Quinn vs. Cardinal George et al.

Quinn said Saturday morning that the two-hour talk between him and Cardinal Francis George and 9 other bishops was “only a little bit” about his positions the bishops say are at odds with Catholic teachings on abortion and gay couples’ right to adopt — a clash that has made headlines recently — and more about the need to help the poor.

“A lot of the discussion was how we could work together to fight poverty, help the people who are less fortunate and need a helping hand,” Quinn told the Sun-Times as he left a Christmas toy give-away on the Far South Side. “Getting people jobs, helping people who don’t have enough food to eat — that’s what the church’s social mission is all about.”

That’s Bishop Quinn in his alternative universe.

The issue was not quite social mission, however, as C-George (surely the writer of Illinois bps’ response) explained.

The primary purpose of the sit-down, [the bps] said, was to admonish the governor for using his Catholic up-bringing to justify views that they say aren’t supported by the church. It was the second time in the past two months the bishops have issued a statement blasting the Catholic governor.

“We share the Governor’s concern for the poor,” they wrote. “From our point of view, however, this was a meeting between pastors and a member of the Church to discuss the principles of faith, not the works of faith. On several occasions, the Governor has referred to his Catholic conscience and faith as the justification for certain political decisions.”

The letter continued: “As Catholic pastors, we wanted to remind the Governor that conscience, while always free, is properly formed in harmony with the tradition of the Church, as defined by Scripture and authentic teaching authority. A personal conscience that is not consistent with authentic Catholic teaching is not a Catholic conscience. The Catholic faith cannot be used to justify positions contrary to the faith itself.It is a matter of personal integrity for people who call themselves Catholic to act in a manner that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The bishops said they were particularly concerned about Quinn’s influence on others “since he holds a highly visible and influential position.” [Italics added]

He was bloviating as if he knew church teaching better than they, such apparently is his high opinion of himself.  It’s one (bad) thing to promote abortion, another to claim church backing.  George is smarter than he and on solid public-opinion ground in this.  And his (their) rapid response is a welcome riposte in the never-ending struggle between pro–  and anti-abortionists.

Now what if he (they) began to hone their social-justice concerns in a free-market direction.  They know church teaching.  What if they knew economics too?  And how reduced taxation would keep more businesses in Illinois, contributing to the prosperity of rich and poor alike?

(For an excellent discussion of free market as understood in Catholic tradition, see this by Fr. Robert Barron, the uncrowned theologian-laureate of the Chicago archdiocese.)