, tolerance and understanding for their spiritual journeys? Or do you find them immature, shallow and a little bit boring?

A few weeks ago, a United Church of Christ minister, the Rev. Lillian Daniel of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, wrote a blog post entitled “Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.” In it, she vents about a recent flight during which a “spiritual but not religious” person tried to enlighten her about how he can find God in sunsets.

As you can tell, her tone is a bit snide and snarky:

I was on vacation this summer when the news broke about Catholic Charities in Illinois losing state contracts over the agency’s refusal to place adoptive children with same-sex couples. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t following the story. As an adoptive mother, I have a few insights into the process, having spent five years adopting our two children.

What I learned is that choosing an adoption agency can be one of the most important decisions prospective adoptive parents make. Some make their choice based on the agency’s location, fees or something as random as it coming up first in a Google search. Likely, they learned about it through a personal referral. But often, prospective adoptive parents put quite a bit of thought into choosing an agency. I, for one, had a spreadsheet of dozens of agencies with criteria that included services, cost and estimated wait times.

Whether an agency had a religious background was not only unimportant, it made an agency suspect for us. Often religiously-based agencies came with additional requirements, such as proof of religious belief or church attendance, or with the baggage of proselytizing or problematic adoption attitudes (“Save a heathen orphan!”) Given the Catholic Church's sometimes unfair, but often deserved, reputation for being judgmental, Catholic Charities is probably avoided by a number of prospective adoptive families, besides the same-sex couples who would be automatically rejected.

I hate waking up to this kind of news: a headline about the rector at the Phoenix cathedral who has decided to ban girls as altar servers, even though nothing in current church law forbids it. Like the church isn't getting enough bad press already!

Already there have been some perceptive reactions (including from NCR's own Michael Sean Winters, who makes several important points) as well as from the Women's Ordination Conference and U.S. Catholic magazine's blog.

Let me add my two cents.

They say you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube, but here in the church there are some who refuse to quit trying. Despite consistent moves toward more openness and acceptance (of laity, of women, of gays and lesbians) in both society and the church, these folks fail to recognize this movement as coming from the Holy Spirit.

This summer I’ve read articles about a priest accused of secretly helping a convicted mob killer, of embezzling money from their parishes and, of course, of abusing children or covering up abuse.

I was about to cancel my “Catholic” Google Alert when I happily found this article in the New York Times about the reform group Call to Action. Quoted right at the top is my former pastor, Father Bill Kenneally, boldly declaring that he was among 150 priests to sign a petition protesting the removal of Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois for his support of women’s ordination.

According to the article:

Yesterday's news that a government advisory panel recommends that all health care plans cover birth control (among other preventative health care for women) was followed by the predictable response from the U.S. bishops, arguing that, if implemented, it would violate freedom of conscience for Catholics.

I agree that religious folks have every right (and even the responsibility) to try to persuade our society, including our government, to adopt--or at least respect--their values, especially when it comes to human rights. But in the end, we all end up having to support, financially with our taxes, at least, things with which we disagree or even find abhorrent. That's democracy, for better or worse.

What caught my eye in the Washington Post story about the panel's report was mention of a Guttmacher study "that found that 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women and nearly 100 percent of evangelicals have used contraception at some point, compared to 99 percent of women overall."

Yes, 98 percent. Talk about losing the persuasion battle.

The Catholic blogosphere was busy yesterday dissecting and discussing more news about the controversial Father John Corapi, a former EWTN media star who recently announced he is leaving the priesthood after allegations of improper activity.

Many of his supporters have continued to defend him, in part because Corapi has denied all the allegations (and made a few allegations of his own about the accuser). Now, his religious community, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, has released details about its investigation. According to a press release on the SOLT website, the Society found that Corapi:

A wonderful quote I'd never seen before, shared by my friend and fellow Catholic freelance writer Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda:

Great food for thought on our country's Independence Day.

Washington Theological Union, a seminary that has educated men and women for ministry in the church for 40 years, is closing because "it does not have the financial resources to be able to continue offering its academic services to the Church and the community beyond the 2012 - 2013 academic year," according to a press release dated June 27.