Bishops should be included in health-care debate, Cardinal says

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


BALTIMORE -- In his address to all Catholic bishops of the United States, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago defended their right to express their views in the design of a national health care system.

"It is not for us to speak to particular means of delivering health care. It is our responsibility, however, to insist, as a moral voice concerned with human solidarity, that everyone should be cared for and that no one should be deliberately killed," he said today at their semiannual meeting here.

The bishops have long argued that health care is a basic human right and supported universal access to health insurance. But they have also insisted that abortion isn't health care.

Individual bishops and their national staff lobbied successfully for a recent amendment to the House version of the health care bill that banned coverage of most abortions --- other than those that could cause death of the mother or resulted from sexual abuse --- in any federally subsidized program, though it would allow the purchase of a rider to cover elective abortions. Parish bulletins encouraged parishioners to contact their legislators.




Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09320/1013968-84.stm

[NC_Nurse]

1. No they shouldn't.

[JuniperLea]

2. No!

Even if they support a good cause... NO!!!

Let them do it from the pulpit... ONLY!

[FiveGoodMen]

3. As individuals, yes.

As representatives of a religious org...

NO.

MOTHER.

FUCKING.

WAY.

[laconicsax]

4. Church, State, wall.

[depakid]

5. As long as they keep their dogma about family planning to themselves...

Fat chance of that.

[KansDem]

6. Clear off, wanker!

You and your ilk have no business messing with HCR.

[Larkspur]

7. "Keep your rosaries away from my ovaries!"

I left the Catholic church in 1990 because I couldn't tolerate the male chauvanism inherrant in the institution. I sure don't want them dictating to me what health services I can not have because it is against their religious beliefs.

[MichiganVote]

8. Sure, why don't they weigh in on all the clergy sex abuse victims

and the mental health care the church denied until some of those victims were strong enough to tell the truth about all their decades long miserable lies.

Trust the church? Hardly.

[TommyO]

9. Fine, then I get to dictate church policies

I don't think they would like my meddling with their church, but they started it.

[Cleita]

21. Agreed and there's plenty to meddle in.

Let's start with equality for women allowing them to be priests.

[never cry wolf]

10. I agree, but first relinquish you tax exempt status. n/t

[Bitwit1234]

11. So he is siding with the republicans trying to make us a religious

run country. What gives them the right to tell people what to do. We have enough trouble getting the people we ELECTED to do the job for us. Why does he think we want someone we didn't ELECT to tell us how to make and what to put in our laws.

[CRH]

12. Are these the same Bishops,

and Cardinals, that for decades turned a blind eye to pedophile padres.

Where was their "moral voice" back then when they hid known abusers in different parishes rather than using their moral voice and moral choice to banish them from the church.

Awful difficult to trust in any version of their moral voice or choice when one reviews the Church hierarchy's history.

[Hawkeye-X]

13. Cardinal should sit in the corner

and deal with the pedophile priests BEFORE he opens his right-wing mouth.

And even before that, the Catholic Church owes trillions of dollars in taxes after US Government revokes its tax exempt status. Must be paid first from the coffers of Vatican City.

Psst, Separation of Church and State? FOLLOW IT.

Hawkeye-X

[Crosseyed Jesus]

14. Holyistic Colonoscopy?

Sure why not?! And lets have them run the "No Child Left Behind" program. Or in their perspective...No child's behind left alone!

[postulater]

15. They should make their own insurance plan.

Only cover fetuses until birth.

[edc]

16. Vatican priests who meddle in American politics

should be registered as foreign lobbyists.

[mrdmk]

17. Breaking... mrdmk says, "The General Public should be included in the health care debate."

Sorry Mr. Cardinal, you need to wait in line with everyone else.

Also there is just one question, will you be representing yourself or the church?


On edit: addressing the wrong person.

[MaineDem]

18. After the money the Maine Diocese spent to defeat marriage equality...

I don't think they should have any part in talking about health care. They could have funded a lot of health care if they didn't engage in political activity.

I've about had it with the Catholic Church. let me rephrase that, I've about had it with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The religion itself isn't too bad. A shame the men at the top don't practice it.

[kurtzapril4]

19. Bishops included in healthcare?

They need to STFU, and their church needs to be taxed.

Church/Wall/State

[liberal N proud]

20. BULL SHIT!

[Kolesar]

22. They could fund more charity hospitals if their funds were not going to pay off lawsuits

...by victims of pedophile priests.

[Odin2005]

23. TAX THEM!

[mopinko]

24. tax their freakin' for profit enterprises, anyway.

they make booooooodles of money off of healthcare. they structure it as non-profit, but i don't believe that for a minute. i actually got an email yesterday telling me i had a "great opportunity" to donate a framed artwork, framed yet, to the local catholic hospital. give me a freakin' break.

[mopinko]

25. damn gremlins