{"id":279,"date":"2009-08-27T23:16:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-27T23:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/health-care-reform-it-is-the-great-tension-in-catholic-thought-right-now.html"},"modified":"2009-08-27T23:16:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-27T23:16:00","slug":"health-care-reform-it-is-the-great-tension-in-catholic-thought-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/health-care-reform-it-is-the-great-tension-in-catholic-thought-right-now.html","title":{"rendered":"Health care reform: “It is the great tension in Catholic thought right now”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times<\/a> has picked up on something many of us noticed weeks ago: not all Catholic bishops are thrilled with proposed changes to health care: <\/p>\n

<\/a>The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor. Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics and other religious voters around his proposals to do just that, a growing number of bishops are speaking out against it.<\/p>\n

As recently as July, the bishops\u2019 conference had largely embraced the president\u2019s goals, although with the caveat that any health care overhaul avoid new federal financing of abortions. But in the last two weeks some leaders of the conference, like Cardinal Justin Rigali, have concluded that Democrats\u2019 efforts to carve out abortion coverage are so inadequate that lawmakers should block the entire effort.<\/p>\n

Others, echoing the popular alarms about \u201crationing,\u201d contend that the proposals could put a premium on efficacy that could penalize the chronically ill.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform,\u201d Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, declared in a recent pastoral letter, urging the faithful to call their members of Congress.<\/p>\n

In a diocesan newspaper column this week, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, agreed, saying the proposal was \u201cnot only imprudent; it\u2019s also dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bishops\u2019 opposition \u2014 published in diocesan newspapers, disseminated online by conservative activists, and reported in a Roman Catholic newspaper to be distributed this weekend at churches around the country \u2014 is another setback for Mr. Obama\u2019s health care efforts. His administration has been counting on the support of Catholic leaders to help rally believers behind his health care plan. Just last week, he held a conference call with 140,000 religious voters to appeal to what he called their \u201cmoral convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bishops\u2019 backlash reflects a struggle within the church over how heavily to weigh opposition to abortion against concerns about social justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the great tension in Catholic thought right now,\u201d said M. Cathleen Kaveny, a professor of law and theology at Notre Dame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can find more on that “great tension” at the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times has picked up on something many of us noticed weeks ago: not all Catholic bishops are thrilled with proposed changes to health care: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor. 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