Monday, June 29, 2015

Yet Another Bishop Who Has Something Worthwhile To Say About Supreme Court Rulings


Archbishop Blase Cupich 


In my previous posting, I commented on the excellent response of Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of Savannah to the Supreme Court decision on Same Sex Marriage.  Now another Bishop has spoken out intelligently in response to both the Affordable Care Act and Same Sex Marriage decisions of the Court.  Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago is in Rome to receive the pallium—the yoke-like stole that a metropolitan archbishop wears as a sign of unity with the successor to Saint Peter, the Bishop of the Church of Rome.  (We used to say “Pope” a lot, or “Roman Pontiff”, but the current occupant of the Chair of Peter likes the more ancient title, the Bishop of Rome.)  Being out of the country and busy about a lot of ceremonial things, Cupich could have dodged the bullet about the Supreme Court ruling on Same Sex Marriage but he chose to weigh in on both last week’s Supreme Court decisions and he did a great job by choosing not to be a gracious loser (which is better than a lot of his more vituperative  confreres did) but by putting a Christian spin on the decisions while clearly maintaining Catholic doctrine.  What is particularly significant about Archbishop Cupich’s response is that it comes from the exact time of his being shown to be in direct union with the Pope (aka The Bishop of Rome) and thus with the Universal Church.  Let’s hope that Pope Francis gives us more bishops of Cupich’s kind to lead the Church in these times when religion (in general) and the Catholic Church (in particular) is trying to carve out for itself a new place in the public life of our society.  Archbishop Cupich is the sort of Bishop who can give the Church a credibility that some of his predecessors and confreres have so wantonly squandered. 
This week the Supreme Court of the United States issued two rulings with particular meaning for the Catholic Church.
In the first, the Court preserved subsidies for the 6.4 million low-income Americans who depend on them to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. We have issues with provisions of that legislation and will continue to advocate to preserve our religious freedom. However, we understand that for millions of individuals and families, most of them the working poor, this decision preserves access to health care and the promise it offers of a healthier, longer life.
In the second decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that two persons of the same sex have a constitutional right to marry each other. In doing so, the Court has re-defined civil marriage. The proposed reason for the ruling is the protection of equal rights for all citizens, including those who identify themselves as gay. The rapid social changes signaled by the Court ruling call us to mature and serene reflections as we move forward together. In that process, the Catholic Church will stand ready to offer a wisdom rooted in faith and a wide range of human experience.
It is important to note that the Catholic Church has an abiding concern for the dignity of gay persons. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” (n. 2358). This respect must be real, not rhetorical, and ever reflective of the Church’s commitment to accompanying all people. For this reason, the Church must extend support to all families, no matter their circumstances, recognizing that we are all relatives, journeying through life under the careful watch of a loving God.
It is also important to stress that the Supreme Court’s redefinition of civil marriage has no bearing on the Catholic Sacrament of Matrimony, in which the marriage of man and woman is a sign of the union of Christ and the Church. In upholding our traditional concept of marriage, we are called to support those who have entered into this sacred and loving bond with God and each other.
This will be especially important for the members of our own Church as we walk together, respectful not only of the political demands of equality, but above all else, guided by the higher claims of divine revelation. Our aim in all of this will be to hold fast to an authentic understanding of marriage which has been written in the human heart, consolidated in history, and confirmed by the Word of God.

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